Is it legal to tap down grass around the hole before putting?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

This morning, a gentleman in our foursome made a habit of tamping down rather forcefully around the hole with his putter (always in his line of putt, naturally). When I question this “gardening,” he claimed the greenskeepers weren’t doing their job properly when they changed holes. I happen to know better, since I am one of those greenskeepers. What rule should I quote? —Bob Keifling, Seibring, Fla.

Clearly, you are the gentleman since you chose to take the high route rather than tamp forcefully around this clod’s noggin!

Next time, let the rules do that for you. Players may repair “damage” to the putting green, which includes the hole and the area around it, even if doing so improves the line of play. But (!) normal maintenance practices, natural wear and natural surface imperfections are not damage as defined by Rule 13.1c(2) and may not be repaired.

If his tamping alters the ground and improves a condition affecting the stroke, such as line of play, then Rule 8.1a applies, and he gets the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play. Now who’s not doing his job properly?

For more green-related guidance from our guru, read on …

I was called out for aligning my ball for a putt after placing my ball and then lifting my ball marker — that I cannot adjust the ball unless the marker is still in place, and if I were caught doing it again I’d be penalized. Yet in the R&A’s rule clarification 14.2c/1, the ball can be aligned in any way so long as its vertical distance to the ground remains the same, I don’t see any reference to a ball marker being required when lining up a putt. Can you clarify? —Mark O’Neill, via email

We can, and we will, forthwith. Sad to say, you were called out correctly. Rotating the ball is considered “lifting” under Rule 14.1, and you only get the right to lift the ball on the putting green after you mark it first.

So, if you rotate the ball when it isn’t marked you get one penalty stroke — since it didn’t change position you need not worry about replacing it. Please see Rule 14.1a.

The clarification you cited refers to how the ball actually gets replaced — you can replace the ball in almost any orientation; the aligning of the ball isn’t your issue here — but it doesn’t address whether or not the ball was marked when originally lifted, as that’s a separate issue.