Rules on the course
Ball Hanging Over the Hole: The Ten-Second Rule
Ten seconds is an additional waiting period after reasonable time to reach the hole. It is not a stopwatch that always begins at impact.
Competitive Play · Updated October 22, 2026
Read the overhang clock
Original worked cases
One overhanging ball, two possible finishes
- Stroke made
Ava’s putt stops overhanging the edge.
She proceeds to the hole without unreasonable delay.
- Arrival + 0–10 sec
The additional waiting period runs after reasonable arrival time.
If it falls within the allowed period, the previous stroke holed it.
- After the period
It has not fallen and is treated as at rest.
If it falls before being played, count the previous stroke plus one penalty stroke.
Fictional examples for the stated conditions. Read the complete official provisions for exceptions and the procedure that applies to your actual ball.
The short version
- First decide whether part of the ball overhangs the hole.
- Allow reasonable arrival time, then the additional ten seconds.
- A ball resting against the flagstick has a separate holed-status rule.
Draw the timeline from the right starting point
Imagine a long putt finishing at the cup while Ava is still across the green. Starting ten seconds the instant the ball reaches the edge would ignore the reasonable time the rule gives her to reach it. Deliberately strolling around to extend the wait would misuse that allowance.
In the worked timeline, the uncertainty is removed: Ava arrives without unreasonable delay, then observes the additional period. The two possible finishes differ only in whether the fall occurs within or after that allowed time.
Waiting and holed status are not the same test
For an overhanging ball that does not fall during the allowed time, the Rules treat it as at rest. If it later falls before a stroke, the one-stroke addition produces the same scoring consequence as a further stroke into the hole. Do not record only the original putt because gravity eventually finished the job.
A ball resting against a flagstick left in the hole can be treated as holed when any part of it is below the putting-green surface. If none is below, it is not holed under that special provision.
Keep other movement cases outside this clock
Someone lifting or moving an overhanging ball too early has a separate consequence under Rule 13.3b. Do not use a casual “give it to me” agreement to bypass a competition procedure.
A valid match-play concession is a different concept from waiting for a ball to fall. Wind moving a ball elsewhere on the green belongs to ball-at-rest movement.
Official sources
Official provisions checked October 22, 2026. Read their full wording and current event conditions.
Your next move
Read the governing source
Check the complete official procedure and your event conditions before acting.
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