CAN I USE MY MULLIGAN?

(Rules for the Game of Golf)

Competition defined: In the Middle Ages, a sporting event in which two knights (or two groups of knights) jousted on horseback with blunted weapons, each trying to knock the other off, the winner receiving a prize.

Other than the horses and the assault tactics, this sounds familiar. Take a blunted weapon, such as a five iron, and knock something around, a ball, trying to win a prize. Perhaps a penalty area looked like a moat surrounding the castle. Every knight had a caddie, I mean a page boy. The prize was certainly made of gold, like a real nice trophy. Yeah, sounds like golf to me!

Even if it’s a stretch to compare jousting to golf, the main emphasis is that a competition is taking place. The Middle Ages provided the basis for our form of match play. Whereas stroke play came along quite a few centuries later. Both forms of play have now been around a long time and each is popular for various reasons. We can either be involved as players or spectators and enjoy the thrill of the competition.

Rule 3 of the 2023 R&A/USGA Rules of Golf details how each of these forms of competition are conducted. One of the first statements in the rule says “these are very different forms of play.” The outcome of a match is based on holes that are won, lost or tied. The outcome of a stroke play event depends on the total score of all participants.

Almost all of the competitions that are broadcast to viewers are some type of stroke play competitions. Every “Major” in professional golf is played using a form of stroke play, although there was a time in the distant past when match play was the form of play used in one of these championships. The PGA Championship was conducted at match play from the inaugural tournament in 1916 until the 1957 championship won by Dow Finsterwald in Dayton, OH. The next year is when the field began playing a 72-hole championship using stroke play.

Other fan favorite tournaments include international competitions such as the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Solheim Cup, Walker Cup and so on. These events are conducted using forms of match play, either with individual players or as partners.

For scoring purposes, match play results are achieved by a player completing a hole using less strokes than his opponent, an opponent conceding a hole or an opponent gets a general penalty which is loss of hole. The player with the most holes won is the winner. If there is a tie at the end of the round, the match is extended until a player wins a hole. This is not a new round so rules affecting the status of equipment, and such do not change.

In stroke play, the round is complete when all the players have a score for all the holes. There may be multiple rounds in a stroke play competition so the player with the lowest score for all rounds combined will be declared the winner. A player must have his score verified by his marker and certified by the committee. If there is a failure to hole out at any hole, the player does not have a score for that hole and will be disqualified.

The history books are filled with stories of unfortunate happenings for those who just don’t get it right when figuring out the scorecards. One such moment came at the 1968 Masters when Roberto De Vincenzo, the reigning British Open champion at that time, made a birdie 3 at the par 4 seventeenth hole but his marker wrote down a 4 on his scorecard. The mistake was not corrected before De Vincenzo returned his card to the committee. So his score had to stand which put him one stroke behind the winner, Bob Goalby. After the mistake was found and the winner announced, his poignant remark was forever inscribed in our memory, “What a stupid I am!”

This may be a good time to tell you about a new Model Local Rule (L-1) for 2023. If the competitions’ authorities decide to use this “local rule” it may keep us from repeating what Roberto said. The rule goes like this. If you return your scorecard without a signature of the player, the marker or both, the player gets a general penalty (2 strokes) instead of a disqualification. This modification can only be used if adopted by the committee for each event.

So, always check your scores, hole by hole, and sign your scorecard. That way you don’t have to worry about any of the stuff that can happen and you’ll sleep better at night.