What should you do when you’re playing a competitive round of stroke play and you’re about to proceed under a rule you think is valid, but another competitor tells you you’re wrong? There’s no referee or rules official available to ask, and you can’t wait forever. Here’s what you do:
Be sure you understand that there are two different options for how to proceed when unsure about a golf rule for the format you’re playing – if you’re playing stroke play, it’s under 20.1c and for match play it’s 20.1b. In this video, we’ll cover just stroke play.
If you’ve been watching my golf rules videos for a while, you’re probably pretty knowledgeable about the rules of golf, but you still may encounter some unique situations you’re unsure of, and some players who strongly disagree with you.
To save time and keep yourself from a potential disqualification, it’s a great idea to play under Rule 20.1c. This is playing two balls in.
It’s important to tell someone else you’re doing this, and to decide which of the two balls you’re playing you want to count. If you fail to choose which you want to count, then the default would be the ball you played first after announcing your intent to use 20.1c.
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(Shout out to my buddy, rules official Stuart McPhee for his help on the course.)
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2 Comments
Great explanation, thx! What about match play? If both players agree, then do you have to play the other ball?
I had a situation with stroke play where another girls ball was about 3 inches in front of fairway drain but did not interfere with her stance at all. I thought no relief but another player said yes, free relief as the back swing went over the drain. Who was right?