Linda, I played in a better ball tournament a couple of weeks ago. On one green, one of the guys hit his first putt and it rolled about 3 feet past the hole. His second putt lipped out and stopped about 2 inches behind the hole. He picked the ball up. Everyone else in the group knew that you can’t do that. We told him to put it back and putt it, and then we all agreed that he should add 2 strokes to his score. Did we do this right?
Lou Lou
Dear Lou Lou,
In a stroke play tournament, every ball must be putted into the hole. If a player does not “hole out,” and he tees off on the next hole without correcting his mistake, he is disqualified (Rule 3-2). You did the right thing when you told him to replace his ball and putt it into the hole.
When a player lifts or moves his ball, he incurs a penalty of ONE-stroke and must replace the ball (Rule 18-2a). The two-stroke penalty you told him to add to his score was incorrect. Although everyone agreed on the penalty, it is always best to review any unusual situations with a tournament official before signing a scorecard. Even the most conscientious golfer cannot be expected to always remember whether a particular infraction of the rules results in a one- or two-stroke penalty.
While the penalty the player added to his score was incorrect, he is not disqualified for turning in an incorrect scorecard. This is because the score he signed for was higher than what he actually got. Whenever you sign for a score that is too high, the score stands. If you sign for a score that is lower than what you shot, you are disqualified (Rule 6-6d). So if a player in your group had committed an infraction that would incur a two-stroke penalty, and everyone agreed that it was a one-stroke penalty, then as soon as the player signed for a score that was too low he would be disqualified.
Moral: Always verify with the tournament director or rules official that you have assessed the correct number of penalty strokes before signing your scorecard.
Linda
Copyright © 2008 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
