Hi Linda,
18 hole medal [stroke play] competition.
A player decides to play his ball from shallow water in a
hazard. He plays the shot and is successful in getting the ball out and in
play. The shot is witnessed and, indeed, filmed by his playing partner who was
hoping for a less successful attempt! The player and his marker sign the card
and submit it in the genuine belief the score is correct and the player was
subsequently declared competition winner.
With his card signed and posted, after the close of the
competition, it is discovered, whilst reviewing the filmed shot, the player had
actually touched the water on his backswing. The player, having seen the video
evidence, accepts he has infringed the rules of golf. Both he and his playing
partners had not realised any infringement at the time. He was,
retrospectively, given a two shot penalty and his prize was recovered.
Q. This was an amateur (society) game. Can video evidence,
like in professional golf, be used to change the score on a player’s card?
Q. If the video evidence is acceptable, should the player
not have been disqualified for posting an incorrect card as opposed to been
given a two-shot penalty?
Q. What actually should have happened in the example
described above?
Q. What should have happened if the breach had been
discovered prior to the close of competition?
Thanks for making me a better, all around, golfer.
Lou from Wales, UK
Dear Lou,
In stroke play, a penalty may not be imposed after the close
of competition [Rule 34-1b]. There are exceptions to this Rule, but none of
them apply in this case.
If the player had reviewed the video prior to turning in his
scorecard and learned that he had incurred a two-stroke penalty for a breach of
Rule 13-4 (touching the water in a water hazard prior to making his stroke), he
would have been disqualified if he did not include the two-stroke penalty in
his score for the hole. However, that is not the case. The video was not
reviewed until after the close of the competition, the player was unaware he
had incurred a penalty when he signed his scorecard, and he was the proper
winner of the competition [Rule 34-1b, Exception iii].
The Committee erred in imposing the two-stroke penalty after
the close of competition. The title and prize should be restored to this
player.
Here are the answers to your other questions:
1. Video evidence may be used to change a player’s score. The
Committee may use all available evidence in its quest to get the ruling right.
I recommend that you read the joint statement from the USGA and the R&A
regarding the use of video evidence in administering the Rules of Golf. Here is
a link to that statement: http://www.usga.org/news.aspx?id=21474861350.
2. The video evidence was not acceptable, since it was
submitted after the close of the competition. Had it been submitted prior to
that time, the Committee could simply add the two-stroke penalty to the hole
where the breach occurred. The justification for waiving the disqualification
penalty (for recording a score on a signed and submitted scorecard that did not
include the penalty) is that the competitor could not reasonably know that he
had incurred a penalty [Decision 33-7/4.5].
3. What should have happened is nothing. The evidence was
submitted too late and the player should retain his title and his prize.
4. If the breach had been discovered prior to the close of
the competition, the Committee should have shared the evidence with the player and
added a two-stroke penalty to the player’s score for the hole. This is a case where the disqualification penalty should be waived. Please take out
a couple of minutes to read Decision 33-7/4.5: Competitor Unaware of Penalty Returns Wrong Score; Whether Waiving or
Modifying Disqualification Penalty Justified.
Linda
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