Match and stroke play is like cheese and chalk; different

As a greenhorn in golf, I went to my home club one Saturday morning with the plan of playing alone.

I had just acquired a new set of beginner clubs from a friend who was starting a business selling golf items and the boy in me could not wait to test these new toys.

After playing with a set of blades from a different era, which had been bequeathed to me, I was eager to find out if this new set would be the silver bullet for my golf game.

When I arrived at the club, I met an old friend who invited me to join him and two other fellows to replace someone who had pulled out.

There was no competition at the club that day but this group and a few other golfers had agreed to have an informal wager.

FORMAT

The format agreed on by the bigger group for the wager was Stroke play medal competition.

However, the team I had been invited to, decided to have a four-ball match play competition with another wager.

I was not keen on the second bet and tried to get myself out of it. I had never bet on a game of golf before then and I had my reservation.

I was feeling so out of place like a windscreen at Nyayo Stadium after a mashemeji football match.

“Shall we have the usual 3-3-4 auto,” asked one of the players. “I would rather not bet,” I tried to protest.

The look I got was one of shock and disbelief. I quickly reversed my decision and joined the fellows in the match. That was my first ever experience in match play.

This scenario is repeated every week at many clubs where players will be participating in a stroke play competition while having another informal match play competition.

It has become so widespread that many golfers may think that it is acceptable to have the two formats played together in a competition.

DIFFERENT SET OF RULES

There are certain specific rules governing stroke play that are so substantially different from those governing match play that combining the two forms of play is not practicable and is not permitted.

If the two formats were human, they would be two beautiful stepsisters who are so much fun to be with as long as you don’t bring them together. They just would not get along.

Some of the differences in the rules of stroke play and match play are:

If a player tees off from outside teeing ground in match play, there is no penalty but the opponent may require the player to cancel the stroke and play from within the teeing ground.

In stroke play however, there is a two-stroke penalty and the player must play from within the teeing ground.

In match play, if a player’s ball in motion is accidentally deflected or stopped by an opponent, the player may cancel the stroke and play another without penalty from where he played the previous shot.

In stroke play, the fellow competitor who accidentally deflects or stops a player’s ball in motion is an outside agency and the ball must be played as it lies.

If in match play a player’s putt on the green hits another ball on the green, there is not penalty.

The same action would earn the player a two-stroke penalty in stroke play.

Even if you wanted to, you can’t make full use of the provisions provided for the two formats in the same competition.

The next time you want to play in a match play competition, why not ask your Captain to organise one where you can make full use of the Rules?

The author is a Kenya Golf Union Executive [email protected]