Golf Monthly UK – August 2019

nmostsports,someone
elsekeepsscore,butin
golf,it’sdowntoyou.
Thankfully,thereareonlya
fewkeythingstoremembertostaythe
rightsideofgolf’sscorecardRules
(Rule3.3bforstroke-playscoring;Rule
21.1bforStableford;andRule 23.2b for
four-ballstrokeplay).
Thatsaid,evenatthehighestlevelsof
thegame,therehavebeenanumberof
scorecardincidentsovertheyears,
mostfamouslyRobertodeVicenzoin
the 1968 Masters,whenhesignedfora
scorehigherthanhe’dactuallytakenon
oneholeandcosthimselfthechanceof
aplay-off.Inthe 2003 Open,MarkRoe
andJesperParnevikforgottoswap
cards,signedforthewrongscores as a
resultandweredisqualified.
Thisdiagramfrompage 26 ofthe
Player’sEditionhighlightswhichparts
ofthescorecardaretheplayer’s,the
marker’sandthecommittee’s
responsibilities.Astheplayer,youmust
makesurethecorrecthandicapis
recordedonthecard.Youronlyother
responsibilityisyoursignature...but
onlyaftercarefullycheckingthegross
scoresrecordedbyyourmarkerfor
each individual hole are correct.

Youdonothavetototupyourscore,

recordyournetscoreorallocate

StablefordpointsinaStableford.Many

golfersdosoandthat’sfine,butyou

cannotbepenalisedforgettingthe

maths,thenetscoreortheStableford

pointswrong.Theconsequenceofany

grosshole-scoreerrordependson

whichwayyouhaveerred.Signfora

grossscoreonaholelowerthanthat

actuallytakenandthepenaltyis

disqualification,althoughthereisan

exceptiontothisifyoufailedtoinclude

apenaltyunknowntoyourselfbefore

returningyourscorecard.Ahigher

scorewillsimplystandasrecorded,as

deVicenzodiscoveredtohiscost.

Thereisnoneedtoinitialmistakes or

correctionsonthescorecard.

Similarly,ifyoufailtorecordyour

handicaporplayoffonehigherthanthat

towhichyouareentitled,youwillbe

disqualifiedfromthehandicapelement

ofastroke-playcompetition,though

your score will still stand in any

concurrentscratchcompetition.Put

downtoolowahandicapandyournet

scorewillstandbasedonthathandicap.

Yourscorecardmustbesignedby

youandyourmarker(ormarkersif

someoneelsehadtotakeoverforany

particularreason)andreturnedas

soonaspossibleoncompletionofyour

round.Sometimes,thiswillbetoa

recorders’area,butoftensimplytoa

boxintheclubhouseorchanging

room.Oncereturned,no alterations

canthenbemade.

Ifoneorbothoftherequired

certifyingsignaturesismissing(yours

andyourmarker’s),youwillbe

disqualified.Andifyourclubuses

computerisedscoring,itisstillwhatis

recordedonthephysicalscorecard

thatcountsincaseyoumakeany

errorswhileinputtingyourscore.

Justaswithmostthingsinlife,check

thingscarefullybeforesigningtoavoid

anunpleasantsurprisewhenthe

competition results are published!

Rules Refresher – The Scorecard

I

“Youdonothavetototupyourscore,

recordyournetscoreorallocate

points in a Stableford”