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When loose impediments are encountered on the golf course, location is the key factor in determining how to handle them.
It might be good to delve deeper into the definition of loose impediments at this time. They are natural objects such as stones, leaves, twigs, branches and the like, dung, worms and insects and casts or heaps made by them, provided they are not fixed or growing, are not solidly embedded and do not adhere to the ball.
Sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere. Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are either casual water or loose impediments, at the option of the player. Manufactured ice is an obstruction. Dew and frost are not loose impediments.
If you recall during the third round of this year's PGA Championship, many fans and viewers on television thought Rich Beem may have violated the rules when he used his cap to remove some loose impediments on the green.
However, a closer look in the Rules of Show showed that the restriction on removing such items on the line of a putt only with a hand or club did not apply since Beem's ball was on the fringe of the green, defined as through the green.
If the ball, or even the marker, moves as the result of removing the impediments on the green, there is no penalty.
On the teeing ground, loose impediments may be removed in any manner. If the ball moves as the result of this action, there is no penalty. The ball may be replaced or re-teed anywhere within the teeing area.
Loose impediments also may be removed through the green as in the Beem example. However, if the ball moves after the player, his partner or either of their caddies touches a loose impediments within one-club length of the ball, the player incurs a one-stroke penalty and must replace the ball.
In bunkers and hazards, loose impediments may not be removed or even touched. The penalty is two strokes in stroke play or the lost of the hole in match play. If the ball moves as the result of removing the impediment, there is an additional one-stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced.
Stones, by the earlier definition, are loose impediments. Realizing that a player could be injured by a stone struck by a player's club, the United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Association do allow tournament officials to use a local rule, saying that such stones are movable obstructions. We do this in all Dallas District Golf Association events.
Also, remember that a loose impediment which might influence the movement of a ball can not be removed if the ball is in motion. A two-stroke penalty or loss of hole applies if this happens.
So where the ball lies is very important when encountering loose impediments.