Attending the Flagstick

[NoBack]

Unfortunately, "is being" is not a preposition.

"being attended" is using the past progessive form of the verb "to be" indicating an action that is in past but not finished.

It does not apply to "removed" or "held up" whose actions are finished.

Gee I'm glad I'm sitting in the back of the class on this one. Nothing better than catching a few zzz's. You guys are now officially boring me to death. English course on a golf forum.

[LobWedge]

Gee I'm glad I'm sitting in the back of the class on this one. Nothing better than catching a few zzz's. You guys are now officially boring me to death. English course on a golf forum.

Give me your lunch money.

[BillVB]

This almost happenned yesterday and no one understood the rule for certain, even after looking up Rule 17.

All players in the 4-some are competitors - no partners, no caddies.

Play A is the putter, Player B (his competitor) attends the pin.

Player B fails to pull the pin and Player A's putt strikes it. (note: Player B could have doene this deliberately, carelessly, or the pin could have been stuck. You simply cannot determine or base a rule on Player B's intent unless you can get in his brain)

Does anyone get a penalty, if so who? Does the putt have to be replayed?

[adanac]

17-3/2

Opponent or Fellow-Competitor Attending Flagstick for Player Fails to Remove It; Player's Ball Strikes Flagstick

Q. A's ball lies on the putting green. A requests B, his opponent or fellow-competitor, to attend the flagstick, and B complies. A putts and B fails to remove the flagstick. A's ball strikes the flagstick. What is the ruling?

A. If B failed to remove the flagstick for the purpose of causing A to incur a penalty, B is disqualified, in both match play and stroke play, under Rule 33-7 for taking an action contrary to the spirit of the game. In stroke play, in equity (Rule 1-4), A must replay the stroke without penalty.
If B's failure to remove the flagstick was with the intent to influence the movement of A's ball (e.g., for the purpose of preventing A's ball from going beyond the flagstick), B is in breach of Rule 1-2, and loses the hole in match play or incurs a two-stroke penalty in stroke play, whether the ball strikes the flagstick or not. In stroke play, if the ball struck the flagstick and as a result A suffered significant advantage or disadvantage, then the Committee could consider B to have committed a serious breach of Rule 1-2, the penalty for which is disqualification. Whether or not B has committed a serious breach of Rule 1-2, in stroke play, if A's ball struck the flagstick, in equity (Rule 1-4), A must replay the stroke without penalty - see Note 2 to Rule 1-2.
If B's failure to remove the flagstick was not deliberate (e.g., the flagstick stuck in the hole-liner or B was distracted and did not see A putt), since B was acting on A's behalf, A incurs a penalty of loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play under Rule 17-3. A must play the ball as it lies. B incurs no penalty. (Revised)