How many balls must be in the cup to be considered a hole?

The Rules of Golf Are Complicated! Thankfully, we have the teacher. our Rules Guy knows the book inside out. Have a question? He has all the answers.

Par-3, a very wet day, my ball flew into the hole – but after I got to the green, I saw that it was actually completely buried in the back of the cup. The ball must have flown into the hole above the cup liner, which was placed two inches below the rim of the hole. I claimed an ace, confident that the ball had entered the hole and was below the putting surface. My friend disagreed, saying it wasn’t at the bottom of the cup. Who is right? – Brad Middleton, Issaquah, Wash.

Let’s get one thing straight: Starting in January 2023, what were called “Interpretations” are now, yes, “Clarifications.” So please see “Clarifications: Holed/1”.

Your friend’s argument, unlike the ground, does not hold water: There are some cases covered by the Rules where the ball is not completely at the bottom of the cup or completely at rest and is still considered the hole. You can claim an ace if (and only if) the entire ball is under the surface and embedded on the side of the hole.

Now go buy him a drink.

For more guidance from our teacher, read on…

A member of ours the club made an ace, then called a penalty against himself, claiming he threw the ball in front of the marker. All this to avoid paying for drinks after the round, when the tabs have reached $2,000. Was this legal? —John Karam, St. Petersburg, Fla.

The shock of victory and the agony of… the bar tab.

Let’s say this happened in the match play. Under Rule 6.1b, which covers play from within the teeing area, the opponent must choose whether to call Mr. Cheap Ace, so if the opponent prefers a free drink and misses the hole, so be it – don’t cancel the stroke and the hole-in-one stands.

In stroke play, after the player has called the penalty on himself, he takes two penalty strokes – but remember, the stroke on the hole now does not count and the player must correct the error by playing from within the teeing area (as against “This is a 1 with a 2-stroke penalty for a 3”).

If he does not correct the mistake, he is disqualified. Some may argue that a player calling a penalty to gain an advantage is against the spirit of golf and the Committee can go the DQ route through serious misconduct under Rule 1.2a.

But the game of golf assumes honorable players and takes them at their word unless there is strong evidence to the contrary. Suspicions are not facts, and the “advantage” here is purely financial, not competitive – on the contrary, since he has cost himself a stroke. It might seem a little naive, but the Rules Guy, for one, prefers it that way, even if it means paying for his single-malt Scotch on the 19th hole.