Gary Page

I bet you are a delight to play with. Rule book on ever time. If someone played out of turn, I'd suspect you'd be the type to incur a penalty on them lol. You're not getting it are you? Marking a ball with a putter is just stupid, why is it even allowed anyway? It's not different from marking your all with your knob, it's still the same result lol. To me that rule should just be a round object and nothing else. Different argument all together. Enjoy your day

If you were on a golf course, and someone fell on their ball, maybe tripped over a log or something, would you call a penalty on them? Would you be that old fashioned, pedantic enough to be willing to do that? I know I wouldn't, the only time I'd call that on someone is if I felt it was blatant, or when playing in a match with a referee present. Anyone who says they would call it, are lying, because the majority wouldn't. P.S the committee has decided it was attributable, so they are right, that's the way it is, no one has cameras, no one has TV's, so it will always come down to common sense in the end. It might be wrong, but it's the truth. Is't that the problem here? Rule book allows marking with a putter, but not falling over and knocking your ball. The putter sounds more risky to me mate. Next time I'll mark my ball with my finger and see what people say. Rules are rules, but some are just too far for me. It was reversed before the competition closed, this doesn't apply. I believe and can't quote, the RANDA advised them they can reverse the penalty if they deem fit to do so. They advised them on it, what they said I'm not sure on that.

They had his permission, and he agreed to the new ruling. I am pretty sure any committee can reverse any decision before the closure of the competition. Please not Tiger Woods in the Masters. Signed for a card lower than what he actually scored, still got in, My Fathersigned for a higher score, so could never ever be DQ'd for it. I wasn't on the green when this happened, however I don't think it's clear cut the guy slipped and nudged the ball, while pretty much on his knees marking the ball. I don't care what they rules say, that's attributable in my eyes. He was actually marking it while he nudged the ball, so they've obviously agreed it was. He beat me in the Last 16, which I'm annoyed at. He's off 5, I'm 0, so a shock win, however I think he's got a serious point to prove. One thing was, the whole committee and club have backed him on it, and anyone who is heard passing blame onto my father will be banned This is a huge thing because A) it shows the committee are going to take the hit, and B) they respect my father as an honest player. I love the fact our captain has said that, because it's something I didn't expect. I love golf, but sometimes, it's far too complicated, and it's why people are put off by it. Common sense is usually the best option.

How's it not pointless? You're allowed to mark a ball with a putter, and if it moves you can replace it, but falling on a ball or slipping, and nudging it, is classed as a penalty. For me the marking with the putter is far more suspect to cheating, as people could just be going about nudging their ball with their putter while they mark it. Just saying!!

Yes this fits, however the putter wasn't dropped, it was next to the ball, the toe of the ball hit it, so technically he could have been going into to mark it with his putter, even though he wasn't, people could still easily say that '' I bent down to mark with putter ''. Anyway to me it is the most pointless rule in the game, because either way, you have to replace it, and what advantage would it gain if you moved it? Only thing I can think of is to move it closer, but that's a different argument all together. The rule was noted as under 20.1 and reversed, and to note I wasn't playing with him, and he called it on himself, only for the committee to reverse it, so what else is he going to do? Say no thanks, he just said OK thanks for letting me know and moved on. This does make some clarification, but in all honesty, the term attribute effort in marking is not clear enough, that must have to come down to the committee deciding whether or not it was, and they obviously have, between discussion of his playing partners and himself. Some people grumbled over it. Sadly there's a lot of handbags at our golf club. As far as I'm concerned if someone is honest, and for what it was, a bloody 1 foot putt, after missing the three footer, I'd be like '' Yes that's fine, if that's the rule, I'm not complaining, because if his putter didn't slip on the green while bending down, i'd not be Q anyway ''. Thanks for all the information. Very good forum! If they were to receive no penalty for accidental kicking of the ball, then they could replace it closer to the hole, deeming that as closer. I was saying that's why we need these rules, because people would take advantage of it. For what it's worth, there are shit load of rules, some are fantastic, some are pointless.

Interesting discussion. What happens if a white marker post is clearly removed from the ground, and the ball would be in play if this post was present? visible square hole where it should be. This was years ago, went back to tee as the post being missing would have it out of bounds. Just had to assume the greenekeepers had moved this purposely.

Hypothetical Scenario that I noticed in a game once. If you're ball is in play, but a large fence, net or boundary is out of bounds, and isn't a boundary for the course ( the white posts are ) can a free drop be giving? So pretty much can you stand out of bounds, and hit a shot with the ball laying in bounds? What is the ruling on a large net, pole that is outwith the course. I mean you'd just have to hit the shot assuming it wasn't there, however how can you take an unplayable lie anyway, when this object is actually out of bounds. Probably an easy answer to that.

But how is it? It can't be, it states in that meaning of attributable that, putter would be to the side, marking the ball with one hand, and moving ball with hand or equipment would not incur a penalty. Unless this is trying to say marking the ball with your putter is acceptable, that would make less sense, considering we could all do that and say '' Oops moved it with my putter while marking it with my putter '' so to sum it up, it's better to mark with your putter lol? Kicking the ball is different, because that's not an attributable marking procedure is it, where as putter to one side, and leaning down to mark with your hand is. It just seems hilarious that marking a ball with a putter is '' Equipment '' so no penalty, but slipping while marking, hitting with the same type of equipment that is allowed to mark it incurs a penalty. Certainly not a clear cut rule. I still think it was the correct one, they decided this anyway, and went ahead with it, but I do understand why we have these crazy rules, because people would start taking advantage and kicking the ball etc. There has to be more to this, any examples of guys on tour that have slipped while marking ball?

