Opinion & Analysis
GolfWRX Rules Refresher: Is it OK to remove white stakes?
Have you ever been told that you’re not allowed to remove a white stake from the course? And that you are not even allowed to touch white stakes? I have… many times. When I conduct rules seminars and ask, “Are you allowed to remove a white stake?” almost everyone yells, “NO!” without the slightest bit of doubt.
Well, guess what. They’re wrong. Let me tell you why.
In general, we don’t want golfers moving things on the course. Play the course as it is and the ball as it lies; these are fundamental and sound principles. But if we dig a bit deeper into the rules, there is a certain rule stating that you are not allowed to improve the course by removing something that is fixed. And since white stakes are considered fixed, the conclusion must then be that you are not allowed to remove white stakes. Well, no, not quite.
The prohibition only encounters certain areas (I call them “forbidden areas”). This is an area where you in general are considered to gain an advantage when you improve it. These areas are:
- Your intended stance
- Your intended swing
- The lie/position of the ball
- The area where you are going to drop or place a ball
- The line of play (including a reasonable extension of the line on the other side of the hole)
Therefore, if you are improving such an area, you are penalized. If you are improving another area, however, you are not penalized. Let me give you a few examples. These examples are about a par-4 hole where you (a right-handed player) have made your drive from the teeing ground and your the ball is lying near out of bounds (yet still in bounds) on the left side.
- Your ball ends one inch from a white stake. You are not allowed to remove the white stake, since you would thereby improve a “forbidden area.”
- Your ball ends three feet from a white stake, perpendicular to the course (compared to the direction to the hole). There is no penalty to remove the white stake, as it is not in a forbidden area.
- Dog leg left (out of bounds), which you will fly the ball over over. There is a white stake in your line of play, 30 yards ahead of your ball. You have 150 yards to the hole. The stake is in a forbidden area, but since your potential advantage is so small, you will not get penalized to remove the stake.*
*Example 3: A certain Decision states, that there is no penalty if the improvement does not give the player a potential advantage, i.e. the improvement is so small that it really makes no difference for the player.
You might say that this Decision is not logic. Well to that I must say, that the rules are not always logic.
Examples
- Why are you penalized to remove a piece of loose grass in a water hazard in the backswing to your stroke in the water hazard but not to remove a piece of growing grass?
- Why are you allowed to place a club on the fairway to align your feet in the correct direction…. but not allowed to do the same with an alignment stick bought from your local pro shop?
- Why are you (in the 2019 rules) allowed to strike the sand in anger before a stroke in the bunker… but not allowed to touch sand in the bunker in a practice swing?
- Why is there a “no-penalty-if-the-advantage-is-very-small-rule” when it comes to improving forbidden areas… but not a similar rule when it comes to removing leaves from a bunker (where there is penalty no matter improvement or not)?
The answer is… the rules says so. Learn the rules; don’t try to find the logic in them! Back to the question: “Are you allowed to remove a white stake?” The answer in many situations is “yes.” The next time you get this question try to yell “YES!!” as loud as you can.
Although life normally does not give any guarantees, I can guarantee you one thing — you will be unpopular, very unpopular. And I can guarantee that you will get into a verbal discussion with most people when you remove a white stake on the golf course. If you do, try asking them which Rule they would penalize you under. If they still insist, refer to the below mentioned rules.
Rules of Golf relevant to this matter: Rule 13-2, Definition of “out of bounds” and Decision 13-2/0.5.
Aronimink is not a storied club, but when Donald Ross himself proclaimed it to be as good as he can design and build, one had to take notice. Jay Sigel was the pre-eminent male amateur golfer from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He might have called any number of Philadelphia clubs home, but he chose Aronimink. It served him well. Gary Player won a PGA Championship here in 1962, and was followed by the 1993 winner … nobody. Aronimink gave that event away to Inverness, for reasons of which it is certainly not proud. So be it. We had to wait sixty-four years for the PGA to return to Newtown Square, but here we are. Aronimink has been neo-restored by Gil Hanse and team, to return Ross features with an eye toward defense against the dark arts, errrr, high-tech equipment.
Day one saw Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau dig big holes, to the tune of plus-four and plus-six, respectively. Since the first-round lead will be minus-three at worst, many shots will need to be made up for the power couple to reach contention. By nightfall, seven golfers held the day-one lead at three-under par 67. Shots and sticks caught our attention, and we are proud to present Five Things We Learned on Tech Thursday at the 2026 PGA Championship. Thanks to InsideTourGolfer, Today’s Golfer, and GolfWRX for initial equipment research.
First, meet Min Woo Lee
Min Woo Lee, aka Dr. Chipinski, has once again thrust himself into the conversation of Can he, will he, when will he? Lee has so much talent, wins not nearly as often as we believe that he should, and has no major near-misses (much less titles) on his wiki. The young Aussie is getting older and wiser, but is he able to avoid the scarring that holds the older and wiser back from breaking through? Philadelphia offers another opportunity. Min Woo signed for five birdies and two bogeys on day one, and grabbed a share of the opening-day lead at Aronimink. Winners transcend history and the moment, and Lee will need that sort of ascent to lift the Wannamaker on Sunday.
Second, meet Aldrich Potgeiter
The young South African golfer can rip driver with the best of them. Aronimink tips out at nearly 7400 yards, but beyond the fairway bunkers that ensnare only the mortals, Potgeiter can take his chances with wedge from the rough. On Thursday, he spent plenty of time in the spinach. Like Popeye, he used his muscles to gouge and thrash and dig his way out. Six birdies against three bogeys on the card brought AP in a three deep.
