9. In playing through the green, any loose impediment (not being in or touching a hazard) which is within a club length of the ball may be removed. If the player's ball move after any such loose impediment has been touched by the player, his partner, or cither of their caddies, the penalty shall be one stroke. If any loose impediment (not being on the putting-green) which is more than a club length from the ball be removed, the penalty shall be the loss of the hole.

10. Any vessel, wheel-barrow, tool, roller, grass-cutter, box, or similar obstruction, may be removed. If a ball be moved in so doing, it may be replaced without penalty. A ball lying on or touching such obstruction, or on clothes, nets, or ground under repair or covered up or opened for the purpose of the upkeep of the Links, may be lifted and dropped without penalty as near as possible to the place where it lay, but not nearer the hole. A ball lifted in a hazard, under such circumstances, shall be dropped in the hazard. A ball lying in a golf hole or flag hole, or in a hole made by the greenkeeper, may be lifted and dropped without penalty as near as possible to the place where it lay, but not nearer the hole.

11. Before striking at a ball in play, the player shall not move, bend nor break anything fixed or growing near the ball, except in the act of placing his feet on the ground for the purpose of addressing the ball, in soling his club to address the ball, and in his upward or downward swing, under penalty of the loss of the hole, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules.

12. When a ball lies in or touches a hazard, nothing shall be done to improve its lie ; the club shall not touch the ground, nor shall anything be touched or moved before the player strikes at the ball, subject to the following exceptions: - (1) The player may place his feet firmly on the ground for the purpose of addressing the ball ; (2) in addressing the ball, or in the upward or downward swing, any grass, bent, whin, or other growing substance, or the side of a bunker, wall, paling, or other immovable obstacle may be touched ; (3) steps or planks placed in a hazard by the Green Committee for access to or egress from such hazard may be removed, and if a ball be moved in so doing, it may be replaced without penalty ; (4) any loose impediments may be removed from the putting-green ; (5) the player shall be entitled to find his ball as provided for by Rule 31. The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall be the loss of the hole.

13. A player or caddie shall not press down nor remove any irregularities of surface near a ball in play. Dung, worm-casts, or mole-hills, may be removed (but not pressed down) without penalty. The penalty tor a breach of this Rule shall be the loss of the hole.

14. (a) If a ball lie or be lost in water or in casual water in a hazard, a ball may be dropped in or as far behind the hazard as the player may please, under penalty of one stroke ; but if it be impossible from want of space in which to play, or from any other cause, to drop the ball behind the hazard, the player may drop a ball at the side of the hazard as near as possible to where the ball lay, but not nearer to the hole, under penalty of one stroke.

(b) If a ball lie or be lost in casual water through the green, or if casual water through the green interferes with the player's stance, the player may drop a ball, without penalty, within two club lengths from the margin directly behind the place where the ball lay, or from the margin nearest to the place where the ball lay. but not nearer to the hole. If the ball when dropped roll into the water or rest so that the water interferes with the player's stance, it may be re-dropped, without penalty, as near to the margin as the nature of the ground permits, but not nearer to the hole.

(c)In dropping a ball behind the spot from which the ball was i. the player shall keep that spot or. in the ease of water, the spot at which the ball entered, in a line between himself and the hole.

Wherever it is impossible to drop a ball as prescribed in sections (a) and (b), it shall be dropped as near as possible to the place where it lay, but not nearer to the hole.

(d) If a ball lie in casual water on a putting green, a ball may be placed by hand behind the water without penalty.

The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall be the loss of the hole.

15. A ball shall be dropped in the following manner:-The player himself shall drop it. He shall face the hole, stand erect, and drop the ball behind him from his head. If the ball when dropped touch the player he shall incur no penalty, and if it roll into a hazard it may be re-dropped without penalty.

The penalty' for a breach of this Rule shall be the loss of the hole.

16. When the balls lie within 6 inches of each other on a putting-green, or within a club length of each other through the green or in a hazard (the distance to be measured from their nearest points), the ball nearer the hole may, at the option of either the player or the opponent, be lifted until the other is played, and shall then be replaced as near as possible to the place where it lay. If the ball further from the hole be moved in so doing, or in measuring the distance, it shall be replaced without penalty. If the lie of the lifted ball be altered by the player in playing, the ball may be placed in a lie as nearly as possible similar to that from which it was lifted, but not nearer the hole.

17. Any loose impediments may be removed from the putting-green, irrespective of the position of the player"s ball. The opponent's ball may not be moved except as provided for by the immediately preceding Rule. If the player"s ball move after any-loose impediment lying within 6 inches of it has been touched by the player, his partner or either of their caddies, the penalty shall be one stroke.

18. When the ball is on the putting-green the player or his caddy may remove (but not press down) sand, earth, dung, worm-casts, mole-hills, snow, or ice lying around the hole or in the line of his putt. This shall be done by brushing lightly with the hand only across the putt and not along it. Dung may be removed by a club, but the club must not be laid with more than its own weight upon the ground. The line of the putt must not be touched, except with the club immediately in front of the ball, in the act of addressing it, or as above authorised. The penalty for a breach of this Rule is the loss of the hole.