Practice putting stroke above ball

[benb1989]

This one goes back a few years but has always bugged me. My younger brother hadn't been playing golf for long, he was around 12 years old and playing in one of his first club comps. 

When putting he would take his practice strokes above the ball, he would hover the club and take his practice putting stroke in the air directly above his ball. He never made contact with the ball and no one had ever raised an issue with it.

Well in this comp an adult member pulled him up on the 3rd hole and told him that it counts as an air shot, and his par 5 was infact a 6 as a result. Being young and nervous my brother never questioned it and didn't mention it untill a few weeks later. 

People take practice swings above the ball all over the course, so unsure if/why on the green would be different, or was this adult member in the wrong? I do wonder if he would have pulled another adult up for the same thing

Edited May 2, 2021 by benb1989

[CarlH]

It's not.  The other person was a either pulling a fast one or grossly misinformed.

[DaveP043]

On 5/2/2021 at 4:11 PM, benb1989 said:

or was this adult member in the wrong?

He was wrong, here's the definition of "stroke"

Quote

The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.

This requires intent, you have to want to strike the ball.  A practice swing above the ball is no different from a practice swing to the side of the ball.