Can I throw a golf ball before hitting a shot?

[Saijin]

why can't you just do the drill at home or at the range then get good enough for the feel to be real and you don't have to do this while you're playing?

 

If anything for your practice swing, you can grip down on the club you're using and just use your right hand to emulate the throwing motion............

[Nickb333]

Hilarious. So bring a bag of chit balls to the course. Fling one into the weeds while your playing partners are picking their noses. No delay. No penalty. Who cares?

[Snarkesor]

2 hours ago, Saijin said:

why can't you just do the drill at home or at the range then get good enough for the feel to be real and you don't have to do this while you're playing?

 

If anything for your practice swing, you can grip down on the club you're using and just use your right hand to emulate the throwing motion............

Like I said earlier on in the thread, this isn’t something I’d ever consider actually doing on the course. I’m just interested in what the rules say about it.

[bcjim]

6 hours ago, Socrates said:

13.1  Actions Allowed or Required on Putting Greens

Purpose of Rule: This Rule allows the player to do things on the putting green that are normally not allowed off the putting green, such as being allowed to mark, lift, clean and replace a ball and to repair damage and remove sand and loose soil on the putting green. There is no penalty for accidentally causing a ball or ball-marker to move on the putting green.

e. No Deliberate Testing of Greens

During a round and while play is stopped under Rule 5.7a, a player must not deliberately take either of these actions to test the putting green or a wrong green:

• Rub the surface, or

• Roll a ball.

This one i always chuckle at.  What would rubbing the surface even accomplish? Was it a big problem at some point in golf history? Who were the notorious surface rubbers?

[SNIPERBBB]

1 hour ago, bcjim said:

This one i always chuckle at.  What would rubbing the surface even accomplish? Was it a big problem at some point in golf history? Who were the notorious surface rubbers?

you would rub the green to help figure out grain direction. 

[Hawkeye77]

1 hour ago, bcjim said:

This one i always chuckle at.  What would rubbing the surface even accomplish? Was it a big problem at some point in golf history? Who were the notorious surface rubbers?

 

I’m not sure I heard that. 
 

 

[SNIPERBBB]

He wouldn't of gotten in trouble if it was green.  

[Socrates]

4 hours ago, bcjim said:

This one i always chuckle at.  What would rubbing the surface even accomplish? Was it a big problem at some point in golf history? Who were the notorious surface rubbers?

As mentioned, it will show the grain direction and therefore the break and the speed.  Going back even a couple of decades, there were many tour players who would do all sorts of things that would seem very innocuous to gain an edge.  With all the TV coverage and cameras recording everything in 4K, players don't do it anymore as they will get caught.  You likely will still see it at the club level.

[bcjim]

50 minutes ago, Socrates said:

As mentioned, it will show the grain direction and therefore the break and the speed.  Going back even a couple of decades, there were many tour players who would do all sorts of things that would seem very innocuous to gain an edge.  With all the TV coverage and cameras recording everything in 4K, players don't do it anymore as they will get caught.  You likely will still see it at the club level.

Of the countless casual, rule ignoring, ball rolling, mullingan taking golfers I've played with,  I've never seen one rub a green.

[mshills]

7 hours ago, bcjim said:

This one i always chuckle at.  What would rubbing the surface even accomplish? Was it a big problem at some point in golf history? Who were the notorious surface rubbers?

Born to rub!

 

[Socrates]

6 hours ago, bcjim said:

Of the countless casual, rule ignoring, ball rolling, mullingan taking golfers I've played with,  I've never seen one rub a green.

The old pros were really good and subtle at it.  You could scuff it with you shoe or your putter.  You just might not be old enough to have seen it back in the 70's and 80's.  Up until about 10 years ago, you would see often pros scuff the green with their putter after they had missed a putt.  That too stopped when it became a bone of contention.  Just like older pros would nestle a club (usually a driver or fwy wood behind a ball in the rough).  Freddie Couples and Tom Watson (IIRC) were both good at it and they were not so quietly told to stop doing it once cameras became more prevalent.

 

Lots of "funny business" went on when there weren't cameras everywhere.

[Shilgy]

13 hours ago, bcjim said:

Of the countless casual, rule ignoring, ball rolling, mullingan taking golfers I've played with,  I've never seen one rub a green.

Have you ever played on Bermuda greens?  

[antip]

On 7/22/2025 at 12:16 PM, tatertot said:

What if I "throw" the ball on the green to loosen up before putting? It might just show me the break of the green ... by accident, of course.

Throwing is not an action 'authorised', it is just not a banned action. But testing the green by rolling a ball is a rule breach. Good luck trying the 'accident' BS.

[tatertot]

9 hours ago, antip said:

Throwing is not an action 'authorised', it is just not a banned action. But testing the green by rolling a ball is a rule breach. Good luck trying the 'accident' BS.

Dude, humor. 

[jholz]

This question reminds me of George Carlin's bit about Catholic School and "heavy question time" with the priests. According to Carlin's telling, the students would try to think up scenarios to stump the Padre. Generally, the situations introduced were utterly preposterous. Things like, "If god is all powerful, can he create a rock so big that he, himself, can't lift it?"

 

In this case, I think we have an equally preposterous question (i.e. using the act of throwing a golf ball before making a stroke when that act has been openly described as a significant aid to the player hitting the golf ball effectively). Someone spent too much time in law school. 

 

There are several easy answers to this question as the act itself, and the stated intent of that act, potentially run afoul of several rules that have already been mentioned. Your argument about "there isn't anything in the rules" will get rolling eyes from the vast majority of long-time players. The vast majority of human action is not bound by, nor is described in, law. Additionally, passing a new law or making a new rule does essentially nothing. 

 

So, you have free reign to go out and test this one for yourself. I'm reasonably certain that it will be people, rather than rules, that get you to rethink the idea. It just depends on how far you want to take it. 

 

If you are just doing this in casual rounds, people will merely be confused and probably won't want to play with you. Questions like, "why is that guy always throwing golf balls around?" and "that guy was really weird" are sure to be heard.

 

If you play with a slightly more serious group, they will probably start bringing up the rule considerations that others in this thread have cited. Unless you are a total richard, I suspect that they would start forcing you to control your throws and ensure that the thrown ball doesn't land in a place where you will gain an advantage from "testing the ground". At that point, you will be left heaving balls into the trees. Which begs the question, are you cool with just throwing away ~50 golf balls a round?

 

Finally, if you ever want to get into legitimate competition, I think this practice would be stamped down hard. They'd DQ you and probably send a letter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iacas]

 

6 hours ago, jholz said:

Finally, if you ever want to get into legitimate competition, I think this practice would be stamped down hard. They'd DQ you and probably send a letter.

 

I don't think they would. There's no basis in the rules for that.

 

But, you're not wrong at all about how people will at least give him the side eye…

 

 

… but there's nothing in the rules preventing it, thus, it's legal. And he's not going to be doing it near the green where he'd be testing the green or the ground for a chip shot.

 

All of that said, as was stated earlier… he should just mimic the throwing motion without actually throwing a ball. Should have almost exactly the same effect.

[antip]

8 hours ago, tatertot said:

Dude, humor. 

You are not alone.