Just the other day, our very own Luke Kerr-Dineen broke down “3 sneaky (but legal) tactics pros use to annoy their Ryder Cup opponents” in his latest edition of video series “The Game Plan.” A subtext of his piece was the fact that when it comes to match play, anything goes … well, within reason. But does that include asking an opponent who played out of turn to hit his or her shot over again? It is certainly legal under the Rules of Golf—it famously happened at the 2000 Solheim Cup when U.S. captain Pat Bradley (a certain American Ryder Cup captain’s aunt) asked Annika Sorenstam to replay a shot that she had chipped in. And it certainly could get in your adversary’s head and throw his or her off. But unless it’s a blatant violation, is it, well, within reason—or bad sportsmanship?
No one currently working at Golf Digest has ever teed off in the Ryder Cup—certainly a shocker there—but many of us have competed in match play events and have our own thoughts on how we would handle such a situation. Hopefully, this comes into play at Bethpage Black, because there’s nothing better than a little bit of chaos.
Christopher Powers, Staff Writer: Any time these questions are presented, I usually think “if I hated someone enough, maybe.” But then I realize there is no one I frequently play matches with that I hate. That would suck. Of course, you could come across someone in a club competition or member-guest that you quickly grow to hate, but still not enough to be Johnny pencil-pusher. Nobody wants that reputation. So no, I don’t see myself ever making someone do over a shot in match play if they go out of turn. But if you want to get really specific, I guess it’s possible in say, a club championship match, where you’re 1 up or 1 down very late, and your opponent’s ball is 15-20 yards ahead, and they run up to play it to try and gain some sort of psychological advantage by hitting the green first. In that case, I might be like, “hey, guy, what are you doing?” But I still doubt I’d make them play the shot over. Unless they holed out. That would be very funny, actually, to make them go retrieve the ball out of the hole and go back and play it over. This sounds like a great premise for a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode now.
Jamie Kennedy, Director of Content and Social Media: No. Never. Couldn’t bring myself to actually say the words and go through the process. In fact, being a quick golfer, I’d encourage ready golf, haha.
Greg Gottfried, Web Producer: I’d like to think I would in order to create some bedlam and get in my opposition’s head, but, in the moment, I can’t see myself actually going through with it. Maybe if it were happening over and over, perhaps I’d eventually lose my cool and force a second shot. And yet, it doesn’t really seem worth it for the annoyance it could cause. You don’t want to be that guy, especially on an international stage.
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Shane Ryan, Contributing Writer: This answer is coming from a guy who really hates when an opponent plays out of turn, even in a casual match (except in those odd cases where we agree to it because it saves time). In a competitive tournament match, I’d let it go once, but mention that they played out of turn, and that the penalty is a canceled stroke. But hey, I’m friendly, no big deal, just remember in the future to play in turn. The second time it happened—a situation I’ve never encountered—is where it gets tough for me. Am I allowed to selectively decide when they re-hit and when they play on, so that I’m making my ruling based on whether I think the shot is any good? By the rules, it seems like I am, but something about that seems weird and too subjective. But I guess I’d probably do it, allowing the bad shots to stand and making them re-hit the good ones, because playing out of turn more than once is egregious and can definitely confer an advantage. Once you do it that second time, you’re clearly either being a jerk or you’re a space cadet, and I’m fine sticking it to you either way.
Dave Shedloski, Contributing Editor: Depends if I thought he had done so intentionally or inadvertently. To play out of turn to seek an unfair advantage isn’t cool. He’ll have to play the shot again. I think I’d be able to tell. Otherwise, it’s all good and we move on.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
