Armchair referees

[BrizoH71]

So, yet another tour professional has been disqualified on the back of TV viewer interference.. this time, Simon Dyson in the BMW Masters, after TV viewers emailed and tweeted the European Tour to raise an issue of Dyson tapping down a spike mark on the line of his putt, breaching rule 16.1a.

Dyson was subsequently chucked out of the event under rule 6.6d for signing an incorrect scorecard after failing to apply a 2-shot penalty.

There seems to be a lot of this going on in recent times, with a few high profile stars being caught - often unintentionally - breaching rules that have only been raised by armchair referees on the back of TV pictures. Should the input of these armchair referees be considered valid when it comes to these events? After all, there are already referees out on the course and in TV trucks monitoring play. And in today's world, surely such an incident could have been highlighted and examined, and Dyson informed of any infringement prior to finishing his second round?

While I understand the ruling, and the letter of the law states he should be DQ'd, I personally feel a DQ on the back of armchair referees' intervention is harsh; applying the 2-shot penalty and letting Dyson continue would surely have been fairer? These armchair referees are interfering in players' ability to make a living, and to me that is wrong.

There is no other sport that allows itself to be so influenced or policed by those watching from afar.

 

[Sid Rixon IV]

I got Drogba sent off several times just by shouting at my telly.

 

[gdc]

Disagree mate - if he breaks a rule he deserves to pay the penalty.
I didn't see it but lets face it tapping down a spike mark is not one of the obscure rules.

 

[Tommo21]

I got Drogba sent off several times just by shouting at my telly.

Post of the year..........

 

[BTatHome]

Problem is you will have to have a scale of penalty that is deserving of being raised. So maybe you would say that dyson's wasn't enough for a DQ, but then grounding is a hazard on the backswing? How about a leather wedge? Or would you prefer to have a change of rule that says rules committee must now judge the severity too? Or do they just say anything not caught directly on the the course by players, or referees is not counted?

Basically if they don't want to have to rewrite a chunk of the rules then the all encompassing rules are to be taken at face value and rule breaks have been to do dealt with according to the letter of the law.

 

[Tommo21]

He's saying he didnt realise he done it, or words to that effect….Looked pretty deliberate to me and even if there was no spike mark you still cant tap down like he did, especially on his line in front of his ball. The armchair thing...well...his playing partners should have picked it up and I'm sure there's usually a rules guy looking on.

 

[Pin-seeker]

I bet some sad person feels really important after reporting the incident.

 

[Rooter]

I bet some sad person feels really important after reporting the incident.

Probably high fiving their cat.

 

[Pin-seeker]

Probably high fiving their cat.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:
My money is on Roy Cropper been the grass

 

[BTatHome]

I bet some sad person feels really important after reporting the incident.

So did Dyson cheat, or not? Surely he broke the rules and deserves to be given the punishment, or should he have been let off? If the person hadn't phoned in then he could have won by breaking the rules.

 

[Birchy]

Had he got away with it and won by one shot denying a young rookie by one shot how would we feel then?

Fact is he broke a rule and whether intentional or not there is a penalty. How he got caught is irrelevent.

 

[Foxholer]

There does seem to be too much scope for this sort of thing and I believe there needs to be some sort of halfway position that recognises the error, but doesn't, necessarily, result in a DQ.

I think a further 2 shot penalty (making 4 shots increase on the Scorecard value in this case) would be appropriate. How this would be worded and how multiple breaches (!!) would be penalised I'm unsure.

But I think a DQ is too harsh!

 

[Rooter]

Fact is he broke a rule and whether intentional or not there is a penalty. How he got caught is irrelevent.

He did break a rule yes, however I would say it's either spotted on course and penalised (ref, playing partner, TV analysts) and that should be it, retrospectively reviewing in my opinion is not within the spirit of golf. Yes in rugby or football where Thetis so much going on, have citing committees etc, but I don't think it should be in golf personally.

 

[Pin-seeker]

So did Dyson cheat, or not? Surely he broke the rules and deserves to be given the punishment, or should he have been let off? If the person hadn't phoned in then he could have won by breaking the rules.

I thought it was pretty obvious that he broke a rule. I just can't understand why some numpty felt the need to go running to the phone.

 

[BTatHome]

Is an analyst on sky allowed to mention it if it is being shown on a delayed broadcast? Plus you now getting into the fact that 90% of the field are not shown live.

Personally I have issue with it, I doubt anybody in professional goes out to purposely break rules.

 

[BTatHome]

I thought it was pretty obvious that he broke a rule. I just can't understand why some numpty felt the need to go running to the phone.

So is Simon Dyson a cheat ?

Seemed that Tiger was branded a cheat quite quickly by most for not applying a rule violation, yet I haven't seen the same outcry yet.

I doubt Simon Dyson would be happy to have seen the outcry later if he gone on to win.

 

[Deleted member 17920]

I thought it was pretty obvious that he broke a rule. I just can't understand why some numpty felt the need to go running to the phone.

What would have happened if it got to the final hole on Sunday and he had a putt to win and no one else had noticed that he had broken the rules? Whilst I understand you call the person that called in a numpty he may have been a county rules referee or just a casual golfer but he offered another angle that no one picked up on. How would you feel if you lost the club champs by 1 shot only to find out your playing partner committed a rules infringement on round 1 but didn't bother to penalise himself.

 

[Pin-seeker]

So is Simon Dyson a cheat ?

Seemed that Tiger was branded a cheat quite quickly by most for not applying a rule violation, yet I haven't seen the same outcry yet.

I doubt Simon Dyson would be happy to have seen the outcry later if he gone on to win.

Wow your really wanting to know if I think he's a cheat or not.
Ok go on then,No I don't think he's a cheat. I think he made an honest mistake.

 

[JustOne]

Video here.... http://www1.skysports.com/golf/news...hing-line-of-putt-and-signing-for-wrong-score

 

[Foxholer]

Video here.... http://www1.skysports.com/golf/news...hing-line-of-putt-and-signing-for-wrong-score

Wow! Why did he do that? If it's a habit, it's one he needs to get rid of fast!

That, allowing players to tap down spike marks, is one of the 2 rules I wouldn't mind seeing change. And yes, I know there are time issues involved - though that could be resolved with something like a 'with 1 club length of the ball or hole'. And as an aside, there's seems to be plenty of tapping down that goes on that isn't preceded by a repair of a ball mark!