Player marking own card

[cliveb]

Posting this for my wife (who is the ladies handicap secretary at our club)...

In a recent Stableford competition, one of the players in a two ball was caught short after the 9th and had to rush back to the clubhouse toilet.
While she was away, her FC continued to play by herself and recorded her own scores for the next two holes. (Because they were only a two ball, there was nobody else who could take over marking her card).
Then her marker returned to the 12th tee and they continued their round.
The player who failed to play holes 10 and 11 NR'd those two holes, but the player who marked her own card did return scores for them.

I can't find where in the rules it discusses a player marking their own card, but assume it is a breach of a rule.
And my guess is that the penalty in a medal would be disqualification - can someone confirm?
Would the marker also be DQ'd because she signed to confirm scores that she could not have witnessed?
But might it be that in Stableford, the penalty is simply NR for the two holes that were self-marked?

 

[jim8flog]

I would say it is automatically covered under the rules


b. Scoring in Stroke Play


The player’s score is kept on his or her scorecard by the marker, who is either identified by the Committee or chosen by the player in a way approved by the Committee.


The player must use the same marker for the entire round, unless the Committee approves a change either before or after it happens.


(1) Marker’s Responsibility: Entering and Certifying Hole Scores on Scorecard. After each hole during the round, the marker should confirm with the player the number of strokes on that hole (including strokes made and penalty strokes) and enter that gross score on the scorecard.


Stableford only has few a few exceptions to the Disqualification penalty.
'Incorrectly signed for' is not one of them

Failing to hole out is but

is the marker actually conforming with


5.1 Meaning of Round


A "round" is 18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee.

IMO The fewer would mean it had to be declared before play commenced..

 

[jim8flog]

I would add.

Did the marker report the facts about the cause for the delay before the card was returned?

If not she would be in breach

Exception 3 – Unreasonable Delay.

For each exception, you must report the facts about the breach to the [URL='http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-2019/players-edition/definitions.html#committee']Committee before returning your [URL='http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-2019/players-edition/definitions.html#scorecard']scorecard so that they may apply the penalty. If you fail to do so, you are disqualified.[/URL][/URL]
[URL='http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-2019/players-edition/.html#_b4e58add-3724-49de-a737-f2b7c9379a12']
The rules do not actually cover a delay for needing a comfort break but do allow 15 minutes for illness.
[/URL]

 

[Colin L]

Interpretation 3.3b/1 covers this situation exactly

Players Must Be Accompanied by a Marker for the Entire Round
The purpose of a marker is to certify that a player's score for each hole is correctly shown on the player's scorecard. If a marker is not with the player for the entire round, the scorecard cannot be properly certified.
For example, if a player plays several holes without his or her marker and the marker enters the player's scores for the holes the player played alone, the scorecard cannot be properly certified under Rule 3.3b.
The player should have insisted that the marker accompany the player for all of the holes. If the marker was unable to do so, the player should have asked another person to serve as his or her marker. If that was not possible, the player was required to stop play and report to the Committee so that another marker could be assigned.

In medal she would be disqualified and it looks to me that in stableford she would also be disqualified since a breach of 3.3b is not one of the breaches listed as only resulting in zero points. 21.c(2)

 

[cliveb]

Thanks Colin. That is crystal clear.

 

[jim8flog]

Interpretation 3.3b/1 covers this situation exactly

Players Must Be Accompanied by a Marker for the Entire Round
The purpose of a marker is to certify that a player's score for each hole is correctly shown on the player's scorecard. If a marker is not with the player for the entire round, the scorecard cannot be properly certified.
For example, if a player plays several holes without his or her marker and the marker enters the player's scores for the holes the player played alone, the scorecard cannot be properly certified under Rule 3.3b.
The player should have insisted that the marker accompany the player for all of the holes. If the marker was unable to do so, the player should have asked another person to serve as his or her marker. If that was not possible, the player was required to stop play and report to the Committee so that another marker could be assigned.

In medal she would be disqualified and it looks to me that in stableford she would also be disqualified since a breach of 3.3b is not one of the breaches listed as only resulting in zero points. 21.c(2)

Nice spot Colin.

What are your views on the player who went to the toilet and skipped two holes?

 

[Colin L]

The need to rush to a toiilet has to be considered with sympathy, especially if you have been in that situation

It seems to me a legitimate reason to delay play but the other player should have stopped as well. As it was stableford, the marker was not required to hole out on the holes concerned and was right to record NRs at each. I think you could consider penalising the marker for certifying the score only if she was aware that it was wrong to do so.