Except in the limited ways allowed in Rules 8.1b, c and d, you must not take any of these actions if they improve the conditions affecting your stroke:

• Move, bend or break any growing or attached natural object, or immovable obstruction, integral object or boundary object, or tee-marker for the teeing area when playing a ball from that teeing area.

  • Deliberately moving, bending or breaking branches with a hand, a leg or the body to get them out of the way of the backswing or stroke.

  • Standing on tall grass or weeds in a way that pushes them down and to the side so that they are out of the way of the area of intended stance or swing, when a stance could have been taken without doing so.

  • Hooking one branch on another or braiding two weeds to keep them away from the stance or swing.

  • Using a hand to bend a branch that obscures the view of the ball after taking the stance.

• Move a loose impediment or movable obstruction into position (such as to build a stance).

• Alter the surface of the ground.

• Remove or press down sand or loose soil.

• Remove dew, frost or water.

Penalty for Breach of Rule 8.1a: Stroke Play: 2 Strokes / Match Play – Loss of hole

b. Actions That Are Allowed

In preparing for or making a stroke, you may take any of these actions and there is no penalty even if doing so improves the conditions affecting your stroke:

• Fairly search for your ball by taking reasonable actions to find and identify it.

• Take reasonable actions to remove loose impediments and movable obstructions.

• Take reasonable actions to mark the spot of your ball and to lift and replace your ball.

• Ground your club lightly right in front of or right behind your ball (but you cannot do this in a bunker).

• Firmly place your feet in taking a stance, including a reasonable amount of digging in with your feet in sand or loose soil.

• Fairly take your stance by taking reasonable actions to get to your ball and take your stance. But when doing so you are not entitled to a normal stance or swing and you must use the least intrusive course of action to deal with the particular situation.

• Make a stroke or the backswing for a stroke which is then made. But when your ball is in a bunker, touching the sand in the bunker in taking your backswing is not allowed.

• On the putting green, remove sand and loose soil and repair damage.

• Move a natural object to see if it is loose. But if the object is found to be growing or attached, it must stay attached and be returned as nearly as possible to its original position.

Happy golfing, (and be mindful of your ball colour if you stray too far from the fairways)

Committee