Rule of the Month: Have You Met Your Match?

With this year’s three-day Ryder Cup being held Friday, September 26 through Sunday, September 28, at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York, this might be a good time to brush up on the nuances of match play versus stroke play.

It seems as though we don’t play enough match play in today’s world.  Which is a shame because match play is golf's oldest and original format, with origins dating back to early golf in Scotland. Even though the world's first golf tournament with stroke play was held in 1759 at St Andrews, golf was still primarily a match play game, which continued to be the dominant form in the 18th and 19th centuries.

One reason that match play stands out is because of the psychological gamesmanship. It’s one thing to beat the course, but another to try and out-think an opponent in real-time. Players find themselves adjusting strategy based on how the match is going, which keeps things intense and unpredictable.

Below is a simple explanation of Match Play.

• Match play is a hole-by-hole competition: Each hole is a contest in itself.  Instead of aiming for the lowest 18-hole score, your goal is to beat your opponent on as many holes as possible.
• The player who wins the most holes wins the match. 
• If you're ahead by more holes than there’s left to play, the match ends. For example, a win of “3 & 2” means you're 3 Up with only 2 holes to go.
• If the match is tied after 18 holes, usually the match is settled by a sudden-death playoff. But in competitions like the Ryder Cup, the tie is not broken after 18 holes and each side receives ½ point for the tied match.

• Players can concede a stroke, a hole, or even the entire match to their opponent. 
• The Rules of Match Play often allow for agreements between opponents in match play that might not be permitted in stroke play. 
• A player that gets a general penalty in match play would suffer a loss of hole instead of the two strokes the player would receive in stroke play.

This month’s quiz will test your knowledge on some nuances of the Rules of Match Play. Please note that a Singles Match is between two players, while a Four-Ball Match is a form of play, with each player playing their own ball and a side’s score for a hole is the lower score of the two partners on that hole.

All of the questions in this month’s quiz are related to actual incidents that occurred in Oregon and SW Washington in the last month:

1. At the completion of a singles match, Players A and B agree that Player A won the match 1 up. The Committee in charge of the competition stated in advance that once the result and scorecard was turned in to either the pro shop or the Committee, the match would be final. Later that night, a Committee member was looking at the scorecard and noticed that Player B actually won the match. Player B asked the Committee to declare him the winner. The Committee is required to make the change.
2. In a match between Player A and Player B, Player A’s ball lies in the rough about 20 feet from the hole. Player B’s ball is on the putting green about 30 feet from the hole. Player A then plays and chips in for a birdie. Player B declares that Player A has played out of order and that the stroke is cancelled and Player A must wait until it is his turn to play a stroke. Player B is within his rights to cancel A’s stroke.
3. In a match between Player A and Player B, in starting play of the third hole, Player A tees off from outside the teeing area. Player A will get a two-stroke penalty and will lose the hole.
4. On the fourth hole of a singles match between Player A and Player B, both players hit their approach shots into a penalty area and then agree to consider the hole tied and proceed to the fifth tee. This is not permitted because once a hole has been started, it must be finished.
5. In a Four-Ball match where Players A & B are partners on one side and Players C & D are partners on the other side, Player A, who has yet to play on a par three, asks Player C what club he just played for his tee shot. Player C does not respond. Player A gets the general penalty of two strokes for breaching Rule 10.2a (Advice).
6. A player concedes a hole, then remembers that they were supposed to get a handicap stroke on the hole. The player can revoke the concession.
7. In a singles match, a player's ball is in a bunker; they touch sand in the bunker with their club in making a practice swing. The opponent reminds the player of the Rule but says that they are overlooking the breach. The opponent is entitled to tell the player that the breach will be ignored.
8. In match play during play of a hole, a player, whose turn it is to play, gives their opponent the wrong number of strokes taken. The player gets the general penalty if they do not correct the mistake immediately.

ANSWERS

1. False. 3.2a(5). The result of a match becomes final in the way stated by the Committee. In this case, the Committee had laid out the conditions for reporting the result of a match and player B’s request should be denied.
2. True. Rule 6.4a(2). Order of play matters in Match Play. Once the players have started a hole, the ball that is farther from the hole is to be played first. If a player plays when it is the opponent’s turn to play, there is no penalty, but the opponent may cancel the stroke. This must be done promptly and before either player makes another stroke. If the opponent cancels the stroke, the player must, when it is their turn to play, play a ball from where the cancelled stroke was made.
3. False. Rule 6.1b(1). While a player must start each hole by playing a ball anywhere inside the teeing area, in Match Play there is no penalty if the player fails to do so, but the opponent may cancel the stroke. Like in Question #2 above, the cancellation must be done promptly and before either player makes another stroke. If the opponent cancels the stroke, the player must play a ball from inside the teeing area and it is still their turn to play. If the opponent does not cancel the stroke, the stroke counts and the ball is in play and must be played as it lies.
4. False. Rule 3.2a(2). A player and opponent can agree to treat a hole as tied, but only after at least one of the players has made a stroke to begin the hole.
5. False. Rule 10.2a and 23.9a(1). When a player gets a penalty other than a disqualification, that penalty normally applies only to the player and not their partner (there are exceptions that are noted at the end of this answer). When Player A received the general penalty for asking for advice, Player A is disqualified for the hole and has no score that can count for that side. Player B’s score is the only score that can count for the side on the hole. The three situations where a player’s penalty also applies to the partner are 1) when the player breaches Rule 4.1b (Limit of 14 Clubs; Shared, Added or Replaced Clubs), 2) when Player’s Breach Helps Partner’s Play , or 3) When Player’s Breach Hurts Opponents Play.
6. False. Rules 3.2b(2) and 3.2c(2). A concession is final and cannot be declined or withdrawn. Also, each player is responsible for knowing the holes where they give or get handicap strokes.
7. True. Rules 1.3b(1) and 3.2d(4); and Clarification 3.2d(4)/1. But this answer can be a bit tricky. In a match, a player can always tell an opponent that the opponent breached a Rule and that the player is going to overlook the breach. As long as the player made a sole decision to overlook the breach, everything is good. But let’s say that a player tells his opponent that the opponent failed to mark his ball before lifting it and that the failure to mark is a breach of the Rules. The two then engage in a discussion and conclude that they don’t want to apply any penalties in situations where there is no clear advantage from the breach of a Rule. Which means we now have a situation where both players were involved in determining the outcome of a situation and jointly agreed not to apply the penalty. Because the player was influenced by the opponent not to act on the breach, there has been an agreement and both players are disqualified under Rule 1.3b(1) for jointly agreeing to ignore a Rule or penalty.
8. False. Rule3.2d(1). During play of a hole the player must give the right number of strokes taken before the opponent makes another stroke, or takes a similar action (such as conceding the player’s next stroke or the hole).