Every month former MGA Senior Director of Rules and Competitions Gene Westmoreland will answer one question posed by the readers of the MGA e-Revision Newsletter (click here to sign up). Gene recently received the following Rules question from a reader:

Q: I was in a club two-man, best ball match play tournament and our opponents announced their handicaps on the tee box. I told my partner that that is not what was posted on the tournament bracket board. My partner asked them again, and again they stated the wrong (higher) handicap. We played the match and lost. After the match when the results were posted we saw that indeed the wrong handicap was used. A deciding hole in the match was the hole they took the extra stroke. Do they get DQ’d, or does the match stand?

Gene responds:

Rule 30-3-e reminds us that the side (both of your opponents) would be disqualified even if only one of the partners violated Rule 6-2a.

However, you did not say whether you or your partner made a timely “claim” regarding this Rules infraction. In match play (lacking a timely claim) once the results of a match is posted, the results stands as played – unless the Committee is convinced that the offending team knowingly played with a higher handicap.

 

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