Rules of Golf discussions and meanings •

Divot wrote:Hi,
A player gets angry at a missed short putt and hits the green with his putter causing a large dent in the green on his line of play to finish the hole...can he repair the damage?  Two arguments I see:  1) Rule 8.1a(3)  "player may not alter the surface of the ground by creating holes or indentations."  Rule 8.1d(2)  says "restoration of worsened condition is not allowed if worsened by the player except in 8.1c(1), (2) but not (3)," which tells us the player may not repair the damage he caused.  
2) However, Rule 13.1 allows repair of damage to the green. Does "authority override prohibition" and the repair of damage by an irate player is okay?
Divot

There are a number of rules issues here.  Int 13.1c(2)/1 provides helpful guidance.  A player may repair accidental damage that they personally caused before putting, but that would not apply to your situation.  So if the player repairs the damage before putting he gets 2SP for a breach of R8.1.

But any other player can repair that damage under R13.1c(2) and there are no rules constraints on when that repair occurs. 

The player has also very clearly breached R1.2a and should be reported to the Committee.  If the player has any sort of conscience, he should do it himself, if not, the marker and/or all other players witnessing the event should report to the Committee.

Statistics: Posted by Thom — 11:10 PM - 1 day ago

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