The comment on the countdown thread about Tiger's illegal drop got me thinking about this. What do you think is a reasonable time frame for assessing penalties? Just spitballing here, but keeping in mind the culture of golf and calling penalties on yourself, I think this would be my suggestion regarding video replay, etc:

1. Someone must go on record when the violation happens. The player, a competitor, a rules official, etc. Someone must AT THAT TIME actually say they suspect a violation occurred. No chumps on their couch watching it on replay and calling in saying they saw something.

2. Once the round is complete, someone from the tournament (rules official of some kind) talks it all out with the player and any "witnesses" and reviews the evidence. The decision is then made before the players sign their scorecard.

3. Once the scorecard is signed and submitted, the matter is closed. If someone calls in after the fact and clearly notifies the committee that the ruling was incorrect with totally irrefutable video evidence, it doesn't matter. Once it's done, it is done.


I think the whole idea of people calling in is ridiculous. I actually would be curious to meet a person who does this because it just seems crazy. Who do you even call? Do you just call the operator and say "CONNECT ME TO THE RULES OFFICIALS AT THE MASTERS IMMEDIATELY!"

Maybe after all that stuff last year they came up with some rules about this?

There is so much gray area on what should be reviewable and what shouldn't and for how long it would be reviewable. Tough to see how they can make rules on this.

Btw, the guy who called in Tiger's infraction was a well-connected guy in golf (Champions Tour player, former tournament official), so he knew how to get in touch with people who mattered. I have no idea who a regular joe would call to report a violation. And I can't fathom why anyone not officiating the tournament would go out of their way to do it in the first place.

calling in rule violations is fudging ridiculous.

so is treating a 500 pound boulder as a loose impediment.

I think the gray area is why you should make it part of the rule that someone has to bring it up right then. If the player suspects that he did something, he should tell an official and his playing partners. If you suspect you saw a competitor do something, you tell the possible offender and an official. You say it right then. Set a limit that someone has to object by the time the next hole is complete or in the case of a suspected violation on the last hole, before the card is signed. If an objection is noted, you use what you have available to make a decision. Interview the people who saw it. Ask what happened. If it's a big event and there were cameras, then take a look. Then a rules official should make a decision in a timely manner.

If no one reports a possible violation within the required time frame, then the matter is over. Dead. As final as a called strike or an overruled touchdown.

I haven't ever competed in golf, but I just feel like in sports in general that officiating decisions should be made in the moment. The idea of looking back at an event that was completed hours before seems messed up. And I know Tiger's thing last year is an example of a rare occurrence, but it does highlight that stuff like that can happen.

Bagger, this is covered in Rule 34-1. The short version is that in stroke play, once the competition has closed (once the result has been announced), then there cannot be an imposition of a penalty. There are four exceptions listed in the book: agreement with another player to waive the Rules; returning a scorecard with a handicap that he knew was higher than he was entitled to and it affected the number of strokes given; returning a score for a hole lower than actually taken for any reason other than failure to include penalty strokes for a penalty he knew he had incurred; or player knew he was in breach of a Rule that called for a DQ penalty. (Example--I knew I hit a wrong ball but didn't correct my error)

The short version of what all that means is that there's no statute of limitations for cheating. Beyond that, evidence of an infraction has to be brought to light before the competition closes.

The Tiger situation last year was a matter of a player breaking a Rule, the committee giving him a wrong ruling prior to signing his card by looking at the replay and deciding that it was ok; then after getting the call-in from a highly credible source (former USGA Director of Rules & Competitions and Champions Tour player David Eger), they realized they had made an incorrect ruling. They corrected the ruling, and gave Tiger the correct penalty.



[This message has been edited by USGA77 (edited 4/7/2014 2:55p).]