Dear readers,
I have rewritten the answer to #1880a. My thanks to the reader from the U.K. who pointed out my mistake. Please revisit the column:
https://lindamillergolf.blogspot.com/2019/03/ask-linda-1880a-follow-up-to-1880.html
Hi Linda,
Regarding Ask Linda 1877-Deliberately stop a ball from rolling into a penalty area:
If we are playing Stableford or some other format, where there is no chance of scoring on the hole, is it OK to stop the ball then? Rule 11.2 has an exception, but it’s for match play. We occasionally have a request: "This is my last shot on this hole, can you stop it after it goes past the hole please".
Lulu from Australia
Dear Lulu,
Yes. You may ask someone to stop a ball that goes past the hole when failure to hole the ball would result in zero Stableford points. The same would hold true for any format where the player will exceed the maximum score. When I answered the original question, I assumed a stroke-play format in which the player was required to hole out.
As you noted, there is a written exception under Rule 11.2 that applies specifically to match play. If a player deliberately stops his opponent’s ball when there is no reasonable chance that it can be holed, and this is done as a concession or because the previous stroke needed to be holed to tie the hole, there is no penalty.
Linda
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