Pro tip: Don't post a 35 on 18

Bummer for him.
 
I'll never understand stuff like this. Obvious mistake.

Rules are rules. They are supposed to know what he really shot on the last hole?
 
I'll never understand stuff like this. Obvious mistake.

Yeah, but think about it.

What if the committee person assumes that the 35 was a mistake, and doing the math, figures out he must have gotten a 5 on 18. So, he records that as the official score. Later, he finds out the kid actually got a 6 on the hole, and the kid made a mistake adding the scores up when he wrote down 35. Thus, some other kid gets hosed because of what the committee assumed. That's why you can't do it - the assumption.

Now, it'd be nice if they'd just go find the kid and the marker and attempt to clarify the mistake rather than just saying, "Hey - he left the tent - it's official," but the responsibility HAS to be on the player.
 
I see the pitfalls, but they couldn't contact him to ask?

It's a tough lesson, but you see this so often in the news. I would be surprised if he had never seen or read a news story about this happening.
 
Yeah, but think about it.

What if the committee person assumes that the 35 was a mistake, and doing the math, figures out he must have gotten a 5 on 18. So, he records that as the official score. Later, he finds out the kid actually got a 6 on the hole, and the kid made a mistake adding the scores up when he wrote down 35. Thus, some other kid gets hosed because of what the committee assumed. That's why you can't do it - the assumption.

Now, it'd be nice if they'd just go find the kid and the marker and attempt to clarify the mistake rather than just saying, "Hey - he left the tent - it's official," but the responsibility HAS to be on the player.

This^^^
 
It's a tough lesson, but you see this so often in the news. I would be surprised if he had never seen or read a news story about this happening.

A great points Smalls. I just hate hearing about it.
 
that really sucks. poor kid!
 
Can you score a 35 on a hole? i thought there was a shot limit on a hole?????

Why would there be a shot limit? And if there is, it should be 6. haha
 
It's unfortunate for sure and a very tough lesson in responsibility. Surely anyone can look at a 35 and know almost without a doubt, that it's not the number of strokes taken on that hole. From what I remember, there is no limit on the number of strokes taken in play - only the ESC adjustment when you actually post the score for your handicap.

A guy I play with on occasion takes that to heart. When he hits "double par" he picks up and puts that number on the card. He doesn't play for a "real" handicap and at the end of a round he usually asks "how did i beat you when you play a lot more than i do"

hearing that is like salt on the wound....Especially if i had a particualrly bad round that day....
 
Man that's gotta be tough to take. I know he will be checking and double checking and triple checking his scorecard from now on.

Seriously. Tappin'.
 
That's a big bummer for the kid, seems like a really bad rule as well, there should certainly be more grey area in that rule!
 
He probably should have checked his scorecard. Just a horrible mistake that could have easily been avoided.
 
Being a HS Coach I have to wonder about this call. Rules may be rules but really?? There is no way this is fair to anyone involved.....

Just last year I had a kid from another team throw his card down and walk off. It was easy to see he was upset about his score. One of my guys looked at it and said, "Coach he didn't fill in the last hole." I sent him to find the kid and we fixed it. Pushed us from second to third but we did the right thing......

The rules of golf need some serious revisions in my mind. I see so much stuff every year that makes no sense......

hackin
 
Wow, that sucks to be this kid an easy mistake to be for sure but the rules be the rules. I would think who ever he turned his card into would have at least glanced at his card and could of said something to him before he left the tent.
 
that sucks. especially since he might have been from a school I probably played against in high school haha
 
Wow, that sucks to be this kid an easy mistake to be for sure but the rules be the rules. I would think who ever he turned his card into would have at least glanced at his card and could of said something to him before he left the tent.

I don't know how it works. I know the leagues at our course have you put your scorecard into a slot in a box. If that's the case, would anyone notice until later? Besides, once it's turned in, it's too late. Someone would have to notice it before it was turned in. And that person would be the player, right?

Really, how hard is it to check 21 boxes on a piece of paper to make sure the right number is in each one? And if one should happen to mess up, why is it anyone's fault other than the person who screwed up?
 
check your scorecard man. absent mindedness is the responsibility of the player.Roberto di Vicenzo.

I have a friend who in our high school regional shot a 78, good enough to finish 3rd individually to qualify for sectionals. He signed for a 77 because he birdied the par 5 and the kid keeping score wrote down a 3 instead of a 4. My friend, being absent minded that he was, signed his card without really looking at it. After his score got posted one of the other coaches said to him "hey nice eagle" to which my friend replied "I didn't make an eagle" and boom, dqed.


It's unfortunate for the kid in the linked story, scorecard issues are never fun and but they are an integral part of the game. the players are the scorekeepers in golf and you have the responsiblity to make it right even in benign circumstances such as these. It's no different than moving your ball, and when you treat it with the same care then things like this don't have to happen.
 
Isn't one of the core values of the First Tee "responsibility"? Then his card should count as written. It sounds unfair, but it'll teach him a valuable lesson later in life to double-check everything.

Let's play devil's advocate and say that they caught the mistake in the scoring tent and called him back to modify the score. He changes the score and makes the state championship. Then he ends up winning the state, but technically shouldn't be there. What would that teach the other golfers who followed the rules?
 
Being a HS Coach I have to wonder about this call. Rules may be rules but really?? There is no way this is fair to anyone involved.....

It's fair to all those who recorded their scores correctly.


Just last year I had a kid from another team throw his card down and walk off. It was easy to see he was upset about his score. One of my guys looked at it and said, "Coach he didn't fill in the last hole." I sent him to find the kid and we fixed it. Pushed us from second to third but we did the right thing......

The rules of golf need some serious revisions in my mind. I see so much stuff every year that makes no sense......

hackin

Certainly admirable of you to do that.

While the committee finding a kid and rectifying a suspected error after the fact sounds like a good idea that hurts no one (I even suggested it in my post above), in thinking more about it today I think would serve to hurt the kids more than help them. Why? Because procedures need to be consistent. If the committee tracks down a kid and allows him to correct his score, some other kid might not have been allowed to do so in a tournament last week. He's not going to be allowed to do it in the state tournament, or if he plays golf in college, and certainly not if he makes it to some level of professional golf. So, the kids are better served by committees abiding by the letter of the law. Is it a tough lesson? You bet, but it will serve the kid well in the end, and may prevent him from making the same mistake later in his career when the stakes are much, much higher.
 
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Dang Smalls......you really are the angry mod. Man you are brutal....
 
That does suck, but good pro tip.

~Rock
 
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