There’s a certain poetry to the image—an old-school golfer, squinting down the line of a putt, with a hulking cigar clamped between their teeth like a general surveying the battlefield. But is that thick stogie just for show, or could it be skirting the edges of the Rules of Golf as a sneaky “training aid”?
A Cigar in the Mouth, Not in the Rulebook
According to Rule 4.3a, players are prohibited from using equipment or objects to assist in making a stroke, including anything that artificially helps steady your body or guide your swing. But here’s the nuance: if the cigar is in your mouth because you simply enjoy cigars, then puff away. It’s no different than wearing sunglasses or chewing gum—so long as the intent isn’t to gain a physical advantage in the stroke.
But, and here’s where the rules tap you on the shoulder, if that Churchill-sized cigar is there because you’ve noticed it keeps your head from bobbing and weaving on your putts, then you’re flirting with a gray zone. Technically, if you’re not consciously using it to aid your putting motion, you’re fine. But if the stogie becomes a surrogate for a swing aid, and you start relying on it for putting consistency, then the rules start getting testy. Intent is the invisible line, and if you cross it, you might have a problem.
The Myth of the Illegal Pause
Let’s quickly touch on another often unknown myth shall we? Can you pause at the bottom of your stroke? Yes. Can you ditch the backswing entirely and just nudge the ball forward from a static position? Also, yes—but with a massive asterisk.
The rules do not require a backswing. But they do require a proper stroke, meaning you strike the ball with the clubhead—not push, scoop, or scrape it along. No billiards-style shoves or hockey-style flicks allowed. The contact must be brief and clean. If you’re successfully doing that, you’re within the rules, even if it looks unorthodox (and frankly, a bit unsettling to your buddies). But if your stroke starts looking more like a shuffle than a strike, you’ll be racking up penalties faster than you can say “double bogey.”
If It Looks Weird, it Doesn’t Mean It’s Wrong
Your buddies might not have seen it on Tour, but that doesn’t make it illegal. The pros aren’t your rulebook—they’re just the best at what works. As long as you’re making a clean, legal strike and not crafting some Frankenstein’s monster of a putting motion, you’re good to go. And if the big, fat cigar stays lit and your score stays low—well, some traditions are worth keeping, even if they smell a little smoky.
