Whose tee is it?




Situation: Getting dark. 13^th Green and 17^th Green are within 30 yards of the 18^th tee.



Group A finishes up 13, looks back at the 17^th hole (long par 5), no one on 17, group B is on the 16^th green, no one on 18. Group A decides to play the 18^th hole in.



Group B (who have 2 open holes in front of them, holding up all behind them) finishes up 16, jumps in their carts, skip 17 and want to play 18 in. Group A already half way to their tee shots.



Group B claims that Group A jumped in front and wants them to move aside. Group A claims group B skipped a hole and has no claim, plus they held up the golf course all day long. Enough light for both groups to finish.

Not that there is a USGA ruling on this... lol... but if there was no one on 17, and this set of circumstances, the group that got there first 'wins' so to speak... in my opinion... doesn't sound like they did it JUST to jump in front, only to try to finish, which is the EXACT same thing the other group did, so I don't think either group has a CLAIM to the tee.

i don't know for sure but... since they both skipped holes I'd say it's first come at that point.

I says it's group A's... they've already tee'd off.

BUT, it's a non-issue if there is enough light for both...

AND if group B had played 17 they wouldn't be waiting.. no pitty for thse who play slow.

Group A.

They are skipping ahead to end up at the club house. Group B can easily play #17 and skip #18. Why are they skipping #17? They are heading IN not OUT as the group off of #13 is doing.

This only really applies when walking. Why bother skipping if you have a cart?

Related questions, if these scores are being entered for handicap:

Does group A enter their handicap scores for 14-17, and their actual score on 18; or handicap scores for 14-18?
Similarly (assuming B eventually gets to play 18), do they just enter the handicap score for 17, and actual score on 18; or handicap scores for both 17 and 18?

I don't think you can enter handicap scores for skipped holes, at all.... I know some systems allow you to enter partial rounds, but you can't estimate scores. May be wrong though, it's happened before... just ask my wife!

I would employ the "don't be a dick" super-rule of golf and just let them go ahead if they really wanted to.

And it's happened again. The USGA states that you can enter a full score for handicap purposes if you've played at least 13 holes. You can also enter a 9-hole score if you've played 7 holes. You would use your course handicap to score the holes you didn't actually play. If you are getting a stroke on a hole, you enter a bogey. If you aren't getting a stroke, you enter a par score for that hole.

Wow, ok, told ya I could be wrong.. haha. That certainly seems pretty liberal to allow a score after 13 holes, but I guess it works. Thanks for the info!

As a general rule of etiquette, the group further round the course, or the group playing a full or closest to a full round of golf should have priority. So, those at 16 would have priority over those on 13. Simple enough?

Move to New Zealand,all play the 18th together and get a beer afterwards.

I would agree had they arrived at the tee at about the same time, but it was presented that the group from 13 arrived before even knowing that the other group was coming, or being able to even see them, and being there long enough to hit their shots and be going up the fairway, according to the OP, I'm not sure how else to handle it. Were they supposed to sit on the tee to wait and see IF anybody else showed up?

Maybe I'm misreading something here, but since Group A has already teed off, then the tee clearly belongs group B.

since both groups are skipping ahead, the first to get there owns it (especially since they've already teed off)

if the second group hadn't skipped 17 of course they would have the right of way, but since both groups skipped ahead it's all about whoever got there first

This has happened to me before and I just let them play through. There's nothing about twilight golf worth getting bent out of shape about.

The tee belongs to the golf course. period

This thread reminds me of a story. Can I tell you a quick story? It was a late December round, unseasonably warm. I was having a really great round - I had just made a superb par from a fairway bunker on #16 and was heading over to 17 tee at 7 over par. That meant that I had only to finish the final two holes at +1 over par and I'd break 80 for the first time in my life.

Because it was winter, sunset was around 4:30 and my group was racing against the sun. We probably had 20 minutes of daylight to finish two holes. When we got to 17 tee, there were a couple of guys about to tee off. They had cut in from the 12th hole, figuring the daylight was almost up and might as well just play the last two holes coming in.

"No you don't" says I. "We're teeing off." They tried to protest saying that they'd been stuck behind a slow group all afternoon, but I was jacked up with adrenaline, on the verge of a huge golf achievement and wasn't having any crap. (Thankfully the guys in my group had my back) I walked over to them, teed up my ball, shooed them off the tee and with my pulse quickening, I flushed a three-iron to the middle of the green 200 yards away. Under the circumstances it was an outstanding golf shot.

I went on to two-putt for a par, then made a tremendous 10 footer on 18 to finish the round at 7-over, 78 my very first 70s round ever. And to think, the round might not have been finished had I not put those two jerkoffs in their place.