Watching the Masters and I saw a lot of leaves blowing everywhere. What are the rules for when and where you can clear the immediate area before a stroke?
Those would be considered “loose impediments and movable obstructions.” “Loose impediments” are things like sticks, leaves, twigs, and blades of grass. “Movable obstructions” are artificial objects that can be moved with reasonable effort such as a water bottle, scorecard, broken tee, trash can, bench, etc.
You are free to move either out of your way during play, but if your ball moves while clearing “loose impediments” that should result in a stroke penalty. OTOH if your ball moves while moving a “moveable obstruction” you can simply replace the ball to its original spot without penalty. Why that particular distinction, I can’t explain.
I play casual golf, so I do not keep up on all the specific official rules (and think it kinda silly to have the same set of rules for pros and recreational golfers.) My understanding is that it used to be prohibited to move loose impediments in bunkers or marked hazards, but ISTR that rule may have been changed somewhat recently.
One of the guys I play with regularly does compete, and he is very up on the rules. From conversations when things come up on the course, my impression is that quite a few rules that have been constant since I started playing in the 70s have been changed. Such as declaring the reason for a provisional, grounding your club in a bunker, and even pulling the pin on the green. We play for low stakes, and don’t want strict adherence to the rules to interfere with anyone having fun.