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At this year’s Players Championship, Xander Schauffele’s caddie appeared to touch the green on Xander’s line while picking up a loose impediment. What is the rule? —Jim Kelly, Lewisville, NC
Rules 8.2b and 8.1a(2) both mention in that you can’t (a) alter conditions to effect where the ball may go after the next stroke, or (b) move loose impediments to improve the line of play, which seems to restrict the amount of moving of loose impediments you can do. In a scenario where someone wants to putt from a long distance off a green, can they remove all loose impediments along the line all the way to the hole? —Mark McBride, via email
With apologies to the Audubon Society, we’re going to kill two birds with one stone here.
Jim, your question likely arises from the pre-2019 prohibition on touching the line of putt, which no longer applies. Under the relevant Rule, 8.1, the player may touch their line of play on the putting green so long as they don’t improve the conditions affecting the stroke; this covers the player’s caddie, too.
As for you, Mark, yes, the player can remove all those loose impediments, which is allowed anywhere on the course; Rule 8.1 leads off by saying this. Rule 8.1a(2) primarily concerns moving loose impediments into position to build a stance. While nothing prohibits a player from removing said impediments from one’s line, providing it can be done without delaying play, one caveat: per Rule 15.1, you can’t move loose impediments once the ball is already in motion. Most golfers aren’t that quick anyway.
For more loose-impediment guidance from our guru, read on …
My home course has large rocks bordering several ponds, and my ball came to rest about two inches from some of these rocks, which are loose and easily moved. Question: Can they be treated as loose impediments and moved without penalty, or are they considered part of a hazard and must be left undisturbed? There are no red lines marking a hazard boundary. —Ted Staroscik, Darien, IL
As long as the rocks are easily movable — by you, not a backhoe — they are in fact considered loose impediments.
Under Rule 15.1, they can be moved, whether they’re inside, outside or defining a penalty area, or anywhere else, under the most recent revision. So you can rock-and-roll on rolling the rocks! (Or just lift them….)
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