Is it legal to draw a line on your golf ball?

Can you draw lines on a golf ball?

Yes, and the Rules go further than simply allowing it. Rule 6.3a of the Rules of Golf, written jointly by the R&A and the USGA, says a player should put an identifying mark on the ball to be played. That is the rule-makers asking you to draw on your ball, not tolerating it.

There is no limit on what or how much you draw. One line, three lines, your initials, a row of dots, a smiley face: all fine. The only condition is that the ball is still a conforming ball, and a permanent marker does not change the ball's construction, weight or size, so it stays conforming however much ink is on it.

Can you use the line on the ball to line up a putt?

Yes. This is the part people worry about, because it feels like an aiming aid, and in a sense it is. But it is permitted, and you will see it on tour every week.

The sequence goes like this. You mark the position of your ball on the green and lift it. When you replace it, it must go back on the same spot. What you do with the ball's orientation is up to you, so you turn it until your line points along the start line you have chosen for the putt. Then you set the putter face square to the line rather than trying to aim at the hole from three metres away.

Can you rotate your ball on the green?

Yes, provided you have marked its position first and you replace it on that same spot. Turning the ball to point a line is not moving it, and it is done openly on every professional tour. What you cannot do is nudge the ball to a better spot while you are at it, or rotate a ball you have not marked and lifted.

What isn't allowed

The rule that people have in mind when they worry about lines is Rule 10.2b, which says you must not set down an object to show the line of play. Lay an alignment stick or a club on the green to point at the hole and you have broken it, even if you pick it up before you putt.

A line drawn on the ball is not an object set down on the ground. It is part of the ball, which is why it is fine while the alignment stick is not. The manufacturers rely on the same distinction: Callaway prints Triple Track lines on its balls at the factory, Titleist sells models with a printed alignment aid, and all of them are on the conforming ball list.

The other things you cannot do have nothing to do with drawing on the ball: no putting with a club that is not conforming, no touching your line of play to point out a target during the stroke, and no changing balls mid-hole without a reason the Rules allow. Your pen is not going to get you into any of those.

Why do people draw lines on golf balls?

Mostly for aiming. Squaring a putter face to a line a few centimetres in front of you is easier than squaring it to a hole several metres away, and many golfers find their putts start on the intended line more often once they have one.

Tour players have done it for years. Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson have used a plastic template to draw a straight line on the side of the ball. Tony Finau uses one big line with small lines beside it, and he adds his children's initials as well. The line has become so normal that the ball companies now print them on for you.

The second reason is identification, which is the one the Rules actually care about. A line in your colour, in your place, marks the ball as yours as surely as initials do. Most golfers who draw a line add something else too, and if you want the same combination on every ball you can design your own golf ball stencil with the line and the initials cut into one tool, or start from one of the ready-made designs. The drawing itself is covered in how to draw a straight line on a golf ball.

Is there a case against the line?

Some golfers think so. The argument, made by a golf.com columnist among others, is that a line on the ball does the same job as an object laid on the green to show the line of play, and so goes against the spirit of Rule 10.2b even if it does not break the letter of it. You cannot pick the line up before you putt, the argument goes, so it helps you in a way the alignment stick is not allowed to.

The rule-makers disagree, and they write the rules. Their position is that a mark on the ball, whether a manufacturer's logo, a printed alignment aid or your own pen line, is not an object placed on the course, and it is permitted. Until that changes, and there is no sign it will, the line is legal in every competition you are likely to play in.

It is also worth saying that not every good putter wants one. Some players find that a line makes them feel misaligned when their eyes tell them otherwise, and they putt better without it. Legal does not mean compulsory.

Why your mark matters in competition

This is where Rule 6.3a earns its keep. If you play a wrong ball in stroke play it is a two-stroke penalty and you have to go back and play your own; in match play you lose the hole. Two players in a group playing the same model with the same number is common, and a lost-ball search in the rough is where mix-ups happen.

A unique mark ends the argument before it starts. Initials, three dots in your colour, a filled dimple, a shape: anything that no one else in the group is likely to have. It is why so many players combine the aiming line with an identifying mark on the same ball, and why the pros have their names printed on theirs. How they do it is in how tour pros mark their golf balls.

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