4 man scamble and one player unable to continue after the 5th hole -what happens????

[Vijayfan]

A small tournament -no rules posted , other than a 4 man scramble, after the 5 hole back problems caused a player to be unable to continue - some said you are now a 3 man scramble team -- others suggested you do play a 4th ball with the remaining 3 players rotating taking turns taking the shots for the absent 4th player ( that means 1 player gets to take 2 shots from the same spot -sounds like a big advantage). Anyone know generally what the rule might be?

[gbower]

It's not covered in the Rules of Golf but my take on it is that you are now a 3 man scramble team unless something different is published on the local rules for the tournament.

[scanner_66]

I have seen this 2 times over the years and it has been played both ways, as gbower said it is up to the local rules...

[Chambokl]

You are a 3 man team... to much of a big advantage by hitting 2 balls... Somebody did this one time at a tournament and were accused of cheating... Not surprisingly they won....

[Vijayfan]

Thanks everyone - I have my answer and I'll close this thread - -I was the guy with the bad back and couldn't continue and my team went on and won. After I left after the 9th hole , my team went on and played the back 9 hitting that 4th ball and according to one of my team mates , they easily saved/gained 5 strokes because the guy hitting that 2nd shot from the same spot always bettered his 1st try and many times it was that ball that was the best ball for the next shot, and there was that 2nd putt on the greens as well --anyway I've already made arrangements to return my share of the 1st place prizes - -

[golfisforfun]

This should be fairly simple to answer... No tournament would ever allow a single person to play in a 4 man scramble on his own, taking 4 tries at each shot... So 3 golfers should not be allowed to take 4 tries at each shot... It should be one attempt for each golfer for each shot...