Answer to Rules Question

On Friday I posted a situation where a competitor walked up to the green and on the way to his ball he fixed some spike marks, by the hole, left by the group in front of him.  What is the ruling?

Since there is no guarantee that the player is going to make the putt, any spot on the green could be the next place his ball ends up.  So according to Decision 16-1c/4, it’s illegal to repair spike marks anywhere in the vicinity of the hole, regardless of whether or not they were in your current line of putt.  Lesson:  Wait to fix any spike mark until after you have holed out on the green, it will save you a stroke penalty.

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