Hi Linda,
I got caught in a very unusual situation yesterday evening. Match
play, last hole, par 3 alongside and partly over a lake, with a yellow-staked hazard
at about 100 yds. Hole about 160 yards.
As we stood on the tee we were totally blinded by a very low
and very bright setting sun. We literally had nil visibility from the
designated yellow tee box. It was simply impossible to see where a ball went.
What to do? It was not a situation where there was a
committee around or a referee. We were almost last on the course.
In the event, because the teeing ground was pretty big we
simply teed off to the left of the marked tee box at exactly the same distance,
but from a shaded area where the sunset was not so difficult. We applied common
sense in the circumstances.
I’d appreciate your advice.
Kind regards,
Lou from London
Dear Lou,
Blinding sun at dusk is not as unusual as you might think.
My suggestion would be to have one player go ahead to spot the balls.
There is no penalty for inadvertently teeing off outside the
teeing ground in match play. If a player accidentally
tees off outside the markers, his opponent may require him to cancel the stroke
and replay from within the teeing ground [Rule 11-4a].
However, this was not an accident. It sounds like the two of
you discussed the problem and agreed to tee off outside the markers. This is
grounds for disqualification under Rule 1-3 (“Agreement to Waive Rules”). If
you knew you were not permitted to tee off outside the tee markers, yet agreed
to do so, you should both be disqualified.
There is no penalty to players in a match who break a Rule when
neither of them is aware of it. The Committee would have to interview both
players before making a ruling.
Linda
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