Rules Guy: How Long Can You Wait for a Ball Hanging Over the Hole?

A player hits his ball to the very edge of the hole while his playing partners miss the putting surface. He checks the ball but does not mark it until the others reach the green, hoping it will fall in during the extended wait. Is that allowed? — Daryl Laumann, via email.

According to Rules Guy, “the very edge of the hole” presumably means the ball is overhanging the edge. In that situation, the player gets a reasonable time to reach the ball, regardless of how far away he is, and then a maximum of 10 seconds to see whether it falls in. It does not matter whether the other players have reached the green.

If the ball falls within those 10 seconds, it is holed without penalty. If it falls after that period, it is still considered holed with the previous stroke, but one penalty stroke is added to the score.

If the player marks the ball, replaces it and it then falls in—regardless of how much time has passed—he must replace the ball and hole out with one stroke. He may also simply tap it in without marking it.

Rules Guy also addresses a question about repairing damage to the hole. A player was first in his group to putt and then repaired damage to the edge of the hole caused by the flagstick. Another member of the group said this could be done only after everyone had finished putting. That is incorrect.

Under Rule 13.1c, damage to the hole may be repaired before or after players putt. However, it must not be repaired during a ball’s movement if the intent is to influence that ball. Such an action violates Rule 11.3 and incurs the general penalty: two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play.

Adapted from Rules Guy’s article on GOLF.com, published October 20, 2026.