Dear Linda,
This occurred to me today and I'm not sure what is the best
procedure and I'm sure you might have experienced it. A player during stoke
play in a high school match clearly hit his tee ball into a lateral water
hazard. Choosing the option of dropping within 2 club lengths of the hazard
line no closer to the hole, he would have been dropping into high rough on a
slanted hill. He realized this would not be a smart choice and asked the rules
official what to do and was told "oh just throw it out here in the
fairway" (about 50 feet closer and on a level clean lie).
I was following the match and well I just couldn't keep my
mouth closed even though my wife told me to. I told the official he was clearly
wrong and to ask another official or I would clearly show him the rule. The
player actually seemed to agree with me that what he was told was wrong, but he
hit it from the fairway anyway. The official just blew me off and said, "I'll
handle it."
Of course when they got in and all was straightened out the
official did apologize. My question is…would the player now be disqualified (I
think not but maybe a 2-stroke penalty)? And this is the big one… should I have
just kept my mouth shut and reported it later? This just didn't seem right. Any
ideas you can share on this would be helpful. Please feel free to use this in
your column if you wish. I hope I did not take too much of your time. I
just can’t stand to see kids not playing by the rules…
Lou from North Carolina
Dear Lou,
When a referee authorizes a player to infringe a Rule, the
player is absolved from penalty [Decision 34-2/2]. A referee’s decision is
final [Rule 34-2]. The young man who was incorrectly told by the referee to
toss his ball out onto the fairway did not incur a penalty since he followed
the referee’s instruction.
I am pleased to hear that you spoke up, although I hope you
were more tactful than your question would indicate. It is everyone’s
obligation to see that the Rules are followed, and it is especially important
for the young player to learn the proper procedure. It is also unfair to the
other player if his opponent receives an advantage due to an incorrect ruling.
You were interceding to try to keep the match fair – such an action should
never be considered improper.
I’m concerned that the referee was either ignorant of this
basic Rule or casual about its enforcement. In the first case he should be
encouraged to attend a rules class; in the second he should not be asked
to serve as a referee.
Linda
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