Did you know about these rules?
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Golf Monthly is one of the world's leading multi-platform golf media brands.
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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00:00Hello there, in this video we are talking about cleaning your golf ball when the rules
00:04allow you to do it and when they don't allow you to do it.
00:07I am on the fairway here and my ball has picked up some mud and the harsh reality is that
00:12other than when preferred lies are in operation, when you could pick it up and clean it, you
00:16are just going to have to play that as it lies.
00:19Even if that piece of mud is where the club is going to make contact with the ball as
00:22it probably is in this scenario, I am afraid that is just how it is.
00:26As I say, if preferred lies are in operation, you could pick it up and clean it and the
00:30other times when you are allowed to clean it absolutely no problem are when you reach
00:35the green.
00:36Obviously, then you can mark the ball, pick it up and do what you like with it before
00:39you make your first putt.
00:41You can clean your ball between the play of two holes at any time, that is no problem
00:45and you can also clean your golf ball when you are proceeding under a rule, taking free
00:50relief or taking a penalty drop.
00:51However, it is important to know that there are some occasions when you are not allowed
00:55to clean your ball under the rules.
00:57Let's go and take a look at those four scenarios now.
00:59The first scenario where you are not allowed to clean your ball is when you have been asked
01:02to lift it because it interferes with the play of another player.
01:06In this example here, my ball has the mud on it, I have been asked to lift it because
01:10the other ball wishes to putt and therefore they want my ball out of the way.
01:13So I mark my ball and then I would probably move it one marker to the side as well to
01:18get off their line.
01:20What I have got to be careful of now is that I am not allowed to clean that mud off the
01:23ball.
01:24However you best can do that by holding it between two fingers like that or placing it
01:28down somewhere very carefully, you are not allowed to clean the ball when you have been
01:33asked 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 are lifting
01:40it to identify that it is definitely your ball.
01:42In this thick rough here I can see a ball, it has got a lump of mud on the top.
01:46I think it is mine, but I am not 100% sure.
01:48So I mark the position of the ball, lift it, there is mud there where my mark would
01:56be underneath the tightness branding.
01:58What you are allowed to do is wipe that mud away, it is sufficient to be able to identify
02:02that it is yours.
02:03So I have moved it a fraction, I can see my green circle around the number, that is my
02:07ball.
02:08Now I must put that ball back without cleaning the rest of the mud off.
02:12So you are only allowed to clean it to the extent necessary to make a positive identification
02:17that it is your ball.
02:20Another time where you are not allowed to clean your golf ball is if you suspect it
02:23might have become cut or cracked.
02:24Perhaps this ball has hit a cart path on its way to this position and you think it might
02:28have suffered some damage.
02:29It very specifically has to be cut or cracked for you to be able to replace the ball during
02:34play of a hole.
02:35And you would then be allowed to lift the ball to check whether it is cut or cracked,
02:38but if it proves not to be, you must not clean that mud off it, you must replace it as it
02:43is.
02:44If it is cut or cracked, you will be playing with a brand new ball from there on, but it
02:47is a pretty rare scenario these days.
02:50And the final one is when you are wanting to lift your ball to see if it is in a condition
02:54from which relief is allowed.
02:57Here I have got a ball, I am not entirely sure whether it is embedded in its own pitch
03:00mark or not.
03:01So I want to check, so I mark the position of the ball, lift the ball, just to see if
03:06it is embedded or whether it is just in a little hollow.
03:08Now if the ball is embedded in its own pitch mark, I would be entitled to take free relief
03:13and therefore clean the ball.
03:15If it isn't, I would have to replace the ball where it was and take extra care not
03:19to clean it before doing so.