Can you use a club or an alignment stick on the course, as long as you remove it before you play your shot?
Nope. Rule 10.2-b explicitly states "No Setting Down Object to help in Taking Stance."
I think this used to be okay under the old rules, provided that you remove it before you play your shot.
Two stroke penalty.
One member of our foursome was using a new putter, and we were sent out early, so he didn't have a chance to go to the putting green. We all acknowledged on the first green that this was against the rules, but what is the penalty?
It's the general penalty the first time you do it (two strokes in stroke play). If you do it a second time, it's a DQ.
