Golf rules: What happens if you SCOOP the ball over your shoulder and drain it?

This little lad managed to toss his ball over his shoulder and hole it, but is it legal?

Ben Smith's picture
Mon, 15 Nov 2021
Golf rules: What happens if you SCOOP the ball over your shoulder and drain it?

Technically speaking there are a number of ways you can get the ball into the hole in golf. 

You can thin it off the tee for a hole-in-one, you can skull it so badly that it ricochets off the flag stick then bounces in. There's also the ever-popular double hit too. There are a number of funky ways the ball - as Happy Gilmore would say - can go back to its home. 

But what about scooping the ball? An Instagram clip has gone viral on the golfrules_questions page showing one little lad taking his address position over a putt. But it's a little bit different. He decides to use the back of his putter to scoop the ball over his shoulder and drain it. 

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Fair play to the little man, he confidently looks to the camera as if to say he always knew he was going to bury it. He's wearing PING gear so no doubt Bubba Watson - one of the most creative players on the PGA Tour - would have enjoyed his craftsmanship. 

But is it legal? Sadly, no this is not allowed. Under rule 12.1 of the Rules of Golf, said player's scoop would count as one stroke then be given a two-shot penalty for the scoop. Yeah, but two strokes come off the penalty for walkin' it in like a freakin' boss, one person pointed out in the comments. Too right. 

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