That innocent act could be ruled attempt to gain unfair advantage

I am so glad that we are done with the campaign period that saw all available walls and poles plastered with unsightly posters.

As if these posters were not enough, the aspirants had to bombard us with loud music and incoherent messages from loudspeakers mounted on their cars.

They seemed to be all over the place and many times it almost felt like the politicians were a cackle of hyenas that were sizing up their prey.

One such loud politician on the campaign trail interrupted my concentration while I was lining up a putt. The song on his loudspeaker was a version of a song made popular by Kayamba Africa that goes something like “Tuthie na mbere… hanini… hanini” (lets move forward just a little).

I putted as the song was playing and I ended up leaving the ball several feet short. I blamed it on the dew on the green but I couldn’t help but wonder if it had to do with the song.

As I was being coaxed by the politician with his message of “Tuthie na mbere… hanini… hanini”, I realised that one of my playing partners was removing what appeared to be a leaf from his line of putt with the back of his putter. He then proceeded to tap an imaginary pitch-mark on his line of putt.

His actions just made me nervous. What looked like a perfectly innocuous act could be an attempt to gain an unfair advantage according to the Rules of Golf.

It is perfectly okay for one to remove a loose impediment on the green.

It is okay to remove soil and sand from ones’ line of putt on the green since they are considered to be loose impediments on the green and no where else on the course.

In removing the loose impediments, the player can use their hand, putter or any other means they like.

It is also perfectly okay for one to repair a pitch mark on the green. It does not matter whether the player is responsible for the making the pitch mark or not. As long as it is a pitch mark, anyone can repair it whether their ball is on the green or not.

If in the act of removing a loose impediment on the green or repairing a pitch-mark, should the player move their ball accidentally, then there would be no penalty and the ball must be replaced where it was before.

Whereas it is okay to remove loose impediments on the greens and through the green, dew and frost are not considered to be loose impediments.

Removing dew or frost from ones’ line of putt or immediately behind the ball is a no-no. This also applies anywhere else on the golf course apart from the teeing ground. It is not considered a breach of the Rules if the dew is removed in the act of removing a loose impediment or in addressing the ball.

In this cold season, when dew is bound to accumulate on the course, when a golfer is flippantly clearing loose impediments from their line of putt with a club or a towel, there may be a question as to whether they are not gaining an advantage by clearing the dew in the process.

The other faux-pas is the fixing of anything other than a pitch-mark or an old hole plug. It is not permissible to repair spike marks or other damage that may be on the green.

My philosophy has always been that if there are some spike marks, repair them by all means after every one in your group holes out. It would help the groups that are coming after you. Fixing such damage before holing out will earn you a 2 stroke penalty.

The other thing that I seem to be seeing a lot lately is golfers who seem to be tapping everything on their line of putt. Most of these will be giving the impression that they are tapping down an old pitch mark but in actual sense they may just be improving their line of play therefore deserving a 2 stroke penalty.

The golfers who are independent aspirants at heart will usually try and pull a fast one by claiming that it is a pitch mark.

Now that we are hopefully done with the campaign season, why don’t we enjoy golf without making some utterances that are only fit for people on the campaign trail.

If you make a mistake and break the Rules, don’t make some spurious claims. Take it on the chin. A penalty stroke or two doesn’t mean that you are unworthy of winning.