There
are basically two forms of Golf, (and should be looked upon as entirely different
games)
1
stroke play
(where we play against any number of others even a 100)
2
Match play
(where we play against one other player)
Most
are familiar with stroke and the aims of the game (to go round the course in as few strokes as
possible. With the purpose of having the lowest score on the day, they’re by
winning) we will endeavour to play our best golf
Match play is different in that all we are aiming to do is play each hole in one less stroke than our opponent. This will not necessarily mean we have to play our best golf at every hole. (Expand: - opponent plays a bad shot we could chip our way up the fairway play safe for an 8 or 9 and still win the hole)
Tonight we will concentrate on the principles and aims of Match Play and see why the rules change so much between the two games.
One of the basic principles of match is that each contender is on hand throughout the game and as such is expected to look out for their own interests.
In stroke each contender will not be present and may be playing hours apart. (They may play in the am we in the pm) so the rules in stroke need to look out for those not present.
To illustrate Gimmies
allowed in Match, as all interested
parties are present. Can’t have them in Stroke ( would have to call in all
other players! take a vote?
What if one said no? would we have to play out to satisfy them? And take the
gimme from the others? Resulting in different scores against different players?
So straight away we can
see why we do not call those in our group Opponents in stroke play, they are
FELLOW COMPETITORS as they are competing along side us against all others
In Match they are our
OPPONENTS as they are contending against only us.
DIFFERENCES
IN THE RULES
One of the first
differences we notice is in regard to penalties
2sp becomes Loss of Hole
WHY? In Stroke we need to
complete the course so 2sp will be added each time we breach a rule for the
purpose of levelling out any advantage we might have gained over other
competitors.
In Match as we are playing
hole by hole we only need a winner of that hole and move on to the next. A match
should be finely balanced ( esp when H/caps are taken into consideration) and a
2sp would effectively result in the hole being beyond winning, hence Loss of
hole.
Other
penalties
Let us look at some of the main changes and see why they change.
Doubt
as to procedure Rule 3-3
-----------------
Discontinuing
play
Rule
6-8
|
Play
of two balls
___________________ |
Stroke
play player may play out hole with two balls and get dec from committee
after round
Match
play not allowed.
___________________ Stroke
play:- not allowed (few
exceptions)
Match
Play:- Players
may discontinue play by agreement and resume later |
|
Practice
rule 7 |
Practice
before a round |
Match
Play:- allowed Stroke
play :- D.Q. |
|
Order
of play Rule
10 |
Playing
out of order |
Match
play:- opponent may recall stroke. Stroke
play:- no penalty |
|
The
Tee Rule
11 |
Playing
from outside tee Playing
from wrong tee |
Match
play:- no penalty but
opponent has right to recall stroke. Stroke
play:- 2sp and the player must play from within tee |
|
Ball
moved Rule
18 |
Ball
moved by opponent |
Match:
- 1sp to opponent Stroke
play no penalty |
|
|
|
|
|
Ball
deflected Rule
19 |
Ball
deflected by opponent or his equipment |
Player
may cancel stroke and replay, or play ball as it lies |
|
Rule
19-5 |
Hitting
another ball on the green |
Stroke
2sp Match
no penalty |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
reasons behind the changes
Rule
3-3 doubt as to procedure
In
stroke play if a player is unsure as to how he should proceed He may elect to
play out the hole with two balls and get a decision from the committee at the
end of the round.
This
is not allowed in Match play for the simple reason that the opponent will not
know which ball he is playing against (principle of match;- a player is entitled
to know the state of play at all times)
Rule
6-8 Discontinuance of play
Rule
7 practice
Opportunity
In
a stroke play comp there may be 100 others out on the day only those out first
will be able to practice on the course.
In
a match there will be equal opportunity for both sides to practice
Rule
10 order of play
In
stroke play the order of play is of little or no importance
In
a match it is of vital importance, as the player will need to know
what kind of stroke to play in any given situation to stay in contention. And
this will depend largely upon the position of the opponent.
Rule
11 the tee
A player
may gain an advantage or a disadvantage from the mistake.
In stroke
the other competitors are not on hand to decide
In match
the opponent is there to judge, And can decide whether or not to take the
resulting advantage of the mistake.
Rule
18 Ball Moved
In stroke
the F C is an outside agency and gains nothing
In Match he
must look out for his opponents ball.
Rule
19 ball deflected
In stroke
play it is a rub of the green
In match the players must look out for their own interests and if silly enough to leave equipment etc where it gives an opponent some advantage they have no one to blame but themselves.
So in stroke play if a ball is deflected or stopped by a fellow competitor the ball must be played as it lies, they are no part of our game and as such are outside agencies
In match
play they are part of our game in as much as they are our opponents. So if they
leave equipment or the like in a place where it may be of benefit to us they
have no one to blame. It we hit them or their equipment we have the choice of
playing the ball as it lies, or canceling the stroke and playing again.
Rule
19-5
In stroke
play there is a penalty as a F C
ball may be assisting the FC may have reason to leave the ball there to give his
best mate a helping hand. Hence 2sp
In match
the opponent has no one to blame but himself if he doesn’t utilize rule 22
By now we
can see that one of the main principles of Match play is that the opponent is on
hand to look out for his own interests and therefore the rules reflect this.
Another
great principle of match play is that the player is entitled to know the state
of play at any given moment
This brings
us to Rule
9 Information as to strokes taken
As we
have said before
it is of vital importance in a match to know the state of play before taking any
action
At
club level this rule is hardly ever implemented which is a shame because it
would add so much more interest to our matches if it were more strictly
observed.
Basically
Rule 9 is a match play rule and is based on the principle that a player needs to
know the state of play before taking any action.
So this rule gives the player the RIGHT to ascertain from his opponent
how many strokes they have played. This
puts a great responsibility on us to give correct information when asked.
Should we give wrong information then we lose the hole if we do not
correct it before our opponent plays his next stroke.
The decisions on the rules take the rule one step further to it’s
logical conclusion and extends the meaning of playing the next stroke to a
concession or a picking up of the ball.
Any
information as to strokes taken must include penalty strokes and we must inform
our opponents as soon as practical if we incur a penalty.
The
principle of this can best be seen by a real life situation.
Player
‘A’ has played 5 strokes and is approximately 18 ins. from the hole. Player ‘B’ his opponent asks, “How many have you
played?” “Four” replies ‘A’ omitting to count a penalty stroke
incurred back on the fairway, either deliberately or because of ignorance of the
rules.
“OK
I concede your next stroke” says B and knocks away A’s ball saying
“you’re down for five, I’m here for four so I have a putt for a half”.
If it then comes to light that ‘A’ has not included the penalty does
this mean that ‘B’ now has a putt for the win and two for the half?
NO -
since ‘B’s’ concession of the next stroke to A was the equivalent of his
next stroke it means that B wins the hole as ‘A’ has given wrong
information.
This
rule puts great onus upon us to know the rules, because if we have incurred a
penalty stroke and do not inform our opponent we lose the hole. If this rule was adhered to more closely I think many more
players would take time to understand the rules more thoroughly.
1. We must inform our opponent as soon as we
incur a penalty.
2. We must give correct information when asked
how many strokes we have taken.
3.
If we do not correct wrong information BEFORE our opponent takes any
action we lose the hole.
It is worth mentioning here
that in match play we can ignore a breach of the rules made by an opponent, as
long as we don’t agree to waive a rule.
In stroke play we are under
obligation to call penalties
Sum up
Listing
1 Aim of Match play
2 principles;-
A player must look out for themselves.
Player has right to know state
of play before playing a stroke or taking any action
End with Rule 33-1