Get a Ruling • Re: Wrong handicap
I was aware of the second prerequisite for the DQ. Wrongly noting a handicap of 14 clearly affects the number of stroke received by a player whose handicap is actually 8. I take "received" to mean simply the number of strokes available to you at the start of the round. You receive a certain number of strokes whether they turn out to be "useful" in terms of having the better score at any hole . By submitting the card with the wrong handicap on it he is liable to the DQ.Thom wrote:Colin L wrote:The DQ is correct in my reckoning. You had a handicap recorded on your scorecard that was greater than your actual handicap and which made a difference to the number of strokes you received - in breach of Rule 6-2b. In a four ball the side is disqualified if one partner breaches 6-2b (Rule 31-7a).1864 wrote:My partner and I recently played an open betterball stableford competition and had the best score on the day .
I play off 8 and my partner 14 but for some reason I have entered the handicaps the wrong way around .
We did however tell our markers our correct handicaps and the cards were marked and signed correctly . The card was then submitted but with the wrong handicaps alongside our names .
We were almost immediately informed we were disqualified which I thought was fair enough .
Ever since a few people have doubted this ruling , therefore on doing some digging rule 6-2b would seem to suggest the handicaps are only required somewhere on the card and therefore we should not have been disqualified .
What are your thoughts please
So there are two pre-requisites for DQ. The first one is certainly met - the card presents a high handicap next to a name that is not entitled to that handicap. But if the submitted card did not claim points inappropriately based on the wrong handicap, then it isn't entirely clear that the second pre-requisite has been met ('and this affects the number of strokes received'). I also note that there is no decision that provides guidance in this situation.
However, it is the Committee's (not the player's) responsibility to correctly score the Stableford points so I would presume that whoever on the Committee took the responsibility to check the cards could only apply the points based on the handicap written on the card for the specific player - and in that case the second pre-requisite for DQ would also be met.
The reason for saying that there is no DQ if the error does not affect the number of strokes received is, as I understand it, that it is possible that you can end up with the same number of strokes from different handicaps after the 0.9 adjustment for better ball formats. For example, if you record your handicap as 6 when it should be 5, you would not be disqualified as you receive 5 strokes with either because of rounding up and down to whole numbers. 0.9 x 6 = 5.4 which rounds down to 5 and 0.9 x 5 = 4.5 which rounds up to 5.
It does not matter where the handicaps are recorded on the card, but my understanding is that each was clearly attributed to the wrong player which does matter.
Statistics: Posted by Colin L — 36 minutes ago