Rules of the Game:

You get 10 seconds if your golf ball is hanging over the lip, but you also need to be reasonable too

For the last several months the discussion has been all about putting greens. There is one last important thing to know about putting green rules— and it has to do with when your ball, or another player’s ball overhangs the hole.

This situation can be a little tricky because there is an allotted time the rules allow for a player to see if the ball falls into the hole. Here is the exact wording of Rule 13.3 Ball Overhanging Hole. If ANY part of a player’s ball overhangs the lip of the hole the player has reasonable time to reach the hole and 10 more seconds to wait to see whether the ball will fall into the hole. Reasonable time is not the same in all situations. If you have putted the ball from three feet, your reasonable time is going to be much shorter than a player whose last stroke was made from the fairway. Reasonable time also takes into consideration the time you may need to take to walk around any other player’s line of play.

This is one of those situations when the standards of player conduct (Rule 1.2) come into play. Rule 1.2 notes that all players are to act with integrity and be honest in all aspects of play. This means you don’t mess around, purposely walk slowly to green to give more time for the ball to fall into the hole, or even though it’s fun you can’t jump up and down on the green in hopes to make the ball fall in the hole. 

If the ball does fall into the hole within the reasonable time plus 10 seconds, the ball is holed out with the player’s last stroke. If the ball does not fall into the hole in this waiting time, the ball is treated as being at rest. If the ball falls into the hole after the waiting period, but before the player has a chance to hole it, the ball is holed with the previous stroke, BUT the player adds one penalty stroke to their score for that hole. 

Let’s also look at the situation when the waiting time has not expired, and someone moves the ball. Fred and Paul have both just hit onto the green from a bunker. Paul’s ball is overhanging the hole. Fred forgets that they are playing stroke play and taps Paul’s ball away from the hole, telling him “That’s good” without giving Paul reasonable time to rake the bunker, walk to the green and count out 10 seconds. In this situation the ball must be replaced on the lip of the hole—and the waiting time no longer applies.

Unfortunately, Paul does not get a chance to see if the ball would fall into the hole on its own. Since Fred deliberately moved Paul’s ball, Fred gets the general penalty (2 strokes) and again—Paul’s ball is placed on the lip of the hole. IF Fred and Paul were actually playing a Match, and Fred moved Paul’s ball away from overhanging the hole before the waiting time expired, there is no penalty to any player, but Paul’s ball is considered to be holed with the previous stroke.

Last point about ball overhanging the hole and replacing the ball on the lip of the hole.

If a ball that has been replaced on the lip of the hole, subsequently falls into the hole from natural forces, because that ball has already been lifted and replaced, in accordance with Rule 9.3, the ball must be replaced again on its original spot on the lip of the hole.