Using a coin, under rule 20-1 you should read it, then come back see what you think. Just trying to get a feeler out here. I'm 200% positive it's not a penalty. Only time it is, is when you move the ball with equipment when not attempting to mark the ball.

Hi All, I have a question that I know the rule too, however would like peoples ' First thought ' answer so I can get an idea of what the majority of golfers think. So my father was on the 9th green yesterday in our Club C 2nd Round. He missed a putt from inside 5 feet, then went to mark it from about a foot, however he slipped while in the process knocking the ball with his putter. He replaced the ball with his playing partners in agreement, and tapped out. At this point he assumed he'd been giving a penalty, but wanted clarification after his round. The club committee made the decision that it was a penalty under rule 18-2. All happy, he accepted it, and moved on ( he even told his partners he knocked the ball), as they hadn't seen it. So he handed is card and signed over to the match committee on their decision. Anyway, the following morning, the committee were doing the results, and reviewed the decision, and realised they'd unfairly penalised my dad, therefore reversing the rule, which fell under 20-1 (when a player moves the ball or marker by accident while trying to mark the location on the green, no penalty will incur and ball must be replaced). All great my dad was happy, and the club changed his score to this, under the guidance of the R & A. His score was then 75 Gross without the wrongly applied penalty. So this actually meant my dad qualified for the club in 15th position, putting out someone on the same total (157). This has caused quite a riff and two people have complained to the club (one of which it doesn't even affect). My question is really, what would everyone assume this rule would be, if not already aware? To add to this, my father drew myself in the last 16 knockout, as I was 2nd seed. I just feel terrible for him because I think he's done all the right things, but it was the club who called the wrong ruling, not himself, so reversing it seems totally plausible, and within the rules of golf.

I play off 0, and have done for several years. Sometimes I go back up to 1, and one one occasion went back up to 2. However Scratch is where I have been mostly since around 2008, with a spell of 2009,2010 at +1. Anyway, back when I was off +1 I practice at least 3 times a week, with medals on the weekend. Now I would say I practice 9-12 holes once per week, with a competition day on either Wednesday or Saturday, and sometimes both. I have had a very solid season, winning two out of three of our major club competitions I also include my rounds on a Saturday as practice. Even though I'm playing for my handicap, it is a still a round of golf where I can keep my swing going. So three times a week, two times minimum for me. I would be mainly interested on hearing what everyone thinks, and to add to the discussion to include if you feel practice helps, and your strengths and weaknesses in the game. I'll start - My main strength is driving. My mid-irons are very solid, and my long irons are consistent. I have a good short game, with solid bunker play. However my main weakness is putting. I don't three putt, and don't miss many inside 3 feet, but I never hole enough from inside 20 feet. If I had a putt from 8 feet + I'd regard it as a 50/50 chance of holing it. I average around 31 putts per round. It's something I work on out on the course and it has improved,but I've always found putting the hardest part even from when I first started the game. It's still better than most of Cat 1 golfers, but it probably falls short of what a scratch golfer should putt like If I had 210 yards, with a 4 iron, I'd hit the green more times than I would holing a 15 foot putt.

We do have determined tie breakers, but it's what we have been used to over the years, we all just expect it to be better last round, or back 9 count back if tied. I just really mean if they wanted to do play-offs they would have to introduce that and notify everyone before the tournament actually starts. They didn't do that, so I'm not going to accept a play off, and rightly so. We have an Open every year as well, and I also won that, so I Well my name will be on the trophy ;)

It's 4 rounds, picking the three best scores of 4. The ruling last year was the player with the better last round wins, if that was tied on the same day, it would be a count back. I was told the competition generating myself as the outright winner. I was then asked if I would have considered a play off, to which I said NO. The reason I said no was because last year the champion won in the same circumstances. The only reason I was asked personally was because the runner up last year (also tied) was not happy about there being no play off. On this occasion, my opponent hadn't completed a score the final round, so I won on better last round. I also had the lowest round of 65, and won on that. If it came down to my opponent's final counting round, and my final counting round, which were both 71, I had him on the back 9 anyway. So on all three possible tie breakers I have 100% won. It's always been count backs in our club championships and my opponent actually told the committee that if it has been that way, they shouldn't change it. So he has effectively agreed honestly to determine me the winner. He could have been difficult and said '' Play-Off'' Rounds in order: Me = 73 - 65 - 74 - 71 Opponent = 68 - 70 - 71 - NR Both come to a total of 209, and obviously I've won it on better last round that we both played in. It's pretty much fair in my eyes. This is our Stroke play championship and yes it's a proper club championship with set dates. Our Club Championship is Matchplay, with two rounds Stroke Q. Top 16 Q for that with top 8 being seeded. It's also worth mentioning this is our third year of introducing our Stroke Play Championship and 209 beat the previous years winning total of 2013. As I lost in the Semi Finals of the Matchplay Championship this was something I really wanted to win.

No play off on the day, nor the following day. Would have to be the tied payers with the lowest round wins, or better last round, if tied, lowest round.