Senior moment!

[delc]

One of our opponents in a Seniors match picked his ball up without marking it when he still had a shortish putt for a half, because he forgot that he had a shot at that hole. Is that an automatic concession, or could he replace the ball as near as possible to where it lay without penalty?

 

[Region3]

It's the same as if you accidentally move the ball. Replace with a 1 stroke penalty.

 

[Three]

If you wanted to be very friendly, and you thought it was almost a gimme anyway, could you retrospectively concede the putt without the 1 shot penalty, even after he has picked it up?

 

[Colin L]

To be fussy - not quite. He lifted his ball under a rule that permits him to lift his ball from the putting green (16-1b) and so he cannot be penalised under 18-2 which excepts moving/lifting that is "permitted by the Rules". He is penalised for failing to mark the ball before lifting (16-1b and 20-1). It still comes to a 1 stroke penalty, though.

The action does not amount to a concession.

 

[Colin L]

If you wanted to be very friendly, and you thought it was almost a gimme anyway, could you retrospectively concede the putt without the 1 shot penalty, even after he has picked it up?

You can concede the putt but the penalty would still be attached. If you wanted to be that friendly, I suppose you could deliberately miss with your own putt to even things up. You could even concede the hole but that might be a tad overly generous

 

[Region3]

To be fussy - not quite. He lifted his ball under a rule that permits him to lift his ball from the putting green (16-1b) and so he cannot be penalised under 18-2 which excepts moving/lifting that is "permitted by the Rules". He is penalised for failing to mark the ball before lifting (16-1b and 20-1). It still comes to a 1 stroke penalty, though.

The action does not amount to a concession.

I knew it was 1 stroke, but guessed the wrong reason.

Note so self: Never assume, especially rules of golf!

 

[delc]

A

You can concede the putt but the penalty would still be attached. If you wanted to be that friendly, I suppose you could deliberately miss with your own putt to even things up. You could even concede the hole but that might be a tad overly generous

I had already holed my putt for a par, so deliberately missing my putt was not an option. He still had a putt for a bogey, nett par with a shot, but picked up because he forgot that he had a shot and believed his side had lost the hole. Replacing the ball with a penalty shot was also not an option, as he would lose the hole anyway. In Matchplay, could we as opponents offer him the chance of replacing the ball without penalty, or would that be a serious breach of the rules?

 

[Green Bay Hacker]

What should happen in a Texas Scramble when the first member of the group forgets to mark his ball before he putts? When this happened to us we took it that the other 3 players lost their right to have a putt and played from the next position.

 

[Spuddy]

A
I had already holed my putt for a par, so deliberately missing my putt was not an option. He still had a putt for a bogey, nett par with a shot, but picked up because he forgot that he had a shot and believed his side had lost the hole. Replacing the ball with a penalty shot was also not an option, as he would lose the hole anyway. In Matchplay, could we as opponents offer him the chance of replacing the ball without penalty, or would that be a serious breach of the rules?

you can't agree to waive the rules between but you alone can ignore a breach. If he just said 'I'm going to replace my ball' and knocks it, says it's a half and you say nothing then that's fine.

 

[Spuddy]

What should happen in a Texas Scramble when the first member of the group forgets to mark his ball before he putts? When this happened to us we took it that the other 3 players lost their right to have a putt and played from the next position.

Anytime I've played it we always warn each other to mark the ball for exactly this reason.

 

[doublebogey7]

What should happen in a Texas Scramble when the first member of the group forgets to mark his ball before he putts? When this happened to us we took it that the other 3 players lost their right to have a putt and played from the next position.

The rules of golf don't cover Texas Scrambles so the competition rules would need to cover this.

 

[Three]

you can't agree to waive the rules between but you alone can ignore a breach. If he just said 'I'm going to replace my ball' and knocks it, says it's a half and you say nothing then that's fine.

Matchplay tip :
If your opponent is playing out of turn, wait until they hit before you say anything, they might hit a bad shot and you can say nothing.
If they hit a good shot, you can give them another chance to hit a bad shot after you've played

 

[Spuddy]

Matchplay tip :
If your opponent is playing out of turn, wait until they hit before you say anything, they might hit a bad shot and you can say nothing.
If they hit a good shot, you can give them another chance to hit a bad shot after you've played

Just don't take slightly dubious relief though eh?

 

[Three]

Just don't take slightly dubious relief though eh?

Slightly?

 

[Green Bay Hacker]

Anytime I've played it we always warn each other to mark the ball for exactly this reason.

We do normally but on this occasion the shot was played before we realised what was going on. The player concerned was the captain.

 

[Green Bay Hacker]

The rules of golf don't cover Texas Scrambles so the competition rules would need to cover this.

Never seen any competition rules for scrambles at our club and it would surprise me if most groups didn't have their own rules or made them up as they go along.

 

[Spuddy]

Never seen any competition rules for scrambles at our club and it would surprise me if most groups didn't have their own rules or made them up as they go along.

We get a sheet of paper with a quick explanation of how a texas scramble works, how far everyones shots need to be played from the marker, order of shots etc. Its not a format that we play very often so a quick refresher is always handy.

 

[Colin L]

I have the Texas Scramble rules prepared for my club on file. If anyone wants a copy, just PM me.

They don't say anything about failing to mark the position of the selected ball, but maybe they should. I'd make it a one stroke penalty in keeping with Rule 20-1.

 

[Three]

I have the Texas Scramble rules prepared for my club on file. If anyone wants a copy, just PM me.

They don't say anything about failing to mark the position of the selected ball, but maybe they should. I'd make it a one stroke penalty in keeping with Rule 20-1.

That wouldn't work.
Why would they take a 1 shot penalty instead of just playing the ball from where it lies after the first putt that hadn't been marked?

 

[Spuddy]

This is our 'rules' sheet

1. The scramble is teams medal round over 18 holes, recording one score at each hole.
2. A team consists of 4 players
3. The handicap allowance is 10% of combined full handicaps, to be deducted from gross score at completion of play. The maximum team handicap is 6. A three man team will add 18 to their combined handicaps then take 10%.
4. All team members drive at each hole. The team captain nominates the best ball position as ‘ball in play’, other players retrieve their balls.
5. Player of ‘ball in play’ marks position with tee peg, not nearer the hole, within 12 inches before playing the next shot.
6. Remaining players play from within 12″ of tee peg, not nearer the hole. Decided by the player with highest handicap playing first, next handicap and so on.
7. Each member of the team must have a minimum of three tee shots. In the event that the team member’s tee shot must be used and is driven out of bounds or lost, then that team member must play again under penalty.
8. Golf balls shall be placed on fairways and dropped if chosen ball is in rough or hazard (as defined in rules of golf).
9. The above method of play is followed until green is reached.
10. On the green the same method applies ‘ball in play’ is marked by a putter head length and players putt from the same spot in turn.
11. Each player must mark ball after putting. Play will continue from chosen marker if putt is not holed. The ball must not be tapped in before other players have putted otherwise the tapped in ball will count for the score.
12. On completion of the round, the gross score is reduced by the exact handicap allowance, to determine the nett score.