Third, meet Martin Kaymer
Not a major event takes place without a where’s he been throwback moment. We know that Martin Kaymer left the PGA and DP World tours for LIV golf, but the two-time (US Open and PGA) major winner has a lifetime exemption into at least one major event, and he seizes the opportunity each May. Kaymer joined the six-seven brigade with four birdies and a solitary bogey on day one. Kaymer was never a long hitter, and the years are kind to no golfer. The German champion will need to uncork every bottle of guile and strategy in his cabinet to remain in contention. For today, though, he occupies a rung on the ladder of Tour Tech.
Fourth, meet Scottie Scheffler
Let’s see, he’s the defending champion at the PGA, and he found his way back to the top tier with five birdies against two bogeys. To be a favorite and then play up to that stature and expectation is quite difficult. Just ask Rory, Bryson, and some of the other pre-tournament heartthrobs. Scheffler’s game is complete, and to knock him off the OWGR #1 pedestal, one needs to defeat him at the majors. Aronimink is the sort of course that fits Scheffler’s game. Better yet, it unfits the game of many of his challengers. Don’t expect Scheffler to go away anytime soon. Come Sunday, he’ll be around.
Fifth, meet Stephan Jaeger
Clocking in for the unheralded players shift are Ryo Hisatsune and Stephan Jaeger. Hisatsune logged seven birdies on day one, but gave most of them back with four bogeys. Still, he’s tied at the top for a time. Jaeger pitched five birdies against two bogeys, including a run of three consecutive, from holes four through six. Odds are that one of the two will hang around through 36 holes. Odds also suggest that both will be gone by Saturday evening. Still, the PGA Championship has historically been the major most likely to be won by an under-known. Both Hisatsune and Jaeger feature on that list, so good luck, lads!
On this episode of the Club Junkie Podcast, I head to the Titleist Performance Institute for a full driver fitting with the new Titleist GTS lineup. We dive into the fitting process, talk about what made the biggest difference in performance, and break down how the different GTS heads and shaft combinations compare on the launch monitor. If you are thinking about a new driver setup for this season, there is a lot to take away from this one.
I also get into Brooks Koepka and the gear setup he brought to the PGA Championship, including the putters that caught my eye during the week. There are some interesting equipment trends showing up at the highest level right now and we break down what stands out.
To wrap things up, I talk about reshafting a few wedges, what I learned during the process, and swapping an adaptor onto a new shaft for another build project in the shop. A gear packed episode from start to finish for anyone who loves golf equipment and club building.
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Excited for this week’s WITB as we get to add the new Titleist GTS woods to the bag! I was fit at Titleist’s TPI facility in Oceanside California a few weeks ago and my new clubs just showed up. I am also adding a cool set of irons that I built last year some wild custom wedges into a new golf bag. Speaking of the bag I have a new Ghost Anyday Black Ops stand bag that I will be using on my Motocaddy Remote M7 electric cart.
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (11 degrees @ 10.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 6s
3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD CQ-7s
5-wood: Titleist GTS (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s
9-wood: Titleist GT1 (24 degress)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s
Irons: Bettinardi CB24 (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 stiff
Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (50-09 SB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff
Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (56-12 SB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff
Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (60-08 LB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff
Putter: Dan Carraher ZT Proto
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
Bag: Ghost Anyday Black Ops Stand Bag
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charles
Aug 22, 2018 at 6:45 pm
You may improve the area of an intended drop—You may remove loose impediments prior to dropping a ball from, for example an immovable obstruction (a staked tree), or embedded ball.
Hef
Jul 24, 2018 at 10:32 am
Basically, if there is absolutely no reason to move the stake, you can.
orangeology
Jul 24, 2018 at 10:26 am
amazing combo of a stupid rule and even more confusing explanations. SMH. WRX should prevent the authors writing under influence. seriously
R k
Jul 24, 2018 at 7:27 am
What?
Jack
Jul 23, 2018 at 11:42 pm
That’s good to know. I always thought those stakes were removable no matter what since they are just random objects signifying a boundary. In that case I much prefer the courses which use the spray paint on the ground which is granted less elegant looking.
Matt
Jul 23, 2018 at 11:34 pm
So you can’t move them any time you’d have any possible reason to move them. But if you have no reason to move them, you could.
Wow, what an insightful and helpful article.
Scooter
Jul 23, 2018 at 9:25 pm
Why yell yes, when you’ve just got done telling us the answer can be no (“because the rules say so”). I’m in bounds but can’t take my logical swing because something placed on the course artifically interferes and is “considered” fixed even though it really isn’t … yes, I’ll continue to hates rules as inane as this one … bah!
Mike
Jul 23, 2018 at 7:35 pm
What about Decision 13-2/17, Removal of Boundary Stake Interfering with Swing:
Q.A player removes a stake defining out of bounds which interferes with his swing. Is this permissible?
A.No. Objects defining out of bounds are fixed. Improving the position of a ball by moving anything fixed is a breach of Rule 13-2.
And Decision 13-2/25 Player Removes Boundary Post on Line of Play But Replaces It Before Playing:
Q.A player removed a post defining out of bounds and, as a result, improved his line of play. He realized he had made a mistake and replaced it before making his next stroke. What is the ruling?
A.The player was in breach of Rule 13-2 the moment he moved the post and there was nothing he could do to avoid the penalty. The replacement of the post before the next stroke was irrelevant. (Revised)