[PHOTO: Dilip Vishwanat]
Forget the Ryder Cup, the annual grudge match between Shady Oaks Country Club and Misty River Golf & Tennis always gets a little tense. These two clubs just don’t like each other, they say.
Knowing how important a win is in this 12-on-12 team competition, you might expect either side to do whatever it takes to get an edge. In fact, the golfers playing for Misty River can’t help but notice that there has been some “club signalling” between teammates on Shady Oaks that have already played the par-3 sixth and the ones playing on the adjacent par-4 fifth. Furthermore, the Shady Oaks team has this guy in a bucket hat going around and whispering stuff into the ears of players. What’s that all about?
You might wonder if Shady Oaks is in violation of Rule 10.2b (advice and other help) for sharing club selections and having some guy walk around the course and seemingly telling his side’s golfers what to do.
In short, the answer is… yes and no.
In the case of the folks at Shady, they are permitted to have a team “captain” who moves from group to group and offers advice if a Local Rule is enacted to designate an “advice giver” (Rule 24.4). But there are some stipulations. The first being this person has to be acknowledged by the match committee before any advice is given. The second being the person cannot give advice while competing, so a playing captain has to wait until finishing or starting his or her round. However, the “advice giver” can change during the round as long as that person is not competing. In short, the guy wearing the bucket hat for Shady is probably not breaking any rules.
You might wonder about what the rest of the team can do, and this is where the Shady team might be acting, well, shady. According to the Rules of Golf, partners on a side in a team competition can share advice, but you can’t give or receive advice from another teammate if he or she is not your partner in a match. A player signalling what club was used on a par 3 to a teammate in another group who isn’t his or her partner is in violation of Rule 24. That comes with a two-shot penalty or loss of hole in matchplay. Keep in mind, if it were a singles match or strokeplay event where you are competing as an individual (no partner), you cannot give or receive advice from a teammate regardless if that person is in your foursome or not. Only the captain (advice giver) can assist you.
The committee also can enact a Local Rule to restrict the type of help an advice-giver can offer. For example, they might ban the use of electronic communications or keep that person from helping out on green-reading, etc.
