News Flash: despite the entreaties of numerous golfing mates for a name change more in tune with the times, and after careful consideration Foremost, with characteristic modesty, has decided to retain the name “Foremost”, although he has to admit, suggested recognition as “Supreme Leader” does have a certain appeal.

Facts

Pace of play was no issue for opponent and cart companion Sandwich, on this day, as approaching darkness threatened completion of the round. In fact, Foremost contributed to any subsequent confusion by teeing off first on Hole #13 and making a quick detour down the short Par 3 10th Hole to the bag room to retrieve his range finder, where it had been turned in by player PM in the following group who, in passing on the 12th hole, had kindly advised F of its retrieval and current location.

F quickly returned to 13th Hole where his playing companions were walking and just approaching their drives in the fairway. It should be noted that F’s diversion hadn’t caused a moments delay, as his return preceded the approach of his walking companions.

F played his second shot first and returned to the cart. Sandwich had split the fairway with his drive, and played an excellent iron shot into the middle of the green. Brimming with excitement over his play, Sandwich had briskly walked after his shot, in the process yelling at F in the cart, instructing him to bring his putter to the green.

As players teed off on the Par 5 14th Hole, Sandwich announced that he couldn’t find his driver. “How do you lose your dang driver?”, he asked himself, as he searched F’s bag and the bags of the other two carrying players to no avail. Realizing that this search was futile, and that dusk was approaching, he grabbed F’s driver and busted a shot down the fairway. He, also, used F’s driver on the 17th and 18th holes, each shot long and magnificent, and his query changed from wondering what he had done with his own driver to whether F would consider a sale of his driver.

F replied that his driver was possibly for sale, but that the more pressing concern was that he was trying to figure out what penalties should be assessed to Sandwich for borrowing his driver on 3 of the last 5 holes, as some dollars were at stake upon conclusion of the match. About this time, Sandwich noticed and relayed to all a text from Rev CS, also playing in the following group, asking Sandwich why he had left his driver at the edge of the 13th fairway.

Sandwich immediately realized the circumstances leading to his error, at which time he vehemently turned to F blaming him for his mental lapse. “I tossed the driver in the direction I expected to walk on my way back to the cart path after hitting my shot, but you weren’t parked there due to you short drive, so I just walked on to the green rather than return to the cart path; therefore, it is your fault I lost my driver. If you hadn’t gone back to the bag room to fetch your range finder, I never would have been walking in the first place.”

Tears gathered in F’s eyes as he solemnly listened to Sandwich’s sad recital. Nevertheless, he decided a penalty was in order.

Ruling

The 14-club Rule is covered in R4.1b. It states that a player cannot have more than 14 clubs during the round (R4.1b(1)), and that if a player starts with 14 clubs, he may not replace a club “lost” during the round (R4.1b(3)).

Note that the penalty for violation of this Rule is a “Match Adjustment Penalty” (Maximum of Two Holes) rather than the usual General Penalty, which is loss of a specific hole in Match Play. The penalty is a “match adjustment” so with knowledge of the violation arising after the conclusion of the match, the match score would be adjusted by two holes, rather than applying the loss of hole to the specific holes (such as #14 and #17 where the violations first occurred).

F also finds, after a careful review of the Rule, that no excuses are permitted for losing a club during a round, and that Sandwich’s declaration of “contributory negligence” by F does not erase the necessary assessment of the penalty and two-hole match adjustment.

F suspects he will have some difficulty in collecting his damages due to the post-round adjusted wager. No problem…but he may have an opportunity to gain satisfaction by making a slight adjustment in the selling price of his driver!

As usual, all comments and corrections are welcome!

Respectfully submitted,

Supreme Leader

(0k …darn, this sounds good!…nah)