Ask the referee

Golf Digest, Sept, 2003

Q: Can you hold the flagstick with one hand and putt with the other hand?

James Ellis

Bloomington, Ind.

A: I get this question a lot, and people are always surprised to hear the answer is yes. Decision 17-1/5 covers this. Sometimes you chip close to the hole and have a tap-in left. Just remember that if the ball accidentally hits the flagstick, it's a two-stroke penalty in stroke play or loss of hole in match play, and the ball will have to be played as it lies. So be careful.

Larry Startzel,

former chairman of rules, PGA of America