Your queries resolved
My ball pitched just off the green, making a pitch mark a couple of inches from the green but not on it. It came to rest a few inches behind the pitch mark, which was on a direct line to the flag. Could I have repaired the pitch mark even though it was not on the putting surface because I wanted to putt the ball and would have had to pitch it if it could not be repaired? Or, is this not allowed under Rule 8.1: ‘Actions that improve conditions affecting your stroke’, or indeed any other rule?
Chris Haresnape, Poynton, Cheshire
Q
In this situation, your
A instinct not to repair the
damage was correct. As the damage (in this case a pitch mark) was not on the putting green, you would not have been permitted to repair it. Doing so would be considered to be improving the conditions affecting the stroke, for which you would have incurred the general penalty under Rule 8.1. You are always permitted to repair damage such as pitch marks and spike marks on the green, whether your ball is on the green or not, but repairing such damage away from the green is not allowed.
Chris Wallace, R&A Rules manager
After 15 holes in a rainy shotgun competition, two guys in my three-ball decided to finish and post an NR. I waited for the group behind and they marked my score for the next
Q
two holes. But after their round was completed I still had to play my final hole, and nobody wanted to get even wetter! I wanted to avoid an NR, so I played my last hole on my own, marked my score myself and handed in my card, explaining the situation to the Committee. But what should I have done? Juergen Voigtlaender, via email
It can certainly be difficult A in those circumstances,
but Rule 3.3b requires a marker for the entire round for their score to be valid in stroke play. If a player plays any holes without a marker, the scorecard cannot be properly certified. In the situation you describe, the player should insist that the marker accompanies the player for the remainder of the round. If the marker is unable to do so, the player should ask another person to serve as their marker, and if that is not possible, the player is required to stop play and report to the Committee, who are then responsible for appointing another marker.