Disqualification

[dickyhip]

Last weekend I played in our Captain's Day competition.
The main competition was full handicap Stableford off full handicap.
However there were gross prizes.
I had the lowest gross score but forgot to put my handicap on my card.
I was disqualified, which seemed tough but fair enough.

So far so good then but... my two playing partners and I came second in the Nett team prize. Surely this cannot be - if I'm disqualified how can I win a prize?

To further cloud the issue someone showed me a copy of Rule 6-2b..
"If no handicap is recorded on his score card before it is returned (Rule 6-6b) he is disqualified from, the handicap competition: otherwise, the score stands."

How does one interpret this last bit? Does it mean that the score stands for any non-handicap competition ie a gross or scratch one?
I'd be interested in the views of resident rules experts.

[BC MIST]

Last weekend I played in our Captain's Day competition.
The main competition was full handicap Stableford off full handicap.
However there were gross prizes.
I had the lowest gross score but forgot to put my handicap on my card.
I was disqualified, which seemed tough but fair enough.

So far so good then but... my two playing partners and I came second in the Nett team prize. Surely this cannot be - if I'm disqualified how can I win a prize?

To further cloud the issue someone showed me a copy of Rule 6-2b..
"If no handicap is recorded on his score card before it is returned (Rule 6-6b) he is disqualified from, the handicap competition: otherwise, the score stands."

How does one interpret this last bit? Does it mean that the score stands for any non-handicap competition ie a gross or scratch one?
I'd be interested in the views of resident rules experts.

Seems to me that your "Captain" needs a reality check.

You were DQ'd from a gross competition when you should not have been and you won a net competition when technically, you should have been DQ'd.

While you erred in not putting down your handicap, what is wrong with the "Captain" walking over to the computer and looking up your handicap, or telling/reminding you to put your handicap down when the card is handed in? This is a club tournament, not the US Open.

At our club the handicaps would already have been be put on the card by the committee to avoid this problem, or in the case of a Stableford competition, which we actually did yesterday, too, the holes on which strokes were to be taken off, were already marked.

At the club level, the Committee should gear their organization to encourage participation, rather than discourage it. I would take the organizer aside, show him/them the two errors that they made, backed up by the rules that you quoted and wait and see if they make an effort to correct the mistakes. Then, and if nothing is done, write a letter or two, but don't let it go.

[Gary Hill]

Does it mean that the score stands for any non-handicap competition ie a gross or scratch one?

Yes. Exactly.

Essentially, you were playing in concurrent multiple competitions.

1. A handicap Stableford Competition (accumulated points)
2. Other various stroke play competitions which could include low gross, low net, low team gross, low team net, etc.

You were correctly disqualified from the net portions of competition (handicap Stableford).
(It is impossible for the Committee to determine your net points or net score without your handicap.)

However, you would be eligible for any individual or team "low gross" prizes.
(The Committee needs no handicap information to determine the lowest total score.)

In the team "low net" competition, your score is disqualified, but your partners may have made the lowest net score without you (Four-Ball Stroke Play). In this case, the 'team' would still win the low net (disqualification by a team member does not disqualify the team).

Rule 6-2b is precisely worded for just such an occasion.
You were correctly disqualified from the handicap portion (the net Stableford portion), but your gross score still stands (is valid).

FYI - Failure to record handicap would not disqualify you from closest-to-the-hole or hole-in-one prizes.

[dickyhip]

Many thanks. I shall now go and ask the committee to have another look at the Rule Book. I suppose they didn't do badly - 1/3 decisions was correct!