Linda,
Better ball of two match. Player 1 is about 30 yards out.
Player 2, his partner, is about 5 yards off the green. Player 1 asks
Player 2 to go first for a few reasons related to the match. Player 2 plays his
shot and takes a large divot. Can that divot be repaired prior to Player 1
playing his shot? Does it matter who repairs the divot? Can the opposing team
object to the divot repair?
Thanks in advance for your reply. Your rulings and
explanations are the most sane of anyone I have seen on the internet. Thank you
so much.
Lou from Litchfield, South Carolina
Dear Lou,
What we have here is partners who have agreed to play out of
turn in a match for strategic reasons. That’s fine – when it is one player’s
turn to hit, it is technically the team’s turn to hit; the player may defer to
his partner [Rule 30-3b].
Ordinarily, a player is entitled to the lie, line of play,
and stance he had when his ball came to rest. However, in this case, since the
partners agreed to play out of turn, that entitlement does not apply. To worsen
your partner’s line of play is treated the same as if the player himself had
worsened his own line of play. The divot made by the player’s partner may not
be repaired prior to the player hitting.
Linda
Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
