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We exist to help golfers get more out of the game they love. Our team of passionate golfers and experts produce authoritative in-depth reviews of the latest golf equipment to help you buy better, tips and advice to improve your game, ideas for golf courses to play and places to stay and coverage of the game at every level from grassroots up to Tour.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello there, in this video we're talking about cleaning your golf ball when the rules allow you
00:05to do it and when they don't allow you to do it. I'm on the fairway here and my ball has picked up
00:09some mud and the harsh reality is that other than when preferred lies are in operation, when you
00:14could pick it up and clean it, you're just going to have to play that as it lies. Even if that
00:20piece of mud is where the club is going to make contact with the ball, as it probably is in this
00:23scenario, I'm afraid that is just how it is. As I say, if preferred lies in operation, you could
00:29pick it up and clean it and the other times when you are allowed to clean it, absolutely no problem,
00:34are when you reach the green, obviously then you can mark the ball, pick it up and do what you like
00:38with it before you make your first putt. You can clean your ball between the play of two holes at
00:44any time, that's no problem and you can also clean your golf ball when you're proceeding under a rule
00:49taking free relief or taking a penalty drop. However, it's important to know that there are some
00:53occasions when you are not allowed to clean your ball under the rules. Let's go and take a look at
00:57those four scenarios now. The first scenario where you're not allowed to clean your ball is when
01:02you've been asked to lift it because it interferes with the play of another player. In this example
01:07here, my ball has the mud on it, I've been asked to lift it because the other ball wishes to putt
01:11and therefore they want my ball out of the way. So I mark my ball and then I would probably move it,
01:17one marker to the side as well to get off their line. What I've got to be careful of now is I'm not
01:21allowed to clean that mud off the ball. So however you best can do that by holding it between two
01:27fingers like that or placing it down somewhere very carefully, you are not allowed to clean the
01:31ball when you've been asked to lift it because it interferes with the play of another player.
01:36Another time when you have to be a bit careful about cleaning your ball is when you're lifting
01:40it to identify that it's definitely your ball. In this thick rough here I can see a ball, it's got a
01:44lump of mud on the top, I think it's mine but I'm not 100% sure. So I mark the position of the ball,
01:53lift it, there's mud there where my mark would be underneath the tightest branding. What you're
01:58allowed to do is wipe that mud away, it's sufficient to be able to identify that it's yours.
02:03So I've moved it a fraction, I can see my green circle around the number, that is my ball. Now I
02:08must put that ball back without cleaning the rest of the mud off. So you're only allowed to clean it
02:13to the extent necessary to make a positive identification that it is your ball.
02:19Another time where you're not allowed to clean your golf ball is if you suspect it might have
02:23become cut or cracked. Perhaps this ball has hit a cart path on its way to this position and you
02:28think it might have suffered some damage. It very specifically has to be cut or cracked for you
02:32to be able to replace the ball during play of a hole and you would then be allowed to lift the ball
02:36to check whether it is cut or cracked but if it proves not to be you mustn't clean that mud off it,
02:42you must replace it as it is. Obviously if it is cut or cracked you'll be playing with a brand new
02:46ball from there on but it's a pretty rare scenario these days. And the final one is when you are
02:52wanting to lift your ball to see if it is in a condition from which relief is allowed. Here I've
02:57got a ball I'm not entirely sure whether it's embedded in its own pitch mark or not so I want to
03:02check so I'd mark the position of the ball, lift the ball just to see if it is embedded or whether
03:07it's just in a little hollow. Now if the ball is embedded in its own pitch mark I would be entitled
03:11to take free relief and therefore clean the ball. If it isn't I would have to replace the ball where
03:17it was and take extra care not to clean it before doing so.