Written by: Darin Green, Senior Director of Rules and Competitions
The following situation occurred at a golf club in Florida recently.
Two golfers, let’s call them Steve and Frank, were playing a match against each other and a third player was playing along with them in the group. On the front nine, Steve was about to make a stroke at a ball in the fairway when the third player shouted “hey, that’s not your ball.” Steve backed away and sure enough, he almost hit a wrong ball. Steve quickly found his ball and played out the hole. Frank, Steve’s opponent, protested that the third player gave Steve advice and Steve should lose the hole. Frank’s protest was made before they teed off on the next hole so the protest must be heard and ruled on by the Committee. The match must continue until they can speak with the Committee.
If Steve played the wrong ball, he would have lost the hole. Additionally, if Steve received advice, or gave advice to his opponent, he would lose the hole. However, was Steve given advice?
To answer this question we must start in the Definitions section of the Rules of Golf.
Advice is defined as:
Any verbal comment or action (such as showing what club was just used to make a stroke) that is intended to influence a player in:
- Choosing a club,
- Making a stroke, or
- Deciding how to play during a hole or round.
But advice does not include public information, such as:
- The location of things on the course such as the hole, the putting green, the fairway, penalty areas, bunkers, or another player’s ball,
- The distance from one point to another, or
- The Rules.
The result of a hole in question could be unknown as the match continues until the players can speak with the Committee. The Committee should rule that the comment made by the third player is public information and not advice.
The definitions are the backbone to knowing the Rules of Golf.
