committee - waive rules?

[Neilglover5]

Rule 33-1 states that the committee cannot waive a rule of golf, but 33-7 says that they can waive a DQ in exceptional individual circumstances should them deem that it is warranted - confusing - what does this mean by exceptional circumstances? Does that include discretion e.g if the committee are certain that no advantage was gained or been seeked by the infringement.

 

[rulefan]

Just to clarify the relationship between 33-1 and 33-7.
33-7 is a Rule of Golf so using it not a breach of 33-1 and is not waiving a Rule but simply waiving a DQ. DQ is not itself a Rule. It is simply a possible consequential action of a Rule.

 

[Neilglover5]

So if a player breaches a rule during competition that warrants a DQ, the committee has the authority to waive that DQ and allow the score to stand?

 

[duncan mackie]

So if a player breaches a rule during competition that warrants a DQ, the committee has the authority to waive that DQ and allow the score to stand?

Only in exceptional circumstances....which in practice are extremely, extremely unlikely.

If you look at the decisions under 33-7 you will get a strong feel for this. Of the situations raised only one is considered to fall under this and that is where a player has proceeded under the incorrect advice of a referee! (Which at first glance appears to re-state 34-2 but is subtly different in that the referee didn't make a decision but referred the player to the committee).

Probably worth noting the numerous situations in touraments over the decades where it might seem this rule would have been able to resolve 'reasonably', but it couldn't- even though the incidents subsequently resulted in, or contributed to, rule changes.

Last time I remember it being applied was the extremely high profile (and confused) situation with Woods at the masters. The relevant bits being that the committee ruled on an incident without discussing it with the player and the player subsequently made statements that confirmed that their ruling was incorrect. As a result the player had the applicable penalty (for what transpired) of DQ waived, and a 2 stroke penalty applied. Had it been any other player involved people would probably have considered it a good ruling...but that's another thing!

 

[rulefan]

So if a player breaches a rule during competition that warrants a DQ, the committee has the authority to waive that DQ and allow the score to stand?

In one word, yes.
But see Duncan's post above

 

[Neilglover5]

In one word, yes.
But see Duncan's post above

Thanks both for pointing in the right direction, looking at the decisions as suggested by Duncan, this can only be done by committee and not by an individual committee member or referee and only in exceptional circumstances, which is where the committee discretion comes into it to determine what exceptional means!