The Rules of Golf are full of surprises and, although I’ve been studying them for a while now, I frequently have to check up when I‘m contacted by readers asking for advice on scenarios they’ve encountered. The great thing about the Rules is that there’s always one that can be applied, no matter how unusual the circumstances.
A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting to a golfing buddy of mine who had experienced an awkward situation in a four-ball better-ball, stroke play competition and I thought it was a great example of an unusual Rules situation.
Both he and his partner drove off on a short par-4 and both headed down the left side where there was out-of-bounds lurking. They thought they had both stayed on the course. On getting down to the vicinity of their balls though, they found his partner’s ball was narrowly out of bounds, and his was narrowly in, the balls not five yards apart. In a bit of frustration at being just off the course, and without really thinking, his partner chapped his (out of play) ball up towards the green before my pal (who was now under a bit of pressure) played up towards the putting surface. He (my friend) duffed his second and then hit his third into a bunker.
At this point they decided his partner should go back to the tee as he might now be able to return a lower score than my pal. He walked back, hit a good drive to just short of the green and got up and down for what they believed to be a five.
My friend played his fourth from the bunker to tap-in distance and popped it in for what he believed was also a five.
The other pairing in the group weren’t so sure. They felt (correctly) that a penalty was due. In hitting his ball from the out-of-bounds, my friend’s partner had technically made a practice stroke during the hole and was in breach of Rule 5.5a (No practice strokes when playing a hole). That incurs a General Penalty which in stroke play is two shots, so he had actually scored a 7.
Fair enough they thought. But it wasn’t a problem because my friend had also salvaged a five. Again, the two playing partners raised eyebrows and pointed in their Rule Book at 23.9a(2) – A player’s penalty also applies to partner in four-ball when the player’s breach helps their partner’s play. Because my friend’s partner had hit his “practice” stroke from OB up towards the green from a position similar to where my friend was – his stroke had “helped” my buddy – he had given him a “sighter,” and so the General Penalty should also apply to my friend. He had also scored a 7.
There was no argument as the Rules were pretty clear and both my friend and his partner agreed totally that they had breached them. It was, I thought, a great example of the importance of having a really good knowledge of the Rules. My mate’s playing partner will never make the mistake of hitting a shot in anger like that again when the ball is out of play and, thanks to the knowledgeable pair they were partnered with, the field was protected, as they should have been. Interesting stuff. The Rules never fail to pique my interest!
