One of the shortest rules and simplest rules of golf is Rule 10 – Order of Play. Whoever is furthest from the hole plays first, and whoever scores lowest on the previous hole tees off first on the next hole. Other than the idiosyncrasies of Match Play and Stroke Play, how hard can it be? Well, like so many other situations you can find in golf, it can get pretty complicated!
During the final round of our CGA Father-Son Championship at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction I received a call on our Rules hotline from a group playing the 18th hole during the second round. The format for the second round of the Father-Son is Foursome Stroke Play. Foursome is also known as “Scotch” or in casual parlance, “Alternate Shot.” Here’s what happened (the names have been changed to protect the innocent):
Bob (Dad) and Joey (Son) Smith tee off on the 18th hole. At the beginning of the round, Bob and Joey decide that Bob will tee off on the even holes and Joey will tee off on the odd holes. (This, by the way, is the correct method for foursome play. Many incorrectly “carry-over” altering shots between holes so that if Bob holes out on the previous hole Joey would tee off on the next hole. This is NOT correct.) Since hole 18 is an even numbered hole, Bob tees off and hits his ball well right of the fairway into the native area (which at Redlands Mesa is mostly rock, and desert-like foliage…what many would describe as “bad country”). This led to:
Order of Play Question #1 – Who Plays the Provisional Ball?
Answer: Since penalty strokes do not affect the order of play, Joey plays the provisional.
After a brief search Bob and Joey find what they believe is Bob’s ball among the rocks and cactus. Once it is announced that they found their original ball, a fellow competitor lifts the provisional ball lying in the fairway (played by Joey). Since Bob played the original shot it is now Joey’s turn to play. Joey hits a remarkable recovery shot and the ball ends up on the green in regulation leaving the Bob/Joey team a putt for birdie. Unfortunately, when they arrive at the green they discover that the miraculous recovery shot played by Joey was actually a wrong ball. Whoops. Now Bob and Joey must return to the location where the provisional ball was lifted and drop the ball. To keep our focus on Order of Play, we will save some other rules questions that arise here (i.e. should the ball be placed or dropped in this situation, should Bob and Joey receive a penalty stroke for authorizing their provisional ball to be lifted) for a later rules article. So now we face:
Order of Play Question #2 – Who Drops the Ball?
Answer: Since Joey played the provisional ball, it is now Bob’s turn to play so Bob is required to drop and play the next stroke. Bob hits a solid shot to the green, Joey misses the putt and Bob taps in. Whew!
Extra Credit Question – What was Team Bob/Joey’s score for the hole?
Answer: 8. Stroke #1 – Bob’s original tee shot; Stroke #2 – One stroke penalty for lost ball; Stroke #3 – Joey’s provisional ball; Stroke #4 – Bob’s approach to the green; Stroke #5 – Joey’s first putt; Stroke #6 – Bob’s second putt; Strokes #7 and #8 – Two-stroke penalty for the team for playing a wrong ball. The good news for the team is that strokes played with a wrong ball do not count!
They may have played a wrong ball, but at least they got the Order of Play right!
