Rule of the Week – Ball-Marker Helping or Interfering with Play

Players are responsible for ensuring that ball-markers do not help or interfere with play. A player may move their own ball-marker or request another player to move theirs if it interferes or might provide assistance.

15.3c Ball-Marker Helping or Interfering with Play

• A player may move their own ball-marker if it interferes with play.
• If another player’s ball-marker interferes, the player may require it to be moved, similar to requiring a ball to be lifted under Rules 15.3a and 15.3b.
• The ball-marker must be moved to a new spot, measured from its original position (e.g., using one or more clubhead-lengths).
• When moving the ball-marker back, the same measuring process must be reversed.

Penalty for Breach of Rule 15.3: General Penalty
This penalty also applies if a player:

• Makes a stroke without waiting for a helping ball or ball-marker to be lifted or moved, after knowing another player intended to do so.
• Refuses to lift their ball or move their ball-marker when required, and the other player then makes a stroke that might have been helped or interfered with.

Example: A player’s ball-marker is positioned in a way that could assist another player’s putt. The other player requests that the ball-marker be moved. If the player fails to move the ball-marker or makes a stroke without waiting for the marker to be moved, they receive the general penalty.