Had you been a golfer prior to 1951 you would have certainly been stymied at some point. A 'stymie' as described in the dictionary simply means to be thwarted or hindered.
If an opponents ball came between your ball and the hole therefore preventing you from putting out it meant that you were being thwarted from doing so and you were deemed as being stymied.
Some stymies happened purely by chance and others were carefully conceived in order to prevent you from putting out and the only way you could possibly get out of this situation was to putt away from your opponent's ball or take the more perilous route and chip over the offending ball.
If indeed you did strike your opponent's ball whilst endeavouring to get to the hole you were then penalised for doing so.
This rule, which had been in existence since the game began was finally put to rest for the sense of fair play and to prevent those nasty divots on the green.
There was a time too, that if your ball had become 'plugged' on the green you were not allowed to pick up and clean it. You had to play the ball as it lay.
Now today once your ball is on the green you are allowed to mark its position to make sure there is no dirt adhered to your ball but also to allow your opponent unhindered access to the hole should they be further away and on the same line as you.
Once on the green the flag must be removed prior to putting or have someone attend the flag should you be a long distance away. Hitting the flag whilst putting on the green will incur a two-stroke penalty.
Off the putting green you have a choice of whether you have the flag left in or have it removed. If you happen to hit the wrong green other than the green you should have been aiming for then you must play from the nearest point of relief without incurring any penalty.
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