Teeing off a hole before you finish the previous hole

[Orikoru]

At my club the 5th tee is situated about halfway down the 4th fairway, so after putting out the 4th you essentially walk back on yourself up the hill to the 5th tee.

What some people do to save themselves a walk is tee off the 5th while they're walking down the 4th, then finish the 4th, before walking up the 5th to play their second shots on there. (I never do this personally as I prefer to focus on one thing at a time!) I'd always assumed it was only in social games but I actually saw a group do it today that I later saw had entered the comp.

Is it legal to do that in a comp? Essentially playing holes out of order or two holes at the same time?

 

[Mel Smooth]

Without checking the rules, I can't imagine it's allowed. Surely you have to complete the holes in order, before playing the next?

 

[rulie]

Players are disqualified for failing to hole out on the 4th hole before beginning another hole. (Rule 3.3c)

 

[Captainron]

They’ve not used any common sense there….

 

[Colin L]

This sounds familiar. Did we not have a similar question recently, or was that maybe another forum? But no matter, it's answered.

 

[Orikoru]

This sounds familiar. Did we not have a similar question recently, or was that maybe another forum? But no matter, it's answered.

I've wondered it before as I see people doing it all the time, but can't remember if I actually asked it before!

Players are disqualified for failing to hole out on the 4th hole before beginning another hole. (Rule 3.3c)

That's interesting! Cheers. Must be one of those things the club turns a blind eye to, or nobody ever grasses them up.

 

[rulie]

I've wondered it before as I see people doing it all the time, but can't remember if I actually asked it before!


That's interesting! Cheers. Must be one of those things the club turns a blind eye to, or nobody ever grasses them up.

You're now armed and responsible (protecting the field) to bring it their attention!
Would the scores be eligible for handicap reporting?

 

[Imurg]

It occurs on our 4th/5th/6th..
4th green and 6th tee are alongside each other.
5th tee is 50 yards to the right, a par 3 of 180 then you walk back to the 6th tee.
I've seen people putt out on 4, hit their drives off 6 , play 5 and then walk on to find their drives .
Not in competition but I don't know if they're putting a card in - I guess they would be dq'd on that front as well..?

 

[BubbaP]

Not sure if @pokerjoke is still about, I have a hazy memory of Ilfracombe having a situation like this and a sign guiding you to tee off prior to walking to previous green

 

[Backsticks]

Speeds up play, any enforcing of not teeing off before finishing a hole has no influence on handicap golfers scores worth talking about. To be honoured in the breach.
For county golf or top level tournaments worth observing I guess, as speed doesnt matter.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Surely in any formal competitive setting you absolutely cannot do this, under any circumstances, since the outcome of one hole will 100% impact the mindset of the player as he plays his tee shot on the next. Do what you want in a casual/friendly knock.

 

[AussieKB]

Not sure if @pokerjoke is still about, I have a hazy memory of Ilfracombe having a situation like this and a sign guiding you to tee off prior to walking to previous green

Yes. I remember playing there about 35 years ago, and thought the layout was crazy, also I got to a par 3 and could not see the green, distance of 160 yards I think, finally saw a dish in a tree, so I hit at that, the green was about 20-30 feet below fairway in a bowl.

 

[DickInShorts]

How does this fit in with keeping up with the group in front?

If it’s in a competition surely there aren’t large enough gaps between tee times for the group in front to be over a hole in front? Otherwise they would either be on the next tee or at worst walking towards their drives?

 

[Orikoru]

Surely in any formal competitive setting you absolutely cannot do this, under any circumstances, since the outcome of one hole will 100% impact the mindset of the player as he plays his tee shot on the next. Do what you want in a casual/friendly knock.

I have always assumed the same, hence my asking now. This was the first time I saw someone do it, knew who they were, and later noticed they had entered the competition. (They were already in the bad books with us because they were slow as all hell and had held us up all the way round.) We're just not the kind of guys who can bring ourselves to grass them up unfortunately, for the slow play or the playing of holes out of order.

How does this fit in with keeping up with the group in front?

If it’s in a competition surely there aren’t large enough gaps between tee times for the group in front to be over a hole in front? Otherwise they would either be on the next tee or at worst walking towards their drives?

