During the 2nd round of the Abu Dhabi Championship Rory McIlroy’s golf ball was lying just off of the putting green on the 9th hole. While surveying his next shot, he brushed sand off of his line of play on the fringe of the green. His fellow competitor, Luke Donald, witnessed him do this and informed Rory that he believed this action was a penalty. Was it?
As you know, sand is everywhere on most golf courses. There are sand filled divots, waste areas, ant hills and of course, bunkers. Sand is also commonly found around the fringe of the putting green when play from an adjacent bunker spills it onto the fringe (just ask Rory). In the Rules of Golf, sand is identified in the definition of Loose Impediments as follows: “Sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere.”
Unfortunately, Rory McIlroy learned about this definition the hard way. They called a Rules official over and he told him that because sand is only a loose impediment on the putting green, when he removed this it he was in breach of Rule 13-2. There are a number of ways to breach this Rule, but the part that pertains to Rory’s situation is “A player must not improve or allow to be improved: his line of play …, by any of the following actions: removing or pressing down sand or loose soil …” Note that if the sand he removed had been on the green there would have been no penalty, even though his ball wasn’t.
When on the course, before taking any actions to remove sand, take into consideration a few variables such as: Is the sand in a hazard, through the green or on the putting green? Is the sand a cast that was made by an insect such as ants which would now make this accumulation a loose impediment? All of these can factor into whether or not you can remove it.
It’s good to remember that sand is a loose impediment on the putting green, so feel free to remove it and give your ball a smoother ride to the hole. Conversely, if it’s not on the green, be careful! Rory incurred a costly two-stroke penalty for removing sand from the fringe, and went on to finish second, losing by one stroke. This cost him about 115,000 euros. Talk about “precious sands!”
