Category: Rules Knowledge

Can you apply moisture to your …. putter?

Let's be more specific.  Can you put water on your putter to help your putter "stick" to the surface on super slick greens?

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During the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championsip at Doral, Jordan Spieth actually asked for a ruling before putting if he could wet his putter either with a wet towel or his fingers.  Apparently, this stumped the rules official and five holes later after conferring with the USGA, Spieth was informed that he could not do it (it came down to intent).  He could clean the putter with a towel provided it was already wet but not his wet fingers.

Spieth says his putter tends to slip when he grounds it on shiny greens.  During his practice sessions, he wets the bottom of the putter with a towel or by using his fingers.  Since there is not even a Golf Decision for this type of situation, the USGA and R&A are in discussions for a potential rule change.

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Picture this scenario.  You are the last group on the 18th green at Poplar putting for a birdie (back pin) on a windy day.  The ball teeters on the edge of the cup and is within a dimple of going in for a birdie.  Wait for it ….. wait for it …… wait for it ….. and sure enough it finally does go in.  High fives all around!

You turn in your card, take a congratulatory sip of beer and then get a tap on the shoulder.  

You've just been DQ'd.

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The scoring table in the club house was waiting for you and was standing outside watching you finish.  While you did make the putt and did win your flight before being disqualified, you took longer than 10 seconds to determine if the ball was going to drop in.  Regardless of you being the last group and you were not holding up anyone, you have to play by the same rules as everyone else.

This scenario happened to Lee Janzen during the 1998 NEC World Series of Golf.  He saw his putt hang on the 17th hole and consulted with playing partner Vijay Singh who also saw the ball very slowly creeping towards the hole. Janzen waited 20 seconds or so before attempting to tap in for par, but the ball had other ideas and dropped for what he thought was a birdie.  Janzen was disqualified after officials deemed he waited too long for his putt to drop. 

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Let's say you are playing in a multi-day tournament such as our Match Play or Club Championship.  Your club gets damaged in the first round during the normal course of play and you put the club back in your bag with the intent of replacing it at the turn.  You end up forgetting about the club and continue playing the subsequent matches and rounds.

So what happens to your score on the first day or even the second day?

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Since your club was damaged during the first round, you are allowed to put it back in your club and your score is not affected for the first round.  However, since you ended up sleeping on it and forgetting about the damaged club until the second round when you pulled the club out, you are disqualified for carrying a non-conforming club.

The club is considered to be damaged during the first round but is non-conforming during the second round.

This happened to Matt Every during the 2015 Sony Open where he damaged his 4-iron on Thursday and still had the club in his bag for Friday's round.  He discovered it on the ninth hole on Friday, called for the the rules official and was disqualified from the tournament.

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You found your ball.
Your ball is in bounds and not near the course boundaries.
Your ball is not in a hazard.
Your ball is not in a tree well.
Your ball is not in an animal hole.
Your ball is not anywhere near a cart path.
Your ball is not next to an obstruction of any kind.
Your ball is not in a chair or in the gallery.
Neither the tournament director or the golf course has deemed the area to be ground under repair.

You have a good, clean and dry lie – perhaps the best lie you'll get all day.

Yet you can't play your ball from this spot.

Where?

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How about the wrong putting green.

25-3/b. Wrong Putting Green

If a player’s ball lies on a wrong putting green, he must not play the ball as it lies. He must take relief, without penalty, as follows:

The player must lift the ball and drop it within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief. The nearest point of relief must not be in a hazard or on a putting green. When dropping the ball within one club-length of the nearest point of relief, the ball must first strike a part of the course at a spot that avoids interference by the wrong putting green and is not in a hazard and not on a putting green. The ball may be cleaned when lifted under this Rule.

Penalty: 2 strokes

Seung-yul Noh did just that during the first round of the 2014 The Barclays (FedEx Playoffs).  He played a rather good shot off the green and was penalized two strokes.  Here's the YouTube video.

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