On The Tee
With McAfee
Home Page
On The Tee
Purpose
History
Schedule
Scoreboard
Photo Gallery
USGA News
Entry Form
Information Request Form
About Us
Scholarship Information
Contact Us
Casual acts don't violate intent of rule
How would you like to be coasting along with an eight-stroke lead when a casual act by another individual causes you to be disqualified?
Well, this happened in the Arizona Mid-Amateur a few years ago! The player in question had his son serving as his caddy. The son had a friend with him. On one hole, the young friend grabbed the player's putter and returned it to the caddie. Oops! An official spotted this and decided that the player had violated Rule 6-4, which says a player may only have one caddie at a time. The penalty? Disqualification.
In a similar case in Utah, a player handed his wedge to a friend on the 18th green while his caddy raked the bunker. The friend put the club into the player's bag. The player made his putt and thought he had won his match. However, an official made a strict interpretation of the rule and disqualified the player.
While the officials in question felt they were doing the right thing by taking the strictest possible interpretation of the rule, I believe that I would have come to a different decision based on the Decisions of Golf.
In that decision, a player walks from the green of the previous hole to the next tee while his caddie goes ahead with the clubs. Realizing that he has the player's glove, the caddie gives the clubs to another caddy and runs back with the glove. Did the player have two caddies? No, the casual act of assisting the player or caddie in such circumstances was ruled not to breach Rule 6-4.
I wonder why the rules officials in Arizona and Utah did not refer to this same decision and see that the casual acts in question did not violate the intent of the rule and did not give the player any advantage over the rest of the field.
If you leave a club beside the green and someone in the group behind brings it to you, is he serving as your caddie?
No!
If a friend or fellow competitor gives you advice on what club to hit and you already have a caddie, have you violated the rule?
Yes! If he had given you a distance, then there would not be a penalty.
Even in cases where a player might actually violate Rule 6-4, it would appear the disqualification penalty is too severe. Maybe, the United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club should instead consider a one-stroke or even two-stroke penalty in stroke play and loss of hole in match play.
The cases cited here were like giving the death penalty for a minor violation such as speeding.