Stuey01
Journeyman Pro
I don't enter these, I love 4bbb match play but my availability is severely limited due to family commitments and it's not fair on my partner or our opponents.
Matchplay Rant
- Thread starter jimjoachim
- Start date
BTatHome
Tour Winner
problem is that the pair that would concede could just be a pain and take both pairs out instead. I could definitely see it happening between some pairs at our club if they were drawn together!
CheltenhamHacker
Journeyman Pro
agreed
GB72
Money List Winner
Out of interest, any clubs have a day on which matches have to be played if no agreement can be reached. Never seen it applied but just seems to make sense that if both teams cannot agree a date then a day is set aside on which matches must be played. If 1 team does not make it, they are out, if both teams do not show then their oppo in the next round gets a bye. Just seems to be a fairish way of breaking the annual deadlock over times and dates. There is never going to be a way to please everyone but at least this would be an option.
Ethan
Money List Winner
A player can't cancel on the day - they can say they will be unable to turn up and offer a reason which may or may not be acceptable to the committee. In my view, if the other player was a surgeon called away to perform and emergency kidney transplant, or a secret agent who had to go on a last minute assassination, fine for one such request. Second time, I would say "I'll be there at the appointed time, and will accept the walkover if you aren't". Forgetting a kids birthday party is not even close to an adequate reason for postponement.
As for the argument of inflexibility, once a data and time is agreed, that argument falls.
As for the argument of inflexibility, once a data and time is agreed, that argument falls.
muttleee
Tour Rookie
Allowing 9 days of an extension plus a further extension on top of that is absolutely ridiculous – for a start it’s terribly unfair on the players in the next round, who will obviously have much less time available to play their match. What if the other players in the draw could play early in the round but are away on holiday for the later part of it? They’d be denied the chance to play during the time that suits them because the club allowed the previous match to overrun so much. I don’t see how a club could do this - if they do it for one match then presumably they have to do it for anyone else in a similar situation. I would’ve thought the whole competition would turn into an absolute shambles if they allowed that. The pair who’d tried to play within the deadline 3 times should’ve claimed the match and let that be that.
When I was a member it was up to the top named person/team in the draw to arrange a match. If you offered 3 times and your opponents turned them all down, you were entitled to claim the tie although of course you could still try to arrange it if you wanted to.
There was one time when despite our best efforts, four of us couldn’t get a fourball played within the 3-week time limit but we could all play on the morning after the deadline so we played then and hoped to put the winners’ names on the board before the draw for the next round was made. My partner and I won the match but by that time the competition secretary had already tossed a coin and put our opponents through as a result of that. We were told that it was our hard luck because we hadn’t played the match in time but our opponents weren’t having it – they said they’d lost fair and square and didn’t want to go through on a coin toss knowing that we’d beaten them. Eventually we were begrudgingly reinstated.
We had 3 weeks for each round, which seems like a long time but over the summer when people are often away for a couple of weeks, you can soon find that there are realistically only really a few days to get a match played.
When I was a member it was up to the top named person/team in the draw to arrange a match. If you offered 3 times and your opponents turned them all down, you were entitled to claim the tie although of course you could still try to arrange it if you wanted to.
There was one time when despite our best efforts, four of us couldn’t get a fourball played within the 3-week time limit but we could all play on the morning after the deadline so we played then and hoped to put the winners’ names on the board before the draw for the next round was made. My partner and I won the match but by that time the competition secretary had already tossed a coin and put our opponents through as a result of that. We were told that it was our hard luck because we hadn’t played the match in time but our opponents weren’t having it – they said they’d lost fair and square and didn’t want to go through on a coin toss knowing that we’d beaten them. Eventually we were begrudgingly reinstated.
We had 3 weeks for each round, which seems like a long time but over the summer when people are often away for a couple of weeks, you can soon find that there are realistically only really a few days to get a match played.
alexbrownmp
Head Pro
Totally unfair- they should listen to both stories and DQ the pair who repeatedly cancel.
I enjoy 4BBB but gave up the competitive side for these very reasons.
Break90
Tour Rookie
Our club has a definite deadline for each round published on the drawsheet at the start of the competition, generally the last day of the month for each subsequent round.
It is the responsibility of both pairs to arrange the match, normally the second pair to put their name through contact the opponents and offer 3 dates, 1 of which has to be a weekend.
If no dates can be agreed between the teams, then on the last day of the period during which the match is to be played, if one pair is present under the clock on the Old Course 1st tee at noon, then they are deemed to have won the tie and progress to the next round.
