Ruling on morning dew

[woofer21]

I play early in the morning with a group of guys. Usually there is still dew on the ground during the first few holes. There is a buddy who will drag his putter on the green, along the ground from the hole through his intended putting path to his ball to remove the dew from his putting path. Is it permissible to sweep away the dew like this?

[sui generis]

Dew is not a Loose Impediment.

 

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-2019/rules-of-golf/rules-and-interpretations.html#!ruletype=fr&section=definitions&subrulenum=34

[Abh159]

I'll give you a simple answer to your question.....

 

 

No.

[vandyfan]

It also sounds like he is, either intentionally or unintentionally, adding an alignment aid. Similar to if you put a tee or other object in front of your ball for alignment on a full swing...which is also against the rules. 

[Hawkeye77]

3 hours ago, woofer21 said:

I play early in the morning with a group of guys. Usually there is still dew on the ground during the first few holes. There is a buddy who will drag his putter on the green, along the ground from the hole through his intended putting path to his ball to remove the dew from his putting path. Is it permissible to sweep away the dew like this?

Haha, no but I remember doing this once early, early morning when I was around 12 or so playing with my Grandpa - he laughed and said he thought it was pretty smart but Arnold Palmer probably didn’t do it. No rules book within 30 miles of his golf course but the consensus of the other farmers in the “grill” was “no kid”, lol.   

[antip]

3 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Haha, no but I remember doing this once early, early morning when I was around 12 or so playing with my Grandpa - he laughed and said he thought it was pretty smart but Arnold Palmer probably didn’t do it. No rules book within 30 miles of his golf course but the consensus of the other farmers in the “grill” was “no kid”, lol.   

Three cheers for your Grandpa! They are better rules instincts than many players have.

[antip]

Possibly a useful reminder for some: removing dew, frost or water is a breach of Rule 8.1a if it improves conditions affecting the stroke.

[Colin L]

This post started as a reminder to  those who play in colder climes than antip that you can't clear a path through frost either.  Then I noticed he had, in his usual thorough way, mentioned frost.

 

 I should have known better. 🥴

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by Colin L

[antip]

3 hours ago, Colin L said:

This post started as a reminder to  those who play in colder climes than antip that you can't clear a path through frost either.  Then I noticed he had, in his usual thorough way, mentioned frost.

 

 I should have known better. 🥴

 

 

Whoa there Colin! Plenty of frost in Canberra (565m asl). Mean minimum in July is 0 degrees C, gets to -7, -8 some mornings and not much rainy stuff, so the combination ensures there is no shortage of frost most winter mornings. Some days the frosts are so extensive absolutely everything is whitened - roads, footpaths, big trees etc, just looks like snow but is only ice.

But you are absolutely right that there is no bloody frost by the time I make it to the golf course!

[naval2006]

On 8/30/2021 at 7:23 PM, Hawkeye77 said:

Haha, no but I remember doing this once early, early morning when I was around 12 or so playing with my Grandpa - he laughed and said he thought it was pretty smart but Arnold Palmer probably didn’t do it. No rules book within 30 miles of his golf course but the consensus of the other farmers in the “grill” was “no kid”, lol.   

When I was a kid there was this boy who usually did this. He was 10 or 11 and the rest of us didn't know you couldn't do it.  So one day the pro was around and he saw the boy from far away marking his way with the putter over the dew.  The pro started running towards the how shouting "No, no, no, you cannot do that, no, no, no!"  We didn't know what was happening but seeing the big bulky guy running towards shouting and panting was quite a sight.  We remind him of it whenever we see him like 35 years later.  

[antip]

On 9/7/2021 at 1:51 AM, naval2006 said:

When I was a kid there was this boy who usually did this. He was 10 or 11 and the rest of us didn't know you couldn't do it.  So one day the pro was around and he saw the boy from far away marking his way with the putter over the dew.  The pro started running towards the how shouting "No, no, no, you cannot do that, no, no, no!"  We didn't know what was happening but seeing the big bulky guy running towards shouting and panting was quite a sight.  We remind him of it whenever we see him like 35 years later.  

I've never seen a golf pro run. And getting the rule right is not so common either.

[Halebopp]

16 minutes ago, antip said:

I've never seen a golf pro run. And getting the rule right is not so common either.

 

This is the first memory of watching golf on TV that stuck to my mind (it'd be another nine years before I started playing).

 

 

[rogolf]

4 hours ago, antip said:

I've never seen a golf pro run. And getting the rule right is not so common either.

Joaqin Niemann at the Tour Championship last week ran several times during his round.  He was out first, playing alone and wanted to break the unofficial record for the fastest round on tour, which he did.

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by rogolf