Can name golf’s five ‘must corrects’?

We’ve spent the last few issues talking about the five “must corrects” in the Rules of Golf. “Must correct” means that, if you don’t correct an error before teeing off on the next hole, you’ll get disqualified! Before delving on to the fifth and last “must correct,” let’s review the four that we’ve already covered. Note that these “must corrects” only apply to stroke play. In match play, you either lose the hole, or maybe there’s no penalty at all, depending on the infraction.

Failure to Hole Out. While “gimmes” and “pick-ups” are common in friendly weekend rounds, failure to hole out in a competition is an absolute no-no. If you don’t hole out, and tee off on the next hole, you’re disqualified.

Starting a Hole from Outside the Teeing Area. The Teeing Area is a rectangle the width of the tee markers and two-club lengths deep. If you tee off to start a hole either in front of, to the side of, or behind this Teeing Area, you get a two-stroke penalty and “must correct” your error before teeing off on the next hole, or you’re disqualified. This also applies if you tee off from the wrong hole!

Playing a Wrong Ball. A Wrong Ball is any ball other than your ball in play. So if, when playing a hole, you make a stroke at a Wrong Ball, you get a two-stroke penalty and “must correct” your error before teeing off on the next hole, or you’re disqualified.

Playing From a Wrong Place – Serious Breach. Playing From a Wrong Place means that, other than from the Teeing Area, you’ve made a stroke from somewhere other than where you were supposed to make the stroke. That’s a two-stroke penalty. However, the mistake might be minor – maybe you’ve made a stroke from Point A, but instead you were supposed to play from Point B, maybe a few inches or a few feet away. In that case, you just swallow the two-stroke penalty and play on. But let’s say you play a stroke a long way away from where you were supposed to play, or from a much easier lie. In that case, you’ve probably committed a Serious Breach.           You still get the two-stroke penalty, but this is also a “must correct” and you must play from where you were supposed to play. If you fail to correct it before teeing off on the next hole, it’s a DQ!

Now let’s look at the fifth and final “must correct.” It involves a form of play called Foursomes – also sometimes called Alternate Shot. This is the proper usage of the term “foursome.” Contrary to popular belief among golfers, a “foursome” isn’t a group of four players playing together in a round of golf. Let’s look at an example of how Foursomes are played, and see how the fifth “must correct” applies in this form of play.

Paul and Chase are partners in a Foursomes competition. Only one player tees off on each hole, and then they alternate shots until the hole is finished. They play only one ball. Paul will tee off on all the odd-numbered holes, and Chase will tee off on all the even-numbered holes. Note that regardless of who sinks the last putt on each hole, Paul still tees off on the odd-numbered holes, and Chase still tees off on the even-numbered holes. Here’s where the fifth “must correct” comes in. Let’s say Paul tees off on the 8th hole. That’s an even-numbered hole, and Chase is supposed to tee off on the even-numbered holes. Since Paul teed off when Chase should have, they incur a two-stroke penalty. They must correct their mistake, go back to the tee, and Chase must tee off. Note that this is just a single two-stroke penalty, regardless of how many strokes they’ve made before correcting the error.    

So when they correct the error and Chase tees off, they’re lying 3. However, if they finish the 8th hole without correcting the error and tee off on the 9th hole, they’re disqualified for failing to correct their error. This also applies if a player in Foursomes plays out of turn during the play of a hole after they’ve correctly teed off.

So there you have it – the five “must corrects.” It’s a good bar bet – name the five “must corrects!”