Isn’t there something quite romantic about getting the honour in golf? Through your golfing endeavour, your superior skill on any given hole, you are handed the ancient rites of hitting the first ball from the next tee. It is, indeed, an honour.
But in these times of pace of play, and trying to trim some time off the arduous examination of 18 holes, is the honour in golf still a thing? Does it really matter? I might be able to spring a couple of surprises here, so let’s get stuck in…
What is the honour in golf?
I can hear you all yelling “READY GOLF!” at me and, yes, you are correct that, in stroke play, Rule 6.4b (2) says players are “both allowed and encouraged” to play out of turn if it’s done in a “safe and responsible” way.
But – there’s usually a but somewhere in the rules – there are some important distinctions to be made.
One of these will be obvious to you all. In match play, the honour is of primary importance and players are compelled to play according to it. You can cancel your opponent’s stroke if they sneak a shot in when it’s your turn.
It goes further, though, in stroke play. What if you get a player who has hit the lowest gross score on the previous hole and they don’t want to share the love? They want their time to shine.
Well, generally you should step aside and let them get on with it. Rule 6.4b (2) reveals that if it is their turn, they’re ready to go, and “indicate that he or she wants to play first”, you should wait until they’ve been.
What if you were trying to get ahead to gain an advantage? That’s also a no-no. “A player should not play out of turn to gain an advantage over other players.”
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If two or more players make an agreement to that effect, each of them are going to be hit with the general penalty, or two shots in layman’s terms.
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
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