As if the rules of golf weren’t complicated enough, there’s a whole set of etiquette guidelines golfers are expected to follow as well. And you thought it was tough learning which fork to use with which course at a formal dinner.
Proper etiquette is especially important on the putting green – golf’s equivalent to the dining room table. Any action that might distract another player or, worse, disturb another’s putting line is strictly verboten.
While on-the-green manners can confuse and intimidate beginners, they’re really quite simple once you get the hang of things. Here’s a quick primer:
- Never place your golf bag or pull cart directly on the green. A pace or two off the edge is fine.
- When arriving on the green, mark your ball’s spot with a coin or other small, flat object, then pick up your ball. When it’s your turn to putt, place the ball back in the exact same spot and remove the coin.
- Note your ball’s distance to the hole in relation to the rest of the group. The golfer farthest from the hole putts first, and so on until everyone has holed out.
- Be extremely careful not to step between another player’s ball and the hole. Footprints can send a putt wobbling off-line.
- When another player is putting, make sure your shadow doesn’t fall across her or her line.
- Pick your feet up when walking across the green to avoid leaving raised scuff marks on the surface. If you do leave a mark, simply tamp it down with your putter.
- Never talk or make distracting noises during another player’s address and stroke.
- When “tending the flag” for a partner, pull the flagstick from the hole after they’ve hit the ball and before it reaches the hole. Holing a putt with the flagstick in invokes, by the letter of the rules, a two-stroke penalty. Hitting the pin with a shot from off the green is fine.
- Take a lesson from Tiger Woods: Never, ever spit on the putting surface.
Those are the basics, but here are a few other rules it helps to know:
- If the ball comes to rest on the lip of the hole, you are allowed a reasonable time to reach the hole and may then wait another 10 seconds to see if the ball will fall. If you wait longer than 10 seconds and it does drop, you are still deemed to have taken an extra shot.
- A few words about pitch marks, those small craters made by a ball landing on the green. First, always fix your own using a two-pronged repair tool (available in any pro shop or golf store). You’re allowed to repair pitch marks in your line, but other damage such as spike marks must be left alone until you’ve putted.
- You may remove loose impediments such as pine needles, leaves or sand from the line of your putt.
About the author:
- Daniel Mitchell
- Golf journalist and sportswriter
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There is an ineluctable link between rhythm and balance. There are players like Tom Watson who have much quicker tempos. On the other hand, one sees players like Ernie Els who play with a slower tempo. Whatever the case, there is equilibrium between their tempo and rhythm, which ensures a perfect golf swing.