GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
What should you do if you accidentally move your ball or ball-marker on the putting green?
If you or another player accidentally moves your resting ball or ball-marker on the putting green, there is no penalty under Rule 13.1d(1). Restore the ball to its original spot, estimating it if needed, or put the marker back on that spot. If the ball begins moving during your backswing or stroke and you make the stroke, play it as it lies. Natural-force movement and collisions after a stroke follow different rules.
For Golfers who accidentally bump their resting ball or marker on the putting green before making a stroke. · Updated
Restore the spot after an accidental nudge
The putting-green exception covers an accidental movement caused by the player, an opponent, or another player in stroke play. Replace the ball on its original spot, or estimate that spot if it is not known. If the object that moved was a ball-marker, place the marker back to mark the original spot.
The rule is about cause and location. The ball must have been on the putting green, and the movement must be accidental. Deliberately lifting a ball or marker is handled separately. Wind, water or another natural force also follows a different rule.
A ball moving during the stroke is treated differently
If the ball starts moving during the player’s backswing or stroke and the player makes the stroke, the player plays the ball as it lies. That exception does not apply just because a ball moved at some point before the stroke.
A ball hit by another ball after a stroke is also a separate situation. Identify whether the issue was an accidental nudge of a resting ball or marker, natural forces, or a ball-in-motion collision before applying a rule.
A shoe brushes a ball-marker
In a fictional round, Imani accidentally nudges her unmarked resting ball on the putting green with her shoe before making a stroke. There is no movement penalty, and she replaces the ball on its original spot, estimating it if necessary; it did not have to be lifted and replaced beforehand. In a separate case, a second coin accidentally bumps the ball-marker already marking her lifted ball, so she restores the marker to the original or estimated spot. In a third case, the ball begins moving during her backswing and she makes the stroke; the backswing/stroke exception applies and she plays the ball as it lies.
Related questions
Does the ball have to be marked before an accidental nudge is protected?
No. Rule 13.1d(1) covers accidental movement of the player’s ball or ball-marker on the putting green; restore whichever moved to its original or estimated spot.
Does this rule cover a putt that hits another ball?
No. A ball-in-motion collision is governed by separate Rules. This page covers an accidental movement of a resting ball or marker on the putting green.