I'll try and describe the holes as best I can. The 4th is a 400-ish yard hole, but just past your drive landing area it drops down so there's a slightly blind area there. Consequently this means you tend to wait for them to appear near the green before teeing off - and it also means you can't see the 5th tee from the 4th tee box, so at that point you don't know that they've teed off the 5th already. You just know that they're taking longer. Once you get down the 4th yourself, you realise they've done it because they walk from the 4th green directly up the 5th instead of back to the tee.

One of the reasons I find it annoying when people do this: although it then opens up a bit of a gap for us playing the 5th, it also makes it look like they weren't in fact holding us up when they were, since it's a bit of an 'artificial' gap if you know what I mean. So they feel like they were fine to not let us through, and anyone else looking on might think it was us causing a hold-up simply because we played the holes in the correct order.

 

[cliveb]

As a former member at Orikoru's club I know the layout well. I always tried to encourage the group I was playing with not to tee off early in social rounds unless we were well clear of the group behind. Otherwise you just hold them up. But it often fell on deaf ears. Too many are just too lazy to walk back up the hill.

Very soon after I had joined the club, I was playing in a comp and one of our group said "shall we tee off the 5th then finish the 4th". I said "don't think that's allowed in a comp". Another member of our group, who is a county rules official, said "that's right, but nobody will notice"
So we did tee off early, and later on in the round another player who had spotted it gleefully shouted across from two fairways over "YOU'RE DISQUALIFIED!". It was especially galling because he was a nasty little piece of work who a lot of people don't like. But he was right.

 

[Steven Rules]

It occurs on our 4th/5th/6th..
4th green and 6th tee are alongside each other.
5th tee is 50 yards to the right, a par 3 of 180 then you walk back to the 6th tee.
I've seen people putt out on 4, hit their drives off 6 , play 5 and then walk on to find their drives .
Not in competition but I don't know if they're putting a card in - I guess they would be dq'd on that front as well..?

Rule 5.1 requires the holes to be played in the order set by the Committee.

 

[YandaB]

Rule 5.1 requires the holes to be played in the order set by the Committee.

Can the committee allow this practice as an option?

 

[jim8flog]

Can the committee allow this practice as an option?

Local Rules are only allowed where they do not conflict with a rule of golf

 

[Orikoru]

As a former member at Orikoru's club I know the layout well. I always tried to encourage the group I was playing with not to tee off early in social rounds unless we were well clear of the group behind. Otherwise you just hold them up. But it often fell on deaf ears. Too many are just too lazy to walk back up the hill.

Very soon after I had joined the club, I was playing in a comp and one of our group said "shall we tee off the 5th then finish the 4th". I said "don't think that's allowed in a comp". Another member of our group, who is a county rules official, said "that's right, but nobody will notice"
So we did tee off early, and later on in the round another player who had spotted it gleefully shouted across from two fairways over "YOU'RE DISQUALIFIED!". It was especially galling because he was a nasty little piece of work who a lot of people don't like. But he was right.

Haha. Yeah all of that sounds accurate. I was half tempted to report them on this occasion as revenge for them holding us up all round (4 hours 15 for three of us!) but sadly I'm just not that petty. Not quite.

As a sidenote, I've only done it once - a four-ball let me and my mate through (two-ball) on the 4th and had the gall to actually ask us to tee off the 5th before finishing the 4th as he felt that would get us ahead of them quicker somehow? We weren't playing a comp so we obliged, but begrudgingly - just couldn't be bothered to argue. We both hit poor drives off the 5th tee, then I hit a poor chip and a three putt on the 4th green, and when we walked up the 5th we both lost our balls due to the distraction and having forgotten exactly where they landed. So both blobbed it and moved onto the 6th. Never doing it again.

 

[Steven Rules]

Can the committee allow this practice as an option?

No. But.....Rules of Handicapping:

2.1/1
Score is Acceptable for Handicap Purposes Even If Holes Have Not Been Played in the Order Set by the Committee

Rule 5.1 of the Rules of Golf requires holes in a round to be played in the order set by either the Committee in charge of the competition or the Committee in charge of the golf course. However, a score is acceptable for handicap purposes even if the holes in a round have not been played in the order set by the Committee.