Discretion

[atticusfinch]

I have always looked at DQ as removing the competitor from the competition because his breach was too severe to assign a penalty for the potential advantage. It just can't be measured so removing the player is the only solution to offset it. So, they aren't assigning a penalty, they are removing him because no penalty is adequate. :blah:

 

[Slab]

Imagine the senario.......
You are a 2 ball playing the 18th in a medal.
Your fellow competitor is already 10 over h/cap having a miserable day and he's in a bunker.
As he makes his backswing he just brushes the sand, probably without realising it.
Do you penalise him or let it go, considering he's already having a miserable day?

I doubt I'd be looking at his bunker swing so intently that I could categorically see something like that while he didn't realise it had happened

 

[MadAdey]

I think some rules are quite clearly black and white and things we should all know like improving your lie, say snapping a branch off a tree to give you room to swing, grounding your club in a hazard, there is no question as to using discretion in those situations.

But when it comes to things like 'closest point of relief' then discretion comes into it. Someone is taking free relief and looking at the best place to drop within the rules. A player might have two options where to drop, but one is going to leave him without a shot and the other leaves a nice shot at the green. He asks your opinion to make sure he drops within the rules, you take a look and there isn't a lot in it regarding the closest point of relief. But in your opinion the worse of the 2 dropping positions is possibly the correct drop, but still not exactly sure. Do you make him take the bad one or the good one, that's at your discretion.

 

[backwoodsman]

I think some rules are quite clearly black and white and things we should all know like improving your lie, say snapping a branch off a tree to give you room to swing, grounding your club in a hazard, there is no question as to using discretion in those situations.

But when it comes to things like 'closest point of relief' then discretion comes into it. Someone is taking free relief and looking at the best place to drop within the rules. A player might have two options where to drop, but one is going to leave him without a shot and the other leaves a nice shot at the green. He asks your opinion to make sure he drops within the rules, you take a look and there isn't a lot in it regarding the closest point of relief. But in your opinion the worse of the 2 dropping positions is possibly the correct drop, but still not exactly sure. Do you make him take the bad one or the good one, that's at your discretion.

It's fairly rare that there are two nearest points of relief. But if it was a situation where that was potentially the case, then I'd merely offer an opinion. Either saying "yes, I think they are equidistant and you can choose" or "they are not equal - that one is the actual nearest". If l was not sure, I'd merely say so and add something like "you probably need to measure it" and leave them to it. And if l was genuinely not sure, then I'd be content with whatever decision/action they took.

But l don't think that is me "using discretion".

 

[rulefan]

But when it comes to things like 'closest point of relief' then discretion comes into it. Someone is taking free relief and looking at the best place to drop within the rules. A player might have two options where to drop, but one is going to leave him without a shot and the other leaves a nice shot at the green. He asks your opinion to make sure he drops within the rules, you take a look and there isn't a lot in it regarding the closest point of relief. But in your opinion the worse of the 2 dropping positions is possibly the correct drop, but still not exactly sure. Do you make him take the bad one or the good one, that's at your discretion.

If there is doubt, it is very easy to measure npr. If there are equidistant points, the player may choose. There is no discretion involved.

 

[guest100718]

Imagine the senario.......
You are a 2 ball playing the 18th in a medal.
Your fellow competitor is already 10 over h/cap having a miserable day and he's in a bunker.
As he makes his backswing he just brushes the sand, probably without realising it.
Do you penalise him or let it go, considering he's already having a miserable day?

If my FC didnt notice, then I doubt I would either.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Personally i wouldn't say anything. If they called themselves on it cool but if not i wouldn't lose any sleep over it at all. We're not pros, we play for fun. I'm sure I'll get shot down and the standard what other rules do you ignore questions will come... everything can be so predictable 

This ^^^

 

[guest100718]

I think that anyone who spouts a rule that you know to be BS should get an instant 10 shot penalty..

Things like you must always mark a ball before you lift it, no putting with the flag in your hand, no brushing away sand on the green, raking a bunker you are playing from etc etc , there are many more..

 

[atticusfinch]

[FONT=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Discretion is the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation. The ROG do not provide many circumstances where discretion is allowed. One example might be when a choice between two points is allowed...choosing one over another is discretion. But the rules do not allow deciding whether a rule should be applied or not...facts dictate that and there is no discretion to ignore a rule. Any official who ignores a rule and says he is exercising discretion is ignorant of his responsibilities.
[/FONT]

 

[Slab]

When it comes to the rules, I would use my discretion each time the rules provide more than one option on how to proceed from a given situation i.e ball in a hazard

 

[rulefan]

When it comes to the rules, I would use my discretion each time the rules provide more than one option on how to proceed from a given situation i.e ball in a hazard

Do you mean using your discretion as a player or as a referee?
In this case the referee has no discretion, only the player.

 

[Slab]

Do you mean using your discretion as a player or as a referee?
In this case the referee has no discretion, only the player.

Yes proceeding as the player

 

[drdel]

We, as humans, are equipped with brains that allow us to use fuzzy logic. I'd rather play with humans who use a bit of discretion when reasonable than robots which only operate inside the rules. Golf is a sport I play for fun.

 

[ManinBlack]

We, as humans, are equipped with brains that allow us to use fuzzy logic. I'd rather play with humans who use a bit of discretion when reasonable than robots which only operate inside the rules. Golf is a sport I play for fun.

On my quote a day calendar the other day

"Golf is the only game in which a precise knowledge of the rules can earn one a reputation for bad sportsmanship"
- Patrick Campbell

 

[shortgame]

On my quote a day calendar the other day

"Golf is the only game in which a precise knowledge of the rules can earn one a reputation for bad sportsmanship"
- Patrick Campbell

Very good :clap:

 

[Colin L]

We, as humans, are equipped with brains that allow us to use fuzzy logic. I'd rather play with humans who use a bit of discretion when reasonable than robots which only operate inside the rules. Golf is a sport I play for fun.

I've never found operating within the rules makes me robotic, nor does it affect the fun I derive from playing.

 

[OnTour]

Some occasions I'm happy to give my playing partner a life if they don't understand the rule, I'd quietly point it out. it's not life or death or the club champs.

so chilled out these days

 

[mikseymono]

Thing is...if your playing a co-competitor with similar index and your both in with a shout and they,for example, tap down a spike mark on the line of your putt...what you gonna do? I have in the past run up against a person on reg 22..to do with wanting to mark your own ball rather than let your oppo use it as a back stop...he has done it twice by telling me to leave it the ball...got very aggressive on the course and in the bar afterwards...threatening to knock my block off etc......sometimes too much knowledge is too painful........in my experience, certain people are open to objective help with the rules and want to learn...others are just pathetic bullies.