Team Competitions
Purpose: Rule 24 covers team competitions (played in either match play or stroke play), where multiple players or sides compete as a team with the results of their rounds or matches combined to produce an overall team score.
24.2
Terms of Team Competition
24.2/1
Disqualification May Apply to One or All Rounds in Team Play
If a player is disqualified from a round in a team competition in which not all scores count towards the team's total score, the disqualification applies only to that round of the competition.
However, if a player is disqualified for failing to meet the Code of Conduct standards under Rule 1.2b, it is up to the Committee to determine whether that disqualification is for that round only or the duration of the competition.
24.4
Advice Allowed in Team Competition
24.4/1
Committee May Establish Limits for Team Captains and Advice Givers
The Committee may adopt a Local Rule limiting who may serve as a team captain or advice giver and also limit the conduct of a team captain or advice giver.
Examples of limitations include:
- Permitting only an amateur golfer to serve as a team captain and/or advice giver.
- Stating that team captains and/or advice givers are not permitted on putting greens.
- That advice must be given in person and not via radio, telephone or other electronic means.
24.4/C1
Clarification: Advice Giver Must Not Deliberately Stand Behind Player:
If an advice giver deliberately stands behind a player from when he or she starts to take a stance, if the player asks or authorizes the advice giver to do this, he or she gets the general penalty under Rule 10.2b(4) - see Rule 1.3c(1), first bullet point.
If the player did not ask or authorize the advice giver to stand in that location but knows that this is not allowed and does not take reasonable steps to object or stop it from happening, the player gets the general penalty under Rule 10.2b(4) - see Rule 1.3c(1), second bullet point.
(Clarification added 12/2018)
The person or group in charge of the competition or the course.
See Committee Procedures, Section 1 (explaining the role of the Committee).
The person or group in charge of the competition or the course.
See Committee Procedures, Section 1 (explaining the role of the Committee).
The area on the hole the player is playing that:
- Is specially prepared for putting, or
- The Committee has defined as the putting green (such as when a temporary green is used).
The putting green for a hole contains the hole into which the player tries to play a ball. The putting green is one of the five defined areas of the course. The putting greens for all other holes (which the player is not playing at the time) are wrong greens and part of the general area.
The edge of a putting green is defined by where it can be seen that the specially prepared area starts (such as where the grass has been distinctly cut to show the edge), unless the Committee defines the edge in a different way (such as by using a line or dots).
If a double green is used for two different holes:
- The entire prepared area containing both holes is treated as the putting green when playing each hole.
But the Committee may define an edge that divides the double green into two different putting greens, so that when a player is playing one of the holes, the part of the double green for the other hole is a wrong green.
Any verbal comment or action (such as showing what club was just used to make a stroke) that is intended to influence a player in:
- Choosing a club,
- Making a stroke, or
- Deciding how to play during a hole or round.
But advice does not include public information, such as:
- The location of things on the course such as the hole, the putting green, the fairway, penalty areas, bunkers, or another player’s ball,
- The distance from one point to another, or
- The Rules.
Interpretation Advice/1 - Verbal Comments or Actions That Are Advice
Examples of when comments or actions are considered advice and are not allowed include:
- A player makes a statement regarding club selection that was intended to be overheard by another player who had a similar stroke.
- In individual stroke play, Player A, who has just holed out on the 7th hole, demonstrates to Player B, whose ball was just off the putting green, how to make the next stroke. Because Player B has not completed the hole, Player A gets the penalty on the 7th hole. But, if both Player A and Player B had completed the 7th hole, Player A gets the penalty on the 8th hole.
- A player's ball is lying badly and the player is deliberating what action to take. Another player comments, "You have no shot at all. If I were you, I would decide to take unplayable ball relief." This comment is advice because it could have influenced the player in deciding how to play during a hole.
- While a player is setting up to hit his or her shot over a large penalty area filled with water, another player in the group comments, "You know the wind is in your face and it's 250 yards to carry that water?"
Interpretation Advice/2 - Verbal Comments or Actions That Are Not Advice
Examples of comments or actions that are not advice include:
- During play of the 6th hole, a player asks another player what club he or she used on the 4th hole that is a par-3 of similar length.
- A player makes a second stroke that lands on the putting green. Another player does likewise. The first player then asks the second player what club was used for the second stroke.
- After making a stroke, a player says, "I should have used a 5-iron" to another player in the group that has yet to play onto the green, but not intending to influence his or her play.
- A player looks into another player's bag to determine which club he or she used for the last stroke without touching or moving anything.
- While lining up a putt, a player mistakenly seeks advice from another player's caddie, believing that caddie to be the player's caddie. The player immediately realizes the mistake and tells the other caddie not to answer.