The 2004 Junior Ryder Cup matches were held at Westfield Group Country Club in Westfield Center, Ohio, last September. The matches pitted 12 juniors from Europe against 12 from the USA. Six boys and six girls comprised the two teams. The first day's matches were fourball with two boys from each team playing against each other, and likewise for the girls. On the second day, one girl and one boy were teamed together again in fourball play.
The fourth hole at Westfield Group Country Club is a unique, short par 4. The tree-lined fairway sits 30 feet above the green. Any player who does not get his or her tee shot within 10 yards of the end of the fairway cannot see the green. On the first day, I was the referee in a match that featured Europe's Zach Gould and Luis Garcia del Moral vs. Josh Dupont and Tony Mapu Finau from the U.S. All four players hit their tee shots on No. 4 and were in good position.
Dupont was the first to play and was about 30 yards behind Finau's ball. Finau was the only player close enough to the end of the fairway to see the green. Dupont walked to the end of the fairway to look at the green, check the hole location, and get a line on how to play his shot. As it turned out, Finau's ball was directly in Dupont's line of play. In other words, Finau's ball assisted Dupont in his play.
Rule 22
Ball Assisting or Interfering with Play
Rule 22-1
Ball Assisting Play |
Except when a ball is in motion, if a player considers that a ball might assist any other player, he may: (a) lift the ball if it is his ball, or (b) have any other ball lifted.
A ball lifted under this Rule must be replaced (see Rule 20-3). The ball must not be cleaned unless it lies on the putting green (see Rule 21).
In stroke play, a player required to lift his ball may play first rather than lift the ball.
In stroke play, if the Committee determines that competitors have agreed not to lift a ball that might assist any other player, they are disqualified.
Source: 2004-05 The Rules of Golf |
Under Rule 22-1, any player may have any other ball lifted if it assists with the play of any other player. Gould or del Moral could have asked Finau to mark his ball since it assisted Dupont. Finau would have had to lift his ball but would not have been able to clean it. After Dupont played, Finau would have replaced his ball.
Neither Gould or del Moral noticed this, or perhaps they were unaware of the Rule. No action was taken. As the referee, I could not suggest or make them aware of the situation. To take this one step further, if either of the Europeans had asked Finau to mark his ball and Dupont played before Finau marked, Finau and Dupont would have lost hole No. 4. Rule 30-f states that if a player's breach of a Rule (not allowing Finau to mark before Dupont played) assists his partner's play, the partner incurs the applicable penalty as well as the player.
Usually we see Rule 22 applied around the green where a ball might assist or interfere with another player. In this case, the assisting occurred in the fairway about 100 yards short of the green.
The European team went on to defeat the U.S., 4 and 2, as both teams played extremely well in an exemplary competition of youthful skill and sportsmanship.
Dean Alexander is a PGA teaching professional in Atlanta and a member of the PGA of America Rules of Golf Committee.