A bit odd-sounding i know, although having said that i've played singles and pairs for 2 summers now (8 matches in total) and never struggled to get a match arranged well before the deadline.
It is the responsibility of both pairs to arrange the match, normally the second pair to put their name through contact the opponents and offer 3 dates, 1 of which has to be a weekend.
If no dates can be agreed between the teams, then on the last day of the period during which the match is to be played, if one pair is present under the clock on the Old Course 1st tee at noon, then they are deemed to have won the tie and progress to the next round.
A bit odd-sounding i know, although having said that i've played singles and pairs for 2 summers now (8 matches in total) and never struggled to get a match arranged well before the deadline.
Wooky
Assistant Pro
I stopped playing in our winter league because of this problem.
Worse in winter due to the lack of daylight & weather issues.
Still, I definitely would have claimed the match after the 2nd cancellation.
jimjoachim
Head Pro
UPDATE: the opposition have offered to flip a coin for the match!!! My mates are taking it to the committee for a decision.
Joff
Challenge Tour Pro
Heads they win, tails you lose?
hines57
Challenge Tour Pro
one extension - maybe. Beyond that - NO
Ethan
Money List Winner
Don't accept that. Demand the match.
chrisd
Major Champion
We had similar in our 4bbb and I would not concede as they only gave one date and cancelled it - stand your ground!
garyinderry
Ryder Cup Winner
Golf - a sport for gentlemen (unless its the knock out comps)
never ceases to amaze me the stories of ungentlemanly conduct surrounding these knockout games. I would be deeply ashamed to be seen to act like these guys.
never ceases to amaze me the stories of ungentlemanly conduct surrounding these knockout games. I would be deeply ashamed to be seen to act like these guys.
Fyldewhite
Tour Winner
Accept it, but do it over the phone
Seriously, fourballs are a nightmare to arrange and as many have said the rules need to be clear and the organisers strong. Ideally it needs to retain a degree of flexibility (I have seen situations where one from each are on a consecutive fortnights holiday) but on the whole if one team continually cries off then it's really up to the opponents to say enough is enough, we can't meet any day remaining and you've now had a number of chances to get this played so we are putting ourselves through. If they had done this in the OP scenario I very much doubt if the opponents would have objected tbh.
BTatHome
Tour Winner
Toss of the coin is a very poor way to decide it.
Although he do use a similar choice to decide home/away ties in our local club matchplay knockout. They decide the choice of home/away based on the bonus ball from the Saturday lottery, odd/even gets your two choices and far as everyone knows the outcome.
Although he do use a similar choice to decide home/away ties in our local club matchplay knockout. They decide the choice of home/away based on the bonus ball from the Saturday lottery, odd/even gets your two choices and far as everyone knows the outcome.
Ethan
Money List Winner
Accept it, but do it over the phone
Seriously, fourballs are a nightmare to arrange and as many have said the rules need to be clear and the organisers strong. Ideally it needs to retain a degree of flexibility (I have seen situations where one from each are on a consecutive fortnights holiday) but on the whole if one team continually cries off then it's really up to the opponents to say enough is enough, we can't meet any day remaining and you've now had a number of chances to get this played so we are putting ourselves through. If they had done this in the OP scenario I very much doubt if the opponents would have objected tbh.
Don't accept it. You arranged several matches and your opposition failed to keep up their end, to either turn up or offer a reasonable excuse. If they can get a decision from the R&A that missing a kid's birthday party is an adequate excuse, then toss a coin. Otherwise tell them to toss something else ...
I used to be a Competition Secretary. On one occasion I granted an extension on medical grounds, because I knew that one of the players had undergone surgery on a serious knee injury and needed a week after the deadline to fully recover. Unfortunately he was a member of the Committee, so I never heard the back of that one, with accusations of favourism, etc from their opponents! Never be a Comp Sec!
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
In this instance I'd also not accept and knowing that committee would by default DQ both sides - I'd make a formal request to be awarded the match Pretty grim that the other side don;t see themselves at fault and seem happy to win the match on the toss of a coin, Not good.
A few years ago me and my buddy couldn't find a common date to play a 4BBB and we realised that we were actually a bit to blame as I wasn't available within the time remaining. I had to pull out late for personal reasons and the other pair said they didn't have any scope to rearrange, So my buddy played the pair by himself - he lost. Sometimes that's what you must do - and it was the honourable thing to do we thought
Last edited:
