Ask Linda #127-Match play: Who wins the hole?

Linda,
We have been playing Cart Path Only recently and it is difficult to be totally aware of other players’ scores as one walks back across the fairway to move the cart forward on the path. In a recent Match Play match, A was driving the cart and B was walking to the green. At the green A putts and stops 2 feet from the hole and is lying 5. B putts and goes in the hole. A asks B what her score is and is told 5. A picks up because her next shot would be 6. While walking off the green B confesses she made a mistake and her score was 6.

Player A did not technically concede the hole. She picked up because she thought she had lost the hole. B corrected her mistake before the next tee although her mistake altered A's understanding of the hole. There was no ball marker to show where A's ball was when she picked up so she could not go back and putt. What is the ruling in this situation?
Lulu

Dear Lulu,

This is a “lulu” of a question, Lulu. The answer is an exception to one rule that is found in another rule!

Ordinarily, in match play, if a player gives wrong information to his opponent about the number of strokes taken, he loses the hole if he doesn’t correct his misstatement before his opponent makes his next stroke [Rule 9-2b/ii]. However, there is an exception to this rule that comes into play under the circumstances you describe. When a player (Player B in your scenario) has already holed out and subsequently incurs a penalty (which happened when she gave the wrong stroke count that caused Player A to lift her ball), and the resultant score would be no worse than a half (her opponent was left with a putt for a half), then the hole is halved [Rule 2-2; Decision 9-2/6].

This answer might be easier to understand if I quote Rule 2-2 for you right here in my column: “When a player has holed out and his opponent has been left with a stroke for the half, if the player subsequently incurs a penalty, the hole is halved.”

Since this rule is unusual, and can be somewhat confusing when read for the first time, I’m going to take a brief walk through your situation, explaining the rule on the way.

In your scenario, player B holed out for a 6. Player A was lying 5 on the green with a chance to putt for a 6. B stated incorrectly that she had scored 5 on the hole. B’s window of opportunity to correct her misstatement ended when A picked up her ball. (In order to avoid a loss of hole penalty for giving wrong information, you have to correct it before your opponent makes her next stroke. Picking up the ball is equivalent to making another stroke.) However, all of the requirements for Rule 2-2 to be in effect were present: B had completed the hole, her incorrect information was offered after she had hole out, and A would had had an opportunity to halve the hole if she had not been misinformed about the stroke total. What this rule does, in essence, is concede A’s putt, since B denied her the opportunity to try to make it. This is a fair solution to a sticky problem.

For those of you whose heads are not yet spinning and want to explore this topic further, here are several summaries of Decisions based on Rule 9-2 where giving wrong information may or may not result in a loss of hole penalty.

Situation 1:
Daisy’s ball lies a few inches from the hole. Rose, her opponent, asks, “How many strokes will that be in the hole?” Daisy tells her “6.” Rose, who is lying 5, concedes Daisy’s putt. Before Rose putts, Daisy realizes she actually had a 5 and tells Rose.
Ruling: Daisy loses the hole. This is because her incorrect information led to Rose conceding her putt. A player will lose a hole if she gives wrong information that leads to her opponent taking action such as picking up a ball or conceding a putt. If Daisy had corrected the information before Rose conceded the putt, then there would be no penalty [Decision 9-2/7].

Situation 2:
Jack tells Charlie on the third hole that he scored a 5. Jack wins the hole, because Charlie had a 6. On the seventh hole, it suddenly dawns on Jack that he actually had a 6 on the third hole, and he tells Charlie.
Ruling: Jack loses the third hole, and the match has to be adjusted [Decision 9-2/9].

Situation 3:
During play of the fourth hole, Alice asks Jim how many strokes he has taken, and Jim outright refuses to tell her.
Ruling: Jim loses the hole. A player is always entitled to know how many strokes her opponent has taken, and the opponent must supply that information before the player takes her next stroke [Decision 9-2/3.5].

Situation 4:
Joe’s ball lies a few inches from the hole. Bob concedes the putt, and asks Joe what he scored. Joe says “6.” Bob, who is lying 5, holes his putt for a 6 and assumes the hole was halved. On the way to the next hole, Joe tells Bob he actually scored 5.
Ruling: Joe still wins the hole because the error was corrected before either of them played from the next tee [Decision 9-2/14]. However, if either player had teed off on the following hole before Joe corrected his score, then Joe would have been penalized and Bob would have won the hole.

Situation 5:
Same situation as #4 above, but Joe scores 5 and Bob scores 7. After Joe tees off on the next hole, he tells Bob that he actually scored a 6 on the previous hole.
Ruling: In this case there is no penalty, because the information that was corrected did not change Bob’s understanding of the result of the hole. Joe would have won the hole with a 5 or a 6 [Decision 9-2/15].

Linda

Copyright © 2009 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Dear readers,
I sent the above answer to Lulu in advance of publication, and received the following reply:

Linda,
Thank you for your prompt reply.
In the situation I described both A and B settled it amicably, coming to the correct conclusion by an incorrect method. B conceded A's putt thereby halving the hole.
Rule 2-2 is interesting and would be more spectacular if A had been left with a 40 ft. putt!