You want to putt from off the green but there is sand in your way, can you remove without penalty? Women & Golf’s rules expert Sheila Waltham explains.
By Sheila Waltham
My ball has come to rest on the closely mown area between a bunker and the putting green. I would prefer to putt from this position, as I am very close to the green. However, a significant amount of sand has been displaced from the bunker and now lies in my line of play, making a putt difficult or impractical. Am I permitted to remove the sand before making my stroke?
The answer to this question all hinges on the location of the sand. Sand and soil are not loose impediments. The rules allow you to remove sand and soil from the putting green regardless of whether the ball is on the putting green or not (Rule 13.1c).
Anywhere else, you must not take any action to improve conditions affecting the stroke, so if sand is on your line of play on the fringe or apron, do not remove it otherwise you will incur the General Penalty (two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play).
About the author
Sheila Waltham has been a qualified rules official for over 15 years and joined the England Golf Tournament Panel of Referees in 2019. A keen golfer since 1995, Sheila’s interest in the Rules was born out of the realisation that a lot of the information she received as a novice golfer was incorrect. So, she took matters into her own hands!
Become a whizz on the rules and check out our previous Ask the Ref features, like this one: Do you have to use a putter on the green?
