Hi Linda,
I have two questions:
1. In foursomes match
play (alternate shots), if Player A tees off and her ball goes into a hazard,
does Player B take the next stroke with the team getting a one-stroke penalty
even though Player B wouldn’t be taking the third shot?
2. In foursomes match play,
if Player A takes a fresh air shot [whiffs], does she play the next shot or does
Player B take the next shot? If Player B takes the next shot couldn’t this
tactic be used to the team’s advantage where Player A might be the weaker
player and have to play over water (for example) and Player B could then hit
the shot and land on the green?
Many thanks
Lulu from Dublin, Ireland
Dear Lulu,
The answers are the same for both match play and stroke
play.
1. Penalty strokes do
not affect the order of play in foursomes [Rule 29-1]. If Player A hits her
ball into a water hazard, Player B will drop a ball and play the next shot.
2. If Player A takes a legitimate swing at the ball and
misses, she has played a stroke. Player B will take the next shot. However, if Player A deliberately misses the ball, she has
not made a stroke (the Definition of “Stroke” requires an intention to hit the
ball). It is still A’s turn to play. In this situation, if Player B hits the
ball, B has played out of turn. The penalty to Team A-B is loss of hole in
match play. In stroke play, the penalty is two strokes, and Player A must play
a ball from the spot where Player B played. If she does not do so before Team
A-B tees off on the next hole, the team is disqualified [Decision 29-1/7].
There is nothing stopping Player A from hitting a short
chip, or even using a putter to advance the ball a few feet. This would be a
perfectly acceptable strategy to allow the better player to attempt the shot
over the water.
For those of you who think that the term “foursome” refers
to a group of four golfers playing in the same group, allow me to disavow you
of that notion. “Foursome” refers to a golf game in which partners alternate
tee shots and alternate shots during play of each hole. The format is sometimes
referred to as “alternate shot.”
Linda
Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
