1/11/2020 - Enagic Golf Club at Eastlake

First off I have to say wow, conditions at what used to be Eastlake Country Club in Chula Vista have gotten much better under the new ownership.  The greens were as fast and true as any course I've played in San Diego (or anywhere else).

During the round, we had a discussion regarding whether it is against the rules to look up the line of your opponents putt, or just bad etiquette.  A couple of members of the group were quite confident that it was a violation of the rules of golf, along the same lines as the new rules with regards to having your caddie set your alignment.

So I looked it up.  This is covered by Rule 10.2, which states:

While the stroke is being made, your caddie must not deliberately stand on or close to your line of play or do anything else (such as pointing out a spot on the putting green) to point out the line of play.

Interestingly, it doesn't say anything about your playing partner.

So it's not a violation of the rules, but it's not a good idea.  You are well within your rights as a player to ask your opponent to stand somewhere else while you are making your putt.