Questions on etiquette and rules of golf

By RCGA national rules officials Kay Thompson and Bruce Watson/Tely Junior Golf Tour

Question: I was told that Jordan Spieth was not allowed to wet the bottom of his putter on warm days. Surely that can’t be a rules violation, can it?

Answer: If a player, simply wants to clean his putter and dries it off prior to the stroke there would be no breach. But, otherwise, it could be an infraction depending on the player’s intent.

On warm days when the greens get shiny Spieth said that his putter tends to slip when he grounds it behind the ball. At the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral in March, Spieth asked a rules official if he could wet the bottom of his putter, or apply saliva to it, to help keep the putter in position when he soled it behind the ball. The question was so uncommon that Tour Officials requested an opinion from the USGA.

Rule 4-2a prohibits the changing of the playing characteristics of a club by adjustment or by any other means. If the player wets the sole of the putter with the intent to increase the amount of friction between the sole and the ground he is doing precisely that.

The USGA maintains a database of decisions made in the past. This question had been considered in 2005 and they confirmed that it was considered a breach of rule 4-2a at that time. As Spieth did not actually wet the sole of his putter for the stated purpose during a stipulated round, he was not penalized.

Email your Etiquette/Rules question to bwatson@telytour.ca.