Rules Question

[DJYoshi]

conditions...WET. RAINING. HUMID... balls were plugging like CRAZY!
We said lift, clean place...that's all fine...then we get to the green on a downhill hole.... my opp's ball plugged deep into the green. we got it out and fixed the ball mark as best as we could...but clearly the mark was so bad that if he had put it behind the "attempted to fix" ball mark, it would've made the putt that much more difficult....so I allowed him to put the ball in front of the mark... was I wrong?

[zeg]

Probably. The RoG pretty uniformly insist that any dropping/placing be no nearer to the hole. If you're treating the plugged spot as abnormal ground conditions on the putting green, I believe you get relief to the nearest spot that's no nearer the hole.

[tjy355]

Never closer.

[out_in_30]

well if it was a tournament then they would not have let that happen.. however, in the grand scheme of things you are not wrong because we really are talking about a matter of maybe an inch here. plus im sure there were green impurities anyways that could have easily knocked the ball around on its way to the hole . the integrity of your match imo still was intact whether he made the putt or not.. but just curious.. did he make or miss?

[DJYoshi]

well if it was a tournament then they would not have let that happen.. however, in the grand scheme of things you are not wrong because we really are talking about a matter of maybe an inch here. plus im sure there were green impurities anyways that could have easily knocked the ball around on its way to the hole . the integrity of your match imo still was intact whether he made the putt or not.. but just curious.. did he make or miss?

he missed. it was around a 15 foot putt.. it was only an inch.... tournament play...no doubt I would've asked for a ruling on it...but it was friendly cash game. $1 skin. $5 birdie. $10 eagles. $5+ junk

[Ignorant]

conditions...WET. RAINING. HUMID... balls were plugging like CRAZY!

Rules are quite explicit in this, the ball should have been replaced on the spot it was lifted from (20-1). A player is not allowed to take relief from a pitch-mark on the green but must replace the ball after having repaired the mark. Had this happened through the green the ball should have been dropped as close as possible to the original place but not in the pitch-mark. On the green situation is propably a bit more tricky in described conditions.

I can understand the sportsmanship but why didn't you let him place the ball on the side instead of in front of the mark? That would have been 'less' wrong.

[David in FL]

Yes. You were wrong.

I sure wouldn't lose sleep about it though.

[Bug Bunny]

I saw this exact scenerio on the golf channel a couple days ago. If the ball mark cannot be repaired where the golfer feels it will not impede on the putt, ask for an official ruling. You'll be granted a grounds under repair ruling and placed to the side, never closer. Same thing if there was a ball mark in your line to the hole.