Match Play Ruling

[BC MIST]

The following takes place between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm. The story is true; only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

A, B, C & D are playing in the OVGA Intersectional matches. On a long par 5, with a water hazard crossing in front of the green, A and B hit good drives side by side. B flushes a 3 wood, 50 yards short of the water hazard. A pulls his 3 iron to the left. A and his caddie, both in a cart, drive to the edge of the hazard and look for A’s ball. A returns to B and says his ball is in the hazard. B says that’s impossible and that B’s ball has to be back and farther from the hazard than A’s ball. A swears at B.

As A and his caddie begin looking for A’s ball, B starts his stop watch. After 6:30 of elapse time, (B shows his caddie the 6:30 elapsed time on his watch) A finds his ball back and to the left of B’s. A says to B, “You were right."

B says, “It does not matter. You looked for more than 5 minutes and your ball is lost. You lose the hole.” A swears at B again, walks over and plays his ball.

B looks at C and D, shows them the elapsed time on the watch and asks for some support. C and D say they don’t want to get involved. B says that C and D should act like, do the right thing and give him some support.

Meantime, A chips in for a par, and after picking the ball out of the hole, curses and swears at B, and threatens “to kill him.” Visibly shaken, B misses his putt, scores 6 and “loses” the hole. B loses his match to A, 1 up.

C and D report B to the OVGA Rep on the scene for his “act like men” comment to them. C and D cannot be found after the match.

B asks for a ruling from the OVGA rep. What is the ruling?

[Big Johnny69]

How can C and D report the guy, if they can't be found??? Am I not reading this right?

[MusicMan]

lemmy guess BC... you B? as for the ruling i dont know

[Nat Williams]

Although I don't know the ruling, here's my wish list:

A loses the hole
A gets banned from OVGA tournaments for threatening, swearing etc @ other players .. DQ from this tournament aswell

B wins his match against A

C & D have something bad happen to them in the near future ... Pretty awful to play scared on the course over a ruling then go behind B's back and report him!

[BC MIST]

How can C and D report the guy, if they can't be found??? Am I not reading this right?

C and D reported B to the rep and then disappeared.

No, I was not one of the participants in this. Just part of the team.

[AAA]

B says, “It does not matter. You looked for more than 5 minutes and your ball is lost. You lose the hole.”
B asks for a ruling from the OVGA rep. What is the ruling?

It would seem that B made a timely claim under 2-5.
Assuming the OVGA rep had the authority he should have awarded the hole to B.

[Gary Hill]

B says, “You lose the hole.”

Rule 2-5 stipulates that the Committee may consider a claim only if the player making the claim notifies his opponent that he wants a ruling, not that he is making a ruling.

[hoolio]

If I was B, I would "B" sure to stand by "A"(holes) car after "D" round and make sure he could "C" what I did to his "F"(-ing) tires.

[ironmaster15213]

If I was B, I would "B" sure to stand by "A"(holes) car after "D" round and make sure he could "C" what I did to his "F"(-ing) tires.

......Medic!!!......Medic!!!!.......This man needs his medication!!!!..

[leftylucas]

These types of reactions go well past the spirit of the game. The rules are there to be applied and every one is subject to them. To get angry and threaten violence means you need serious help. The A type player should not be playing if he is not willing to accept the rules or rulings. Perhaps, once he is penailsed for his infraction of the rules he should have a tête à tête with Michelle Wie and they could shed a tear or two together.

[BC MIST]

Rule 2-5 stipulates that the Committee may consider a claim only if the player making the claim notifies his opponent that he wants a ruling, not that he is making a ruling.

Agreed. Had I been B and been able to run faster than A or have a 6'6", 280 lb. caddie with me, I would have said to A that I was making a claim, because of his playing his original ball after it was lost, AND another claim because of his threat after the balls were holed. There is no question that A would lose the hole and then be disqualified.

However, in truth, there would be an absence of verification that A's antics actually occurred. Because opponents C and D were gone, how could the OVGA rep confirm what really happened? A would lie and and B's caddie's comments would be the same as if they had come from B who was making the claims.

Can the OVGA rep(Committee) make a judgement call in the absence of proof? If not, then the results stand as stated in the first post.

What a shame that a normally fun day has to ruined by this golfing psychopath.

[Gary Hill]

Can the OVGA rep(Committee) make a judgement call in the absence of proof?

EVERY ruling is a judgment call.

[Nat Williams]

BTW: One of the "gutless pukes", C, was club captain of the host club, at the time. What a shame that a normally fun day has to ruined by this golfing psychopath.

Everytime I've played intersectionals I've had at elast 1 jerk to deal with People keep telling me it's bad luck as most are a lot of fun ... still waiting to see a 4some that are all nice.

