Moral Dilemma

badbrian

Playing recently with a mate of mine and a young fella. Nice young lad, talented, golf mad. The young fella is going well until about 2/3 thru the round when his approach lands on a path. He asks if he is entitled to a drop. Unsure as I am about the rules i defer to the scorecard which says any paths are deemed an integral part of the course and (I assume) the ball should be played as it lies. My mate, also not a rules buff, consults the card and is in agreement with me. However we do not sound sure as it really did seem a little unfair to have to play off this as it is clearly man made and just off the green.

I advise him to consult with the lads coming down from the next tee. They come down all four together and when asked one clearly states that the young lad is entitled to a free drop after also confirming that the path is deemed an integral part of the course. He seems very clear and there is no disagreement from the playing partners.

Anyway drop taken, gets up and down for par, goes on to shoot 41 points. We sign and enter the card.

Before I leave I check the timesheets for next week and casually consult the club pro who tells me that as the path is deemed an integral part of the course the ball should be played as it lies.

This was a good score and would nearly certainly have won a prize if not the main prize.

What would you do now?

RuggieBear

imo you did everything you could to make sure the guy played correctly....but then again golf is all about honesty

ChippingSodbury

Hi,
If you sign for an incorrect score, you must disqualify yourself. If you are unsure of a rule and cannot get a definitive ruling on the course, check when you come in with someone in authority: do not submit your card until the issue is cleared up.
In this case, it's harsh: do you take the risk of taking the drop or play it as it lies under difficulty. Paths/ roadways are always covered by local rules; another popular one is "stones in bunkers": can you move them or not.
It is unfortunate on this lad but the rules are the rules and we must all respect them at all times. Remember, it is also against the rules to allow someone else to knowingly break the rules....

Poker & Pints

If the card had not been clear it would have been okay to take the ruling of the majority(this is standard for almost any competition). Since we can;t have rules officials around the course like the pros, rulings made by playing partners or others on the course are right. However, in this particular case, you had the rule fully documented and still allowed the drop. His score should be DQ'd from the competition.

swingking

Funnily enough, I was convinced that my course was the only club who had this rule.

I think that it is a silly rule and if I had just spent an entire fortune on a new set of brand new golf sticks, I wouldn't be in a rush to hit golf balls from the path.

Having said that, when this happens, I call an unplayable lie on myself and take a penalty - much better than destoying my golf equipment; thank you very much!:D

Don't worry about the situation, we all can make rules errors sometimes;)

badbrian

badbrian wrote:

Unsure as I am about the rules i defer to the scorecard which says any paths are deemed an integral part of the course and (I assume) the ball should be played as it lies.

I just noticed a mistake in my original text (now edited to read as above). It was my assumption was that the ball should be played as it lay. The card just said that paths were an integral part of the course.

What I decided anyhow: the lad was in no way trying to cheat. He was genuinely trying to get the right decision and as the wrong advice had come from someone else I wasn't going to try and get him disqualified. On leaving however I told him he should get that ruling checked out.

css

The same thing has happened me numerous times in the past, and I always err on the side of caution, and play it as it lies. A putter wouldn't get destroyed...

delboy159

This really annoys me about golf. As I read the first post I was 100% sure that the lad was entitled to a relief - 100%......

It almost feels like you never can tell with rules of golf - almost like the bible, there's always one rule to condradict another.....

copacetic

delboy159 wrote:

This really annoys me about golf. As I read the first post I was 100% sure that the lad was entitled to a relief - 100%......

It almost feels like you never can tell with rules of golf - almost like the bible, there's always one rule to condradict another.....

why would he be entitled to relief? the main rule of golf is play it as it lies. it was lying on a path, play it.

it even says on the card the path is an integral part of the course, i.e the same as any piece of grass, just play the ball.

The lad was given bad advice, I'm not sure why someone would say the path is an integral part of the course BUT you are entitled to a drop? under what rule?

In a friendly game I would always drop off a path and let anyone do the same, in a comp, either play it, or take an unplayable.

J.R.HARTLEY

daveym wrote:

why would he be entitled to relief? the main rule of golf is play it as it lies. it was lying on a path, play it.

because when pros get relief from the cart paths it seems like we at least should also. i'm inclined to agree with swingking, bloody stupid rule to ask people to play it off a stone/concrete/tarmac path, but as it was clearly defind in the rules that he had no relief he broke the rules.

copacetic

J.R.HARTLEY wrote:

because when pros get relief from the cart paths it seems like we at least should also. i'm inclined to agree with swingking, bloody stupid rule to ask people to play it off a stone/concrete/tarmac path, but as it was clearly defind in the rules that he had no relief he broke the rules.

depending on the course pros don't always get relief from paths, I've seen plenty of pros play from them. They are always entitled to relief from spectator walkways across fairways but thats different..

celica140bhp

Is it not in the rules of golf that in a situation where you are unsure of the ruling (and can't verify it quickly) then you are allowed to play two balls - for example in this case take a free drop with one and play from the path with another and finish both out and then confirm the ruling before submitting the card and put in the score from the appropriate ball?

I agree in this case that the rule is a bit stupid - I've given up a few shots by having to tap a putter off a path rather than use an iron/wood.