Ball Markers: Do the Rules Specify What Should – or Shouldn – Be Used?
Ball Markers: Do the Rules Specify What Should – or Shouldn’t – Be Used?Answer: Do the rules of golf specify what types of objects are and are not appropriate to use as ball markers on the putting green? Do the rules prohibit the use of any particular objects as ball markers on the green? These questions arose when a reader mentioned playing with a fellow-competitor who used a larger-than-usual and very thick coin as a ball marker. The reader found it very distracting, particularly when his playing partner’s large ball marker was close to the hole. Do you have any recourse when an opponent or fellow-competitor is using an unusual ball marker on the green, one that you find distracting? Yes, two: Politely ask him to switch to something else, something smaller. Or: Require him to move the distracting ball-marker over, one clubhead-length at a time, until it is no longer causing you “mental interference.” Ball markers come up in the official rules under
