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The Rules
A Junior’s Guide to
Starting and Scoring
by KENT HOLUBAR
VSGA volunteer Rules official Fred Westphal
talks with Ty Olinger at the 2016 VSGA Junior
Match Play Championship.
ENTERING A GOLF TOURNA-
MENT AS A JUNIOR can be excit-
ing and slightly terrifying, all at the same
time. Whether you’ve played in numerous
competitions or you’re playing in your first
tournament, remember one simple fact: It’s
still a game, and it’s supposed to be fun. So
take it one shot at a time, shake off the bad
ones, and focus on the next one.
Your first tee shot of the day and the
final review of your scorecard can be two
of the most nerve-racking times on the golf
course. Believe it or not, these are also the
two most common times a player can incur
10
a penalty or even disqualification. Let’s take
a look at what you should be aware of at the
starting and scoring areas.
STARTING
The Rules of Golf are very specific: The
player must arrive at the tee ready to play
at the time established by the Committee.
If your starting time is 9 a.m., and you
arrive at the tee at 9:01 a.m. or even 9 a.m.
and 30 seconds, you are subject to a penalty
of loss of the first hole in match play or
two strokes in stroke play. If you arrive
more than five minutes after your starting
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | J U LY / A U G U ST 2 0 1 7
SCORING
Congratulations, your round is over, now
proceed immediately to the scoring area
that has been set up by the Committee.
First piece of advice: take your time! The
scoring area is another possible area for
players to be penalized. As the player, you
are responsible for three things before you
leave the scoring area:
1. Recording the correct hole-by-hole score
in each box
2. Your marker’s signature
3. Your signature
The player is not responsible for addi-
tion, however, the player should stay seat-
ed until a Committee member in scoring
has verified each score and it adds up to
the correct total. Second piece of advice:
vsga.org
time, you will be disqualified (reference:
Decision 6-3a/2.5).
Although Rule 6-3a of the Rules of Golf
states that the player must start at the time
established by the Committee, it does not
state when the player should show up at
his or her starting tee. The starter might
want to remind you of several pieces of
information, so it would benefit you to show
up at least five minutes before your starting
time. More than likely you will be handed
a notice to players (aka a rules sheet), a
hole-locations sheet, and the scorecard
of your fellow competitor in a stroke-play
event. This is your opportunity to meet the
other player(s) you will be playing with and
ask any questions of the starter. Make sure
you count your clubs (you must have 14
clubs or fewer) and put an identifying mark
on your golf ball to show the other player(s)
in your group.