Have you ever chipped one in from off the green and your ball ended up resting against the flagstick?

Not so fast. You are not done yet if your ball isn’t holed.

First of all, in order for the ball to be holed it must be at rest within the circumference of the hole and all of it must be below the level of the lip of the hole. Often, the ball may not make it all of the way to the bottom of the cup and some of it may still be above the ground. In that case, you’re not done yet. Here’s what you need to do.

Rule 17-4 covers the situation when a player’s ball rests against the flagstick in the hole and the ball is not holed. The player or another person authorized by him may move or remove the flagstick. If the ball falls into the hole, the player is deemed to have holed out with his last stroke. If the flagstick is moved and the ball pops out, it must be placed on the lip of the hole, without penalty.

I’ve only heard of one instance where someone jiggled the flagstick and had the ball pop out. It was on a par 3 and he didn’t have hole-in-one insurance so he was off the hook for drinks for everyone.

On the other hand, if you don’t bother to shake the flagstick but rather just pick up the ball and begin to celebrate before its holed, you’ll be assessed a one stroke penalty for moving your ball in play and you must replace it and hole out. If you go ahead and tee off the next tee in stroke play without replacing it, you’ll be disqualified for failing to hole out.

Remember, use the index or the table of contents to find the correct Rule that applies to the situation and follow the Rules of Golf to help yourself to enjoy the game of golf.