What to Do if the Rules Official Gives a Wrong Ruling?

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

I believe its the players responsibility to know the rules. So if an official makes a mistake and the player posts a wrong score because of it, I think the player will be assessed the penalty when the mistake is discovered.

Nothing I can point to here, just my understanding of the situation.

Why add your opinion or what you think might be right when we are talking about a factual thing?

[Rulesman]

11 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

I believe its the players responsibility to know the rules. So if an official makes a mistake and the player posts a wrong score because of it, I think the player will be assessed the penalty when the mistake is discovered.

Nothing I can point to here, just my understanding of the situation.

Rulings by Referee

A referee is an official named by the Committee to decide questions of fact and apply the Rules.

A referee's ruling on the facts or how the Rules apply must be followed by the player.

• A player has no right to appeal a referee's ruling to the Committee.
• The referee may seek the Committee's help before making a ruling or refer a ruling to the Committee for review, but is not required to do so.

When Wrong Rulings Will Be Corrected

If a ruling by a referee or the Committee is later found to be wrong:

• The ruling will be corrected if possible under the Rules.
• If it is too late to do so, the wrong ruling stands.

See also Clauses 10 & 11 here

https://www.randa.org/en/rog/2019/rules/committee-procedures/6c#10

Edited July 28, 2019 by Rulesman

[Sirtom]

My example actually happened. I hit the ball from a forward tee during a club championship match play event. We were unsure of the penalty . That being the case i hit a second tee shot and called the official (club pro):for some help. By the time he made it out to us I had hit my second shot on this par 5 hole. The official said match play the penalty was loss of hole. Ok, I picked up my ball, thought I lost the hole and proceeded to head in the direction of the next tee. Before my opponent got to his ball the pro came back and said he made a mistake and it was not loss of hole. The correct ruling was that i could hit the tee ball again from the correct tee without penalty (as I did) or my opponent could require i play the original tee ball .

So here we are my ball is in my pocket after 2 shots because of an incorrect ruling. My opponents ball is on the green in 3 and has not been moved. Where do we go from here and why?

[fredf]

On 8/10/2020 at 10:23 AM, Sirtom said:

My example actually happened. I hit the ball from a forward tee during a club championship match play event. We were unsure of the penalty . That being the case i hit a second tee shot and called the official (club pro):for some help. By the time he made it out to us I had hit my second shot on this par 5 hole. The official said match play the penalty was loss of hole. Ok, I picked up my ball, thought I lost the hole and proceeded to head in the direction of the next tee. Before my opponent got to his ball the pro came back and said he made a mistake and it was not loss of hole. The correct ruling was that i could hit the tee ball again from the correct tee without penalty (as I did) or my opponent could require i play the original tee ball .

So here we are my ball is in my pocket after 2 shots because of an incorrect ruling. My opponents ball is on the green in 3 and has not been moved. Where do we go from here and why?

As discussed above, the answer is found in Committee Procedures 6C(10).

In your case, it seems clear that no further shots were played by either player from the time you were given the incorrect ruling, you just picked up your ball after being advised of the incorrect ruling. So you should replace your ball from where it was lifted - estimating the spot if you are not exactly sure of it - and play on. In your scenario, it only becomes too late to correct when a player hits from the next tee.

Edited August 18, 2020 by fredf
minor word change

[Beastie]

On 8/10/2020 at 1:23 AM, Sirtom said:

My example actually happened. I hit the ball from a forward tee during a club championship match play event. We were unsure of the penalty . That being the case i hit a second tee shot and called the official (club pro):for some help. By the time he made it out to us I had hit my second shot on this par 5 hole. The official said match play the penalty was loss of hole. Ok, I picked up my ball, thought I lost the hole and proceeded to head in the direction of the next tee. Before my opponent got to his ball the pro came back and said he made a mistake and it was not loss of hole. The correct ruling was that i could hit the tee ball again from the correct tee without penalty (as I did) or my opponent could require i play the original tee ball .

So here we are my ball is in my pocket after 2 shots because of an incorrect ruling. My opponents ball is on the green in 3 and has not been moved. Where do we go from here and why?

 The R&A and the USGA produce a Players edition of the Rules of Golf. You should carry it in your bag.Its just about pocket size

[fredf]

1 hour ago, Beastie said:

 The R&A and the USGA produce a Players edition of the Rules of Golf. You should carry it in your bag.Its just about pocket size

I wholly support players carrying and using the Rule book, phone app is much better if you can get familiar with it (everything is accessible), but the question being responded to here is not covered in the Rules.

[Beastie]

On 8/18/2020 at 11:08 AM, fredf said:

I wholly support players carrying and using the Rule book, phone app is much better if you can get familiar with it (everything is accessible), but the question being responded to here is not covered in the Rules.

I was responding to Sirtom and that situation is definitely covered by the ROG.

If he knew the rule there would have been no need for a ruling

[fredf]

36 minutes ago, Beastie said:

I was responding to Sirtom and that situation is definitely covered by the ROG.

If he knew the rule there would have been no need for a ruling

I'm not disagreeing with the benefits of carrying and knowing how to use a rule book. But Sirtom's question was about what to do when given a wrong ruling by the official/referee. And the rule book cannot help with that, it is not in there.