Miscellaneous re the Flagstick

Question 1:

A player's ball is in motion after a putt. A fellow competitor thinks that the ball might hit the flagstick, which has been removed, and lifts it. What is the ruling?

a) There is no penalty.
b) The fellow competitor incurs a penalty of one stroke.
c) The fellow competitor incurs a penalty of two strokes.
d) The player putting incurs a penalty of two strokes.

Question 2:

What is the penalty if the ball does strike the removed flagstick lying on the putting green?

Answer1:
a) There is no penalty.

Answer 2:
The player incurs a penalty of two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play, under Rule 17-3a.

Since January 2008, a player is allowed to move the flagstick on the ground if they think that a ball may strike it. Part of Rule 24-1 states;

When a ball is in motion, an obstruction that might influence the movement of the ball, other than equipment of any player or the flagstick when attended, removed or held up, must not be moved.
__________



Question 3:
A player has asked for the position of the hole to be marked. The person at the hole does not want to waste time retrieving the flagstick and uses the grip end of their putter in the hole. Is this permissible?

Answer 3:
Yes. Decision 17-3/6.

Note: A club that is used to mark the position of the hole must be treated as a flagstick for the purposes of applying the Rules.