Rules of Golf Review: In alternate shot, can a player purposely miss so his or her partner can hit?

Playing a competition with a partner can be an uncomfortable experience, especially if one partner is markedly better than the other.

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Take the classic game "Pinehurst." Not familiar with it? In that format, each player on a team tees off and then has to play the teammate's ball. From there, you pick the better shot of the two and play alternate shot until the ball is holed. The problem with Pinehurst is that if a low-handicap golfer is paired with a high-handicap golfer, there's a good chance the better player is going to have to hit from spots on the golf course he or she has never been before. It also puts a lot of pressure on the poorer player, as he or she doesn't want to let the better player down by duffing it.

See how the psychology plays a role?

Any time it's a team event, a good bit of the strategy has less to do with the actual swinging of the golf club and more to do with the team's mind-set. Who hits first? What type of shot do you play? Is it better to make the player with the higher score hole out to take pressure off a birdie or par putt? Do you pick up so the other team doesn't get to see the line to the hole?

It can be exhausting having to put so much thought into team strategy. Which brings us to one of the toughest formats in golf: alternate shot (aka foursomes). Teams spend a great deal of time thinking about who tees off on which holes, whether to be aggressive or conservative, and even where to leave shots for the other teammate should a miss occur.

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Here's a strategy wrinkle you might not have considered. Hypothetically, let's say there's an alternate-shot event pairing a good player with a poorer player. Maybe one handicap has to be south of 15 and the other north. The good player on the team hits a nice approach shot, but it takes a hard hop on the green and rolls through into a deep-rough lie. Making it worse, it's a slick back-to-front sloped green meaning only the most deft touch from this spot will keep the ball from rolling off and into a pond guarding the front.

This is a brutal spot for the higher-handicap player to be in. Then a lightbulb goes off. The player figures that it would be better to intentionally miss the ball than hit it into the water on the other side of the green. It would likely save at least a stroke and keep their side in the hole. What happens when a player in foursomes intentionally misses the ball to give his or her teammate a chance to hit the same shot?

In short, it's still that golfer's turn. A clarification to Rule 22.3 covers this scenario. "A player may not change whose turn it is to play by intentionally missing the ball. A stroke is the forward movement of the club made to strike the ball. Therefore, if a player has intentionally missed the ball, they have not made a stroke and it is still [his or her] turn to play."

If you're wondering what would happen if the player intentionally missed and then his or her teammate hit the shot, the side would get a penalty for playing from the wrong place (losing the hole in match play).

The only time when a whiff would be acceptable in this situation is if the player did not intend to miss the ball, which could easily happen in this situation considering the lie and the potential outcome.

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