[mpare]

Don't worry, Nat, such foursomes are out there. I've played with some very nice guys. I've also played with some real a...ses, whose fundamental strategy for winning seems to be intimidation. What they don't realize is that a lot of us use that against them by transforming our visceral reaction to their pathetic acts into an unwavering commitment to crushing them. This may say more about me than about them, but I find it harder to win against decent fellows than I do against these jerks. Don't give up on this type of competition, Nat, just squash these cretins into oblivion!

Everytime I've played intersectionals I've had at elast 1 jerk to deal with People keep telling me it's bad luck as most are a lot of fun ... still waiting to see a 4some that are all nice.

[BC MIST]

In the last part of post 11, I mentioned that the club captain was part of this group. In fact, he was not. Player C reported player B's comment about being supportive to his club captain, who then told our club captain that B was out of line.

Regardless, the actions of these other clowns was unbelievable.

[abz-pete]

After 5 minutes, Player A should have informed his opponent that the ball was now officially lost. Why let him continue searching?

Players C & D, if they had balls other than those in their golf bags, should have supported player A.

[sensfan63]

As A and his caddie begin looking for A’s ball, B starts his stop watch. After 6:30 of elapse time, (B shows his caddie the 6:30 elapsed time on his watch) A finds his ball back and to the left of B’s. A says to B, “You were right."

B says, “It does not matter. You looked for more than 5 minutes and your ball is lost. You lose the hole.” A swears at B again, walks over and plays his ball.

To be honest, I think that B could have handled the situation better BEFORE all of A's antics began. B definitely should begin the search by telling A, "alright, let's look for the ball for 5 minutes." NOT walk up to A after he finds his ball (and is delighted at the prospect of still being in the hole), and say "sorry pal, that's 6 and a half minutes!"

By the way, you don't lose the hole if you look for more than 5 minutes, you just have to go back and hit your fourth shot.

I think that B, while following the rules, could have proceeded in a more "spirit of the game" type of attitude.

HOWEVER, A obviously has psychological problems and nothing excuses what he did. Allegedly!

[BC MIST]

To be honest, I think that B could have handled the situation better BEFORE all of A's antics began. B definitely should begin the search by telling A, "alright, let's look for the ball for 5 minutes." NOT walk up to A after he finds his ball (and is delighted at the prospect of still being in the hole), and say "sorry pal, that's 6 and a half minutes!"

By the way, you don't lose the hole if you look for more than 5 minutes, you just have to go back and hit your fourth shot.

I think that B, while following the rules, could have proceeded in a more "spirit of the game" type of attitude.

HOWEVER, A obviously has psychological problems and nothing excuses what he did. Allegedly!

Did you read this part? "A returns to B and says his ball is in the hazard. B says that’s impossible and that B’s ball has to be back and farther from the hazard than A’s ball. A swears at B ." B knew that A's ball was NOT in the water, told him so, but A became became aggressive with B and does not then deserve to have B's help in searching for the ball. Telling him that he is being timed would be sufficient, but I would NEVER help him at this point.

While you are correct that one does NOT lose the hole if the search exceeds 5 minutes, because he played the original ball, he played a wrong ball, for which the match play penalty is loss of hole.

[sensfan63]

Did you read this part? "A returns to B and says his ball is in the hazard. B says that’s impossible and that B’s ball has to be back and farther from the hazard than A’s ball. A swears at B ." B knew that A's ball was NOT in the water, told him so, but A became became aggressive with B and does not then deserve to have B's help in searching for the ball. Telling him that he is being timed would be sufficient, but I would NEVER help him at this point.

While you are correct that one does NOT lose the hole if the search exceeds 5 minutes, because he played the original ball, he played a wrong ball, for which the match play penalty is loss of hole.

Right, I've got no problem with not helping with the search, but producing a watch and saying, OK your time is up, that was my problem.

But all in all, A is a crackhead!

[BC MIST]

Right, I've got no problem with not helping with the search, but producing a watch and saying, OK your time is up, that was my problem.

But all in all, A is a crackhead!

You are polite in describing A.

What is your reasoning for having a problem with what B did? The rules state that a ball is lost if not found in 5 minutes. How are you going to know if it is lost (5 minutes) if you don't time the search when it begins?

With A being such a jerk beforehand, I would have no problem saying, "Your 5 minutes starts now," click my watch and then sit down and watch the cart girl drive by.

[sensfan63]

With A being such a jerk beforehand, I would have no problem saying, "Your 5 minutes starts now," click my watch and then sit down and watch the cart girl drive by.

That's exactly what I want to see happen!

My understanding of what happened was that B came up to A AFTER the 5 minutes had expired, in fact one and a half minutes after, and said oh by the way, your time is up, sorry!

Nitpicking, I know, but that stood out for me.