Hey Golf Nut, if you carry multiple golf clubs onto the putting green, is it a penalty to rest one of them against the flag stick so that you don’t forget it? I did this recently and one of my playing partners said that it was a one stroke penalty.

There can be penalties associated with the flagstick, but this isn’t one of them. The fact that you rested your golf club against the flagstick doesn’t incur a penalty stroke. However another way to remember not to forget them is to lay them at the edge of the green directly on your path back to your golf cart.

Back to the rules questions. What if your partner places the flagstick on the ground and then moves the flagstick because he realizes that your putt may strike it? There is a penalty stroke for this, but it is assessed to your partner.

Another situation that causes a penalty stroke is the following. You accidently leave the flagstick in the hole while putting. You hole the putt, but believe that the golf ball did not strike the flagstick (it is a penalty for the golf ball to strike the flagstick while the flagstick in is the hole). This is a penalty stroke. Why? Because the ball is not considered “holed out” until it comes to rest in the bottom of the cup. And it is impossible for the golf ball to come to rest in the bottom of the cup without touching the flagstick. Thus it is a penalty for this situation.

Thanks for the question and continued good luck with your golfing.