We had an email come in from a reader recently asking the question posed in the headline.
They had been playing a match, and their opponent had noticed an old hole plug on their line. They had examined it and pushed a raised edge of it down with their putter. Was that allowed?
An old hole plug is where a hole position has previously been. The greenkeepers have used the turf cut for a new hole position to fill that old position – creating a plug.
Normally they do a good job of it, and the finish is flush with the putting surface. But occasionally, a variety of reasons can cause the plug to move or to raise slightly.
Is it permissible within The Rules to repair a damaged hole plug? Can you press it down or tidy the edge where it meets the main body of the putting surface?
For this we have to look at Rule 13 which deals with Putting Greens. Then, we must go to Rule 13.1c for “improvements allowed on putting green.”
Within that Rule is the information you need on what you can and can’t do when it comes to the putting surface.
Rule 13.1c(2) covers repair of damage. You can repair damage on the putting green, taking reasonable action to return the surface to as near its original condition as possible, as long as you don’t unreasonably delay play or use any tools that wouldn’t be deemed as normal equipment.
Within the examples of damage you can repair on the putting green are “Old hole plugs.”
So, there is your answer. Yes, it is allowed to press down an old hole plug before putting over it. There would be no penalty so long as you were taking reasonable action to return the green to its original condition.
But you wouldn’t be able to spend five minutes meticulously completing a perfect job – If you did that, you would be breaking Rule 5.6 for unreasonably delaying play and would receive a one-stroke penalty.
If you repaired an old plug in a way that was not deemed as reasonable action, say you dug a path through the edge of it in an attempt to direct your ball in a particular way, you would have broken Rule 8.1 (improving the condition of your stroke) and you would receive a general penalty – two strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in match play.
To summarise, as long as you are taking reasonable action to return a putting surface to its original condition using normal equipment, you can press down an old hole plug. If you go any further than that – there’s a problem.
