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
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