Cheatin’ in a Golf Scramble
Posted September 26th, 2009 @ 04:50pm by Erik J. Barzeski
I ran into a situation today that kind of ticks me off. A friend and I are playing in a two-man golf tournament. After one guy stands on the line of his partner's putt (in violation of rule 14-2), I point out that it's not cool and someone might call him on it if he keeps doing it.
After they do it - in the scramble portion of the round - to hole a birdie putt the first player missed on the 11th hole, I again mention it to them, this time mentioning it to the other player.
Over the remaining seven holes, they break the rule about eight more times - not counting the several times they break the rule on the tee box and in the fairway. 😛
And what could I say about it? Nada. The pro would likely say something like "it's just a scramble, who cares?" Which, frankly, misses the point.
My friend said to me "Well, I'll never play in this type of thing again." I agree.
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Posted 02 Oct 2009 at 7:02pm #
Not a huge golfer myself but between your description and reading the rule I am confused. I understand that rules are rules, but if all he did was stand on/in/near the line of putt how does that help his team? Unless the player assisted the ball it sounds like you want to enforce the rules just for the sake of enforcing the rules.
Posted 03 Oct 2009 at 9:12am #
[quote comment="55629"]Unless the player assisted the ball it sounds like you want to enforce the rules just for the sake of enforcing the rules.[/quote]
The rules state that a player must not "b. Allow his caddie, his partner or his partner's caddie to position himself on or close to an extension of the line of play or the line of putt behind the ball."
It's much easier to see how the putt breaks from there AND the partner can help the first player to line up.
And rules are rules. There's no such thing as "enforcing them just for the sake of enforcing them."