Throughout Australia, there are approximately 400 courses that have greens comprised of oiled sand or some other similar material, usually due to the prohibitive cost of maintaining grass greens by small clubs in rural areas.

The player is able to smooth the putting surface with a provided smoother/rake prior to putting. Certain conditions apply to the smoothing process and how to mark the ball on the green.

UPDATE: An updated version of the Special Rules for Sand Greens was published on 1 January 2019, in line with the changes to the Rules of Golf that came into effect on the same date. The changes to the Sand Greens Rules include modifications to the Rule numbers and other minor text changes.

View the document below for the complete Special Rules for Sand Greens:

• Special Rules for sand greens

• 2019 special rules for sand greens: List of differences to previous edition