Rule question regarding tee off order.

[rosecott]

Not that it really matters, but if some tosser - polite or otherwise - challenges who has the honour in a Stableford, ask him to read rule 32-1.

I'd say this is one of the most abused rules. Certainly round here if I have the honour and get a par then my mate gets a par with a shot and 3 points, he never takes the tee. That said I've played were even in a medal, if there's no outright winner the honour doesn't change which again is in breach of the rules technically. But as above it only really matters in matchplay and there's no penalty in stroke play...... strange though how different areas tend to do their own thing.

One thing that hacks me off is on the first tee, when you get the "I'm the lowest handicap so I'm having the honour" kind of player.

 

[chris661]

One thing that hacks me off is on the first tee, when you get the "I'm the lowest handicap so I'm having the honour" kind of player.

Why you will still get a chance to nob it 60 yards up the fairway like me

I really don't understand why folk get upset over this.

 

[bozza]

One thing that hacks me off is on the first tee, when you get the "I'm the lowest handicap so I'm having the honour" kind of player.

Why you will still get a chance to nob it 60 yards up the fairway like me

I really don't understand why folk get upset over this.

At our place it just seems to be whoever is ready first which is fine by me.

A bloke I play friendly rounds with always wants to tee off first to try get it out the way before anyone else turns up on the tee and then he ends up rushing and making a right mess of it.

 

[MashieNiblick]

On the R and A website there is an FAQ under Rule 10-2 which seems to clarify the situation. It says

"In a handicap stroke play competition, how is the honour decided?

The honour is determined according to gross scores for each individual hole. For example the order of play on the 1st tee is A,B,C. On the 1st hole A scores 6, B scores 5 and C scores 5. The order of play on the 2nd tee is B then C then A."

So even though there was no clear winner in that example, A does not retain the honour but tees off after both B and C.

By handicap stroke play they mean an event where the handicap is deducted at the end of the round, i.e. it's not a bogey, par or stableford competition, in which case the honour is decided by lowest net score (Rule 32-1) but I assume the same principle applies and the worst net score tees off last even if their is no outright "winner".

I wonder if any confusion stems from people thinking of the match play situation where if the hole is halved the honour doesn't change and mis-interpreting this as applying to stroke play situations.