Rules question - What would you do here?

[TheNewBrad]

This involves another 'almost' hole in one involving my playing partner in the recent ambrose (see related thread about 'almost hole in one'). I didn't witness this one but when he related the story I wondered what the impact would be on him, on the course and the golfers behind.

I'll refer to this fellow as 'Jim'. Anyway Jim was on a par 3 at Bonville (http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?t=356). He hit his shot sweetly. It tracked beautifully, straight for the pin. The ball came down & 'smashed' into the hole. Why I say 'smashed' is because apparently the course was using a white plastic ring to line the inside of the hole. The ball impacted into the plastic ring, smashed it & rebounded out of the hole. The result was the hold was a 'mess'; larger than what it should be and out of shape.

I have 3 questions arising out of this scenario for which I don't know the answer.

(1) Did Jim have any obligation to report the damage to the hole?

(2) What is the course superintendent supposed to do if there are golfers in the middle of their rounds & a hole that is 'non-standard' in need of repair? By this I mean, is he/she supposed to put a hole out of service & inconvenience other golfers or wait till the day is over?

(3) What are the golfers immediately behind Jim supposed to do? By the time they get to that hole the course superintendent would not have been notified. If the hole has been altered to a larger or smaller than standard size, what are they supposed to do?

 

[klaymon]

16-1a/6 Damaged Hole; Procedure for Player

Q. Prior to putting, a player discovers that the hole has been damaged. What is the proper procedure?
A. If the damage is not clearly identifiable as a ball mark, then:
(a) If the damage is such that the proper dimensions of the hole have not been changed materially, the player should continue play without repairing the hole. If he touches the hole in such circumstances, a breach of Rule 16-1a occurs.
(b) If the proper dimensions of the hole have been changed materially, the player should request the Committee to have the hole repaired. If a Committee member is not readily available, the player may repair the damage, without penalty.
If a player repairs a materially damaged hole when a Committee member is readily available, he incurs a penalty for a breach of
Rule 16-1a.



I don't know that Jim is "obligated" to report the damage, but certainly in the name of etiquette he should.

 

[Smallville]

(1) Did Jim have any obligation to report the damage to the hole?

(2) What is the course superintendent supposed to do if there are golfers in the middle of their rounds & a hole that is 'non-standard' in need of repair? By this I mean, is he/she supposed to put a hole out of service & inconvenience other golfers or wait till the day is over?

(3) What are the golfers immediately behind Jim supposed to do? By the time they get to that hole the course superintendent would not have been notified. If the hole has been altered to a larger or smaller than standard size, what are they supposed to do?

This is all opinion:

1. Yes Jim should have reported the damage. If he didn't have a cell phone to call the clubhouse, he should have told a marshal as soon as he saw one.
2. The greenskeeper should be able to get out to the hole before too long and unplug another hole away from the damaged hole and replug the damaged hole and at the least, rope off that area of the green, if not repair the damage between groups.
3. They need to shoot as quickly as possible at the larger hole! Seriously, it wouldn't hurt for them to putt at the damaged hole and if it hits the area, count it as in (as long as it wasn't whizzing by!). I would guess they could get someone out there to correct the problem fairly quickly, where only two or three groups would have a problem. Give those groups a free pass for next time or discount their round this time.

EDIT: I didn't think about the golfer trying to repair it. I figured it was messed up too much for that to be an option. But I guess, why not, it's already messed up anyway.

 

[TheNewBrad]

Thanks for the assistance with this one klaymon and Smallville.

 

[Smallville]

You're welcome Brad. Again, it was just an opinion.