A LONG tale of Tom, *** and Harry.

Here is a purely hypothetical instance which could nevertheless happen.

Tom returns a medal card on Captain's Day duly completed correctly
under Rule 6-6b and this turns out to be the winning card and it also
contains a hole in one. The club to which he belongs, as with most
clubs presently, asks that swipe cards are used for entry and that all
scores on cards are entered into the computer before cards are
returned. But Tom is a lazy so-and-so and just returns the card to the
box. (as we used to do in the good old days, says he) but he is not a
tight person and goes up to the crowded bar and stands everyone (a
large crowd) a drink for his ace.

The Handicap Chairman, ***, collars him at the bar and asks why he has
not entered his scores in the computer. Tom replies "If you knew your
Rules and Decisions you would know why. Go and read Decision 6-6b/8".
*** goes away and refreshes himself of the words of the Decision. It
says:-

Question. May a Committee, as a condition of competition, provide that
a competitor must enter his score into a computer?
Answer. No. Such a condition would modify Rule 6-6b.
However, while it is not permissible to penalize a player under the
Rules of Golf for failing to enter his score into a computer, a
Committee may, in order to assist in the administration of the
competition, introduce a "club regulation" to this effect and
provide disciplinary sanctions (e.g., ineligibility to play in the next
club competition(s)) for failure to act in accordance with the
regulation.

This clearly means that Tom's card must be accepted (ineligibility in
the NEXT club competition and a C of C published) but he can well be
subject to sanctions thereafter.

However on ***'s committee is a wily old bird, Harry, and Harry
reads and knows everything published about the rules. He says to ***
"I'll sort him out. Wait till I get CONGU's (CONGU controls
handicaps and not rules of play) booklet out." So he pulls it down
from the shelf and shows *** the relevant Decisions numbered 17.2 and
17.3. They read as follows:-

17.2 The R & A has confirmed "that provided a player fulfils the
requirements of Rule 6-6 a penalty cannot be imposed under the Rules of
Golf for failure to comply with these conditions.
However, imposing a penalty of a disciplinary nature, such as
suspension of handicap is not considered to be contrary to the Rules of
Golf."
An alternative penalty would be to suspend the player's right to
compete in Club competitions for a specified period.
Further related conditions will arise as the administration of
competitions and handicaps becomes increasingly the domain of the
computer.

17.3 The R & A was also asked to consider a competition condition
requiring entry by applying a swipe card to a computer terminal.
In this situation the R & A has ruled "that a Committee must lay down
a procedure for entry and if a competitor fails to enter a competition
in the correct manner he does not have an acceptable score."
Accordingly such a player does not have a score either for the
competition or for handicap purposes.

Harry, with great delight, goes up to the bar and shows Tom CONGU's
Decision and Tom chokes on his beer thinking that he may not be the
winner of The Captain's prize after all AND that there is also a
possibility that he has spent all that money and his ace may not be
accepted. But that is another issue.

Of course all of the foregoing is hypothetical but the question that it
raises is "Do we play by the Rules and Decisions or may a card be
rejected under CONGU's unified handicap system, which says "The R&A
have ruled........... despite this ruling not being printed in the
Rules of Golf or Decision book?" Is there not a contradiction here.

JPW

.

Loading