MIND / RULES M
Your opponent is way up in the match but has to leave. What do you do if he offers a half? BY RON KASPRISKE Don’t be a Sucker
but then your opponent informs you he has to leave early. Instead of taking your money, he graciously offers to call the match a draw. Should you agree to it and save 50 bucks? Strictly speaking under the Rules of Golf , the answer is, don’t be a sucker. While this might seem like a gener- ous offer, your opponent actually must forfeit the match for leaving early. He should be paying you. If you want to let him off the hook for the R50, that’s your business (and we salute your kindness) – but you’re still the winner. Keep in mind, so long as it doesn’t de- lay a competition, you both can agree to stop a match for any reason and start it up again at another time (Rule 5.7). However, if he wants to stop and you don’t, the match must keep going or he loses. It’s also important to note that while you can concede a stroke, a hole or even a match, you can’t concede multi- ple holes at one time as a way to speed up the outcome.
GOLF HAS ALWAYS BEEN grounded in good sports- manship. There are all sorts
and you started a match in some for- mal competition, both sides would be disqualified for purposely ignoring a rule. Another thing you can’t do is decide to employ a Model Local Rule when it’s not enacted by the course or committee. An example would be, as a way to save time, allowing anyone who hits a shot out of bounds to use the new lateral-relief-local-rule op- tion. It’s a tough break, but you’ve got to replay from the previous spot, even if that means walking all the way back to the tee. Where things tend to get a little confusing is what is allowed in terms of concessions in match play. Back to the scenario presented in the headline,
of examples of respectable conduct naturally occurring during a round – things such as agreeing to play out of turn when it has no bearing on the outcome, tending the flag for a group, or helping an opponent find his or her ball. Most matches start and end with handshakes (even when you want to strangle someone with your putter). All of this is great for the game, but it turns out there are times when try- ing to be nice or polite actually can land a golfer or golfers in violation of the Rules of Golf . For instance, before a round starts – so there are no hard feelings if one side of a match is a little stingier than the other with conced- ing putts – you and your opponent/s are not allowed to predetermine the length of a putt that would automati- cally qualify as holed. If you did come to an agreement that any putt “inside the leather” was considered good,
your opponent has a big lead with a handful of holes to play. The loss looks inevitable (along with paying out the R50 you bet on the match),
GENTLE-GOLFER’S AGREEMENT? There are times to be accommodating, but this isn’t one of those times.
14 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 2025
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