Confirmation or Correction Needed - Fix the Hole

[bkuehn1952]

Today on the 3rd hole of the city's Senior Championship, a member of our 3-some asked if he could "fix the hole" prior to putting.  I told him not to fix anything and if he felt there was an issue with the hole, we could call the "committee" over.  I suggested he could "fix it" after we all holed out  He putted out (made it) as we all did.  He walked away without a 2nd glance at the hole.

Can a competitor "fix" a hole prior to putting?

[dennyjones]

That situation came up when one of the PGA players last week hit the flagstick on a par 3.   The ball damaged the hole and they waited for a ruling before fixing the damage but the announcers were saying that he could have fixed the hole before putting.  

[iacas]

Be careful here, guys…

http://www.usga.org/rules/rules-and-decisions.html#!decision-16,d16-1a-6

Q.Prior to putting, a player discovers that the hole has been damaged. What is the proper procedure?

A.If the damage is not clearly identifiable as a ball mark, then:

(a) If the damage is such that the proper dimensions of the hole have not been changed materially, the player should continue play without repairing the hole. If he touches the hole in such circumstances, a breach of Rule 16-1a occurs.

(b) If the proper dimensions of the hole have been changed materially, the player should request the Committee to have the hole repaired. If a member of the Committee is not readily available, the player may repair the damage, without penalty.

If a player repairs a materially damaged hole when a member of the Committee is readily available, he incurs a penalty for a breach of Rule 16-1a.

[Buckeyebowman]

 I think the damage can be repaired as soon as it is noticed, provided that the players are capable of doing so. If not, the committee should be notified, provided there is a committee involved. Obviously this refers to sanctioned competitions.

A few years ago we noticed that a the edges of cups were being broken down by old guys w/creaky backs digging the ball out of the cup with their putter heads! If the damage was severe enough, I'd simply take my ball and tap around the inside of the lip trying to restore it to round.

Oddly enough, we haven't noticed that problem as much in the last year or two, and are at a loss to explain it. 

[iacas]

12 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I think the damage can be repaired as soon as it is noticed…

Nope.

The rule (Decision) was quoted one post up.

[Buckeyebowman]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

Nope.

The rule (Decision) was quoted one post up.

Yeah. I was near the end of typing my reply when yours came through.

[dennyjones]

I guess the ruling on TV was that everyone saw that the ball caused the damage?

[ColinL]

3 hours ago, dennyjones said:

I guess the ruling on TV was that everyone saw that the ball caused the damage?

i'd guees it was more to to with the commentators speculating without knowing.

[bkuehn1952]

Thanks to @iacas for leading us to the proper answer.  In this case, my opinion was the hole was not damaged to the extent that the dimensions had been materially changed. Also, any damage was not the result of a ball mark.  In fact, I wasn't even really sure what he was talking about.  I was not sure whether he could properly mess with the hole's rim and did not want to see him possibly incur a penalty when there really was nothing there.