Written by: Darin Green, Senior Director of Rules & Competitions
Every few weeks or so my cell phone rings on the weekend and on the other end of the phone call is an FSGA staff member at a competition with an unusual ruling they would like clarification on. Two weeks ago I had one of the calls.
We had a Florida Junior Tour competition being held and an unusual situation arose and the staff members and volunteers conducting the tournament wanted a confirmation on a ruling. A player was about to start a hole and teed his ball in the teeing area. He took his backswing and then started his downswing, and during the downswing, the shaft of the club snapped just above the driver head. The player attempted to stop his swing, but his momentum took the shaft of the club passed the ball missing it completely. Then the driver head, now fully disconnected to the shaft, bounced into the ball knocking it off the tee several feet forward of the tee markers. The question was, does the stroke count, and does the player play the ball as it lies, or replay the stroke.
I was stumped at first and then dove into the Rule book. The definition of a stroke is summarized as the forward movement of the club made to strike the ball, but a stroke has not been made if the player decides during the downswing not to strike the ball and avoids doing so by deliberately stopping the clubhead before it reaches the ball or, if unable to stop, by deliberately missing the ball.
I wasn’t comfortable coming to a decision after reading the definition of a stroke because the player attempted to stop his swing and successfully missed the ball with the portion of the club (shaft) he was controlling. Also, the driver head did make contact with the ball, even though it was detached from the shaft at the that moment. So, I continued to search the Rule book.
After some more searching, I found a Clarification in Guide Book to the Rules of Golf for the definition of a stroke. The Clarification is named Stroke/1 – Determining If a Stroke Was Made and is summarized below:
If a player starts the downswing with a club intending to strike the ball, their action counts as a stroke when:
- The clubhead separates from the shaft during the downswing and the player continues the downswing with the shaft alone, whether or not the ball is struck with the shaft.
- The clubhead separates from the shaft during the downswing and the player continues the downswing with the shaft alone, with the clubhead falling and striking the ball.
Both of the bullet points above apply to this situation. After reading this Clarification, I was certain the swing the player made must count as a stroke and the player must proceed with the ball as it lies.
It was a very unfortunate situation for player, but we must apply the Rules as they are written.
