{"id":378813,"date":"2025-12-31T00:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/378813\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T00:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:26:10","slug":"where-to-stand-when-someones-putting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/378813\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to stand when someone’s putting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Rules of Golf\u00a0are tricky! Thankfully, we\u2019ve got the guru. Our\u00a0Rules Guy\u00a0knows the book front to back<\/a>. Got a question? He\u2019s got all the answers.<\/p>\n

Every week, GOLF\u2019s resident rules expert answers all of your most burning inquiries about the game. As anyone who plays knows, strange things can happen during rounds of golf. Sometimes, the appropriate course of action can befuddle even the most seasoned player.<\/p>\n

But providing clarity for these confounding conundrums is where Rules Guy shines. This year, Rules Guy covered topics \u2014 submitted by golfers like you! \u2014 ranging from what to do when your ball hits a cart path and travels backward<\/a> and the legality of marking your ball on the side<\/a> to whether you can clean your ball after it rolls through ground under repair<\/a> and whether or not you can replace your ball if it\u2019s blown off the green by wind<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But there was one question this year that involved something a bit more mundane: Are you allowed to stand directly behind someone when he or she is putting?<\/p>\n

Rules Guy published his answer in July, and it ended up being the year\u2019s most-read column. Do you know the answer? You can read the question and Rules Guy\u2019s reply below, or you can view the originally published column by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The year\u2019s most-read Rules Guy column: Is it legal for another player to stand directly behind me while I putt?<\/p>\n

In an individual stroke-play competition, is a player allowed to stand directly behind me while I\u2019m putting to help him figure out his line? Does the rule differ for best-ball competition?\u00a0\u2014 Bokkie Gerber, via email<\/p>\n

Yes \u2014 with caveats \u2014 and yes.<\/p>\n

In individual stroke play, no Rule prohibits another player from standing on an extension of the line of play behind your ball for themselves. However, if the player is distracting you and you ask them to move, they should; while in this instance the Rules don\u2019t prevent standing behind someone putting, it is certainly considered poor etiquette. (On the very off-chance that the other player was either giving advice or somehow helping you, then there might be a breach of Rules 10.2b(4) or 10.2a.)<\/p>\n

In foursomes, however, Rules 22.6 and 23.8 prohibit your partner standing in that position to learn something for their own putt, lest they get the general penalty.<\/p>\n

Want to find the right gear for your bag in 2026?\u00a0Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won\u2019t throw the book at you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0Rules of Golf\u00a0are tricky! Thankfully, we\u2019ve got the guru. Our\u00a0Rules Guy\u00a0knows the book front to back. Got a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-378813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}