MATCH PLAY RULES

Match Play Information (2024)

Suzanne Olsen, NCGA Certified Rules Official

Penalties:

In Match Play the general penalty is loss of hole, rather than 2 strokes. There are only 2 instances in MP where there is a 2 stroke penalty-if you opt to use the Local Rule for Stroke & Distance, and if you use the back-on-the-line option outside of a bunker for an Unplayable ball in the bunker (Rule 19-3). (One stroke penalties, e.g., ball at rest moved by player, are the same in both forms of play.) When the penalty is loss of hole, the player is disqualified for that hole. The penalty will not apply to the partner except in 3 situations: (Rule 23.8a-2)

1. When either player has more than 14 clubs, shares clubs when there are more than 14 clubs between the two of them, when either player adds or replaces clubs when not allowed.

2. When the Player’s breach helps the partners play.

3. When the Player’s breach hurts the opponent’s play. This can include giving wrong information about the number of strokes taken.

There are 9 instances when the side will be disqualified from the competition. The list can be found in Rule 23.8b-1.

Practice:

On any day of a match play competition, a player may practice on the competition course before a round. Rule 5.2a, unless the Committee has forbidden it in the Conditions of Play.

Representation of a Side:

A side may be represented by one partner for all or any part of a match. An absent partner may join a match between holes, but not during play of a hole. Rule 23.4 (Play of a hole has started as soon as any one of the players has made a stroke from the teeing ground.)

Playing From Outside of the Teeing Area:

If a player plays a ball from outside the teeing area the opponent may immediately require the player to cancel the stroke and play a ball from within the teeing ground, no penalty. Rule 6.1b (Suzanne & Linda are partners in a 4 ball match. They weren’t paying attention and Suzanne, then Linda tee off from the wrong tees. The opponents then ask if they played from the correct tees, and they realize what they’d done. The opponents may recall Linda’s shot but not Suzanne’s.)

Order of Play:

(Rule 6.4a1) On the first tee, the order of play is determined by lot-throw a tee or flip a coin, unless the Committee has specified a team to play first. On the next Tee, the side that won the last hole plays first. If the last hole was halved, the side who last won a hole plays first. (If there’s a claim, and you don’t know who won the hole, or if it was tied, and it has an effect on determining who has the honor at the next tee-decide by lot.)

Everywhere except the Teeing Area, the side that is farther from the hole shall play first. The side may determine which of their balls to play first. In match play, you may invite your opponent to play first to speed up play on a case by case basis. (Rule 6.4a1-Exception) If you do this, you waive your right to recall the shot. At any time during the play of a hole, including “continuous putting”, if a player plays out of turn her opponents may immediately require her to cancel her shot and replay it in the correct order, playing a ball from a spot as nearly as possible from the spot from which the original ball was played. (On the teeing area place or tee, in the General Area and bunkers drop a ball, on the putting green place a ball.)

Touching/Moving a ball in Play:

If a ball is touched or moved by an opponent, her caddie, or her equipment, the opponent shall incur a penalty stroke. If the ball is touched or moved during search, replace the ball and there is no penalty.

Rule 9.5b (If I accidentally run over my opponents ball with my electric cart, I get a penalty stroke, unless I am searching for her ball.)

Ball Hits Any Player or Equipment:

If a player’s ball is accidentally deflected or stopped by any player, her caddy or equipment, there is no penalty-play the ball as it lies. (Rule 11-1)

You must not give Wrong Information

(Wrong Information is very precisely defined in the Rules...see below. For example, an opponent could tell me that it’s a loss of hole penalty because I hit her with my ball. She’s given me wrong information, but not “Wrong Information” according to the Rules!) The penalty is loss of hole. When asked by an opponent, you must tell the number of strokes you have taken so far, or how many to complete the hole, before the opponent makes her stroke or concedes the hole. You will be deemed to have given Wrong Information if:

You fail to tell your opponent you incurred a penalty-unless it was obvious that you were proceeding under a Rule involving a penalty.

You gave the opponent incorrect information about the number of strokes taken and you do not correct it before she makes her next stroke, or lifts her ball or mark because she believes you have won the hole, or concedes the hole to you.

You give incorrect information about the number of strokes taken to complete a hole and this affects the opponent’s understanding of the result of the hole, unless you correct the mistake before any player makes a stroke from the next teeing area, or in the case of the last hole of the match, before the result of the match is final. Rule 3-2d-1 & 2

(If you’ve ever played in our Team Play events, you know that opponents are always asking each other... “what do you lie?” or “what was you score?”. Most of the time, if the person gives Wrong Information, you know it, and ask them if they’re sure. You give them a chance to correct before it’s too late. After all, you want to win on skill, not on inadvertent Wrong Information!)

Claims

You may not play a second ball if you’re unsure of a Rule in Match Play. A player may make a claim if a doubt or dispute arises. If no one from the committee is available the players must continue to play without delay. The player making the claim must tell her opponent that she is making a claim, what the facts are, and that she wants a ruling. She must make the claim before any player in the match plays from the next teeing area, or in the case of the last hole of the match, before all players in the match leave the putting green.

A later claim may not be considered by the Committee unless it is based on facts previously unknown to the player making the claim and she had been given Wrong Information by an opponent. (Rule 20.1b)