With all the golf lingo, equipment, and terminology it can be tough to keep track of everything you need to know. That why this article is on hand to breakdown golf ball markers and everything you need to know about them.
What Is A Ball Marker?
Golf ball markers are a small thin piece of golf equipment that is used to mark the position of a players ball. This can be used to allow the player to pick up their ball in order to clean it. Or make a clear path for another golfers putt.
What is a ball marker on a golf glove?
When you see a glove that is mentioning it has a ball marker attached it simply means there is a small piece of removable metal or plastic that you can use to mark your ball on the green.
This allows you to carry a ball marker with you at all times. Without worrying about forgetting it in your cart or golf bag. Though it is worth mentioning the golf ball marker used on gloves aren’t typically very flat. They could affect a golf balls path if another player accidentally putts into it.
What is a magnetic ball marker?
A magnetic golf ball marker is simply a golf ball marker that is magnetized in order to allow it to attach to a piece of metal for easy access. Most commonly these magnetic ball markers are attached to divot repair tools, clips, or belts.
This makes the marker easy to grab and place and the green to mark the position of your ball. Golfers ball markers are notoriously easy to misplace. So having a magnetic one you’ll be conveniently able to keep it on you at all times.
What ball marker do pros use?
The interesting thing about pro golfers and ball markers is that is no real consensus on what is used.
Professional golfers used a combination of coins, retro ball markers, poker chips and more. This is one of the few pieces of golf equipment which is not very heavily governed by the USGA.
What ball marker does tiger use?
Tiger Woods always marks his golf balls with a coin with the heads side facing up. The reason for this is quite interesting.
Tiger was once in the final of 1996 U.S Amateur in which he moved his ball in order to allow his competitor to get a clear putting lane. After his competitor putted woods was about to hit his ball without remarking it to the original location.
The other golfer Steve Scott then alerted tiger that he had not relocated his ball to the original position. If Tiger had hit the ball he would have received a one-stroke penalty. That would potentially cost himself the tournament as there was only three holes remaining.
For this reason, Tiger always places the coin heads up when marking his ball. And whenever he moves his ball out of position he will flip the coin to tails. This allows him to look down at his marker and determine if it is in the right location.
What is a golf ball marker divot tool?
When you see a product advertised as a golf ball marker divot tool it simply means this single tool has both those pieces of equipment.
A golf divot tool is used to fix divots you have made in the green from your approach or chip shots. You will find with these golf ball marker divot tools that a magnetized golf ball marker will be attached to the divot tool.
This just adds another level of convenience. As you are able to carry these tools together and avoid the hassle of forgetting or misplacing one of them.
Where to place ball marker on green?
When placing your ball marker on the green you want to place it right behind the golf ball. To do this simply place your coin or ball marker from behind as close to underneath your golf as you can.
That being said placing of the ball marker is not a very picky process. Just placing the marker closely behind your ball will good enough for the vast majority of golfers.
How big can a ball marker be in golf?
The official rules of golf state that you must place a marker, coin or similar object behind the ball in order to mark it. This is a suggestion and does not offer a specific penalty for using a ball marker that is too large.
This means that technically you could use something much larger for a ball marker and not receive a penalty. That being said you should likely stay as close to the rules as possible. Try to avoid using anything larger than a poker chip.
Can you use a tee as a ball marker?
Yes you are in fact allowed to use a tee as a ball marker even in tournament play. Tees are the most common ball markers used for those golfers that forget to bring their golf ball marker.
This substitute is perfectly legal and works just fine. The only real issue with using a tee is that it is going to cause a more significant effect on the golf ball if a player accidentally hits into it.
What are golf ball markers made of?
Golf ball maker can be made of pretty much any material. The most common materials are metal ball markers. These are typically coins or magnetized ball markers that need to be metal in order to work properly.
The other most common build of a golf ball marker is plastic. These plastic markers are typically flat round pieces of plastic. Golfers are also known to use poker chips as ball markers.
What happens if a golf ball hits a marker?
If a golf ball comes into contact with a golf ball marker throughout the course of their putt then the ball must be played as it lies. No penalty stroke or relief is given for coming into contact with a ball marker.
But if a ball marker comes into contact with a ball, then a one-stroke penalty is given to the golfer. This situation may occur if you are looking to place your marker and accidentally hit your ball causing it to move.
Conclusion Understanding Golf Markers
We hope you enjoyed our guide to understanding golf ball markers. If you have any questions regarding this article please be sure to reach out in the comments below.
If you did enjoy this article we hope you check out some of out others. Such as our guide to backstopping in golf or understanding mulligans in golf.
