Monday, May 4, 2015

Ask Linda #1053-Line of play worsened by partner

Linda,
Better ball of two match. Player 1 is about 30 yards out. Player 2, his partner, is about 5 yards off the green. Player 1 asks Player 2 to go first for a few reasons related to the match. Player 2 plays his shot and takes a large divot. Can that divot be repaired prior to Player 1 playing his shot? Does it matter who repairs the divot? Can the opposing team object to the divot repair?

Thanks in advance for your reply. Your rulings and explanations are the most sane of anyone I have seen on the internet. Thank you so much.

Lou from Litchfield, South Carolina

Dear Lou,

What we have here is partners who have agreed to play out of turn in a match for strategic reasons. That’s fine – when it is one player’s turn to hit, it is technically the team’s turn to hit; the player may defer to his partner [Rule 30-3b].

Ordinarily, a player is entitled to the lie, line of play, and stance he had when his ball came to rest. However, in this case, since the partners agreed to play out of turn, that entitlement does not apply. To worsen your partner’s line of play is treated the same as if the player himself had worsened his own line of play. The divot made by the player’s partner may not be repaired prior to the player hitting.

Linda

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