Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Ask Linda #1416-Too many clubs

Hi Linda,
My wife played match play today. On Hole #14 she found out that her opponent had 15 clubs. She pointed it out to him and he said: “yes, a mistake of my caddy.” After recounting the clubs, he agreed to the 2-hole penalty. She told him that he should continue with 14 clubs. His answer was that he already got the punishment, so why not finish the round with it? He continued with his 15 clubs and when the match was over he won the match one-up.

She complained to the committee because he failed to take out the extra club or to tell her which one he would not play with. At the meeting with the Committee he argued that the committee should have told him that his extra club should have been put aside. She told him that the player should know the rules. Not the committee's job.

Now there is a big discussion about the clubs he did not use and the one he didn't declare out of play under Rule 4-4c.

Lou, a Frenchman living in Pakistan

Dear Lou,

Rule 4-4c seems pretty clear to me. It states that any club in excess of the 14 clubs the player is permitted to carry must be declared out of play immediately upon discovery. The player may not use that extra club during the remainder of the round. The penalty for a breach of this Rule is disqualification.

Your wife properly informed her opponent that he should discard (or identify) the extra club that he would not use for the remainder of the round. This was good advice, and had her opponent followed it he would not have been subject to disqualification under Rule 4-4c. Under the circumstances, the Committee has no choice but to disqualify your wife’s opponent. The Rule states quite clearly that the extra club must be declared out of play, and that failure to do so results in disqualification.

Linda

Copyright © 2016 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.