Linda, a similar incident occurred in our junior inter-club
pennant recently. Individual match play, A v. B and C v. D. There were
the two matches going on, in one group of 4 players.
On the green, A sank a long putt to win the hole, so B then
picked up what he thought was his marker, about a metre from the hole. But in
fact he picked up C's marker, which was quite close to his. Not realising
what had happened, C then placed his ball (at B's marker) and sank the putt to
win the hole. His opponent D was closer to the hole but had already had one
more shot.
I'm not quite sure exactly what happened next. When it was
realised [while the players were still on the green] that a mistake had been
made, a degree of confusion reigned. In the end nothing was done. The consensus
was that no-one had benefited from the situation. B who had made the initial
error had lost the hole anyway. While it would have been possible to penalise C
for playing from a wrong place, it seemed unfair and disproportionate, and they
were only kids anyway. I don't think they knew about Note 1 in Rule 2-5 that
allows a player to disregard a breach of rules by his opponent in match play,
but it seems to me that this would be a suitable time to do so.
Do you agree? If D had decided to make a claim against C
would such a claim be likely to succeed? The decision to do nothing was made by
the experienced golfers acting as caddies for the juniors, and it caused some
discussion afterwards. The discussion was about what advice about the Rules the
adults who were there should have given to the juniors. Should they have
suggested that C be penalised for playing from a wrong place? Or pointed out
that a breach could be disregarded if D wished? I don't think the juniors
"gave a toss" to use an Australian colloquialism that I hope you
know.
Regards and thanks for your very interesting articles.
Lulu from Victoria, Australia
Dear Lulu,
I will give you the answer under the Rules.
First off, I would like to reiterate that playing two
matches in the same group is always a bad idea. I understand that it is often
unavoidable, but if matches can be sent out individually, pace of play improves
dramatically and many Rules issues can be avoided.
As I understand the situation, these are two individual
matches: A vs. B, and C vs. D. There is no penalty to anyone for B picking up
C's marker, as B is an outside agency. The marker should be replaced, after
which C may putt. C is responsible for recognizing his own marker. If he places
his ball behind the wrong marker, and then putts, he cannot avoid penalty if
someone notices the error in time. If no claim is made before C or D tee off on
the next hole, the putt stands with no penalty.
If there was some discussion on the green about the error,
it seems to me that everyone was aware of what happened, including C and D. A
player may choose to ignore a breach of the Rules in match play, but there
cannot be any agreement between players to ignore a breach. If there is
agreement, both players are disqualified under Rule 1-3.
I don't agree with "unfair and disproportionate"
and that "they were only kids." This was a good opportunity to teach
the proper Rules to young golfers. If they are correctly penalized, they will
remember a very important Rule; if they are not, what they have learned is you
can get away with breaking the Rules when you don't think they're fair. Which
lesson do you want them to learn?
Linda
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