Rule decision in match play

Players request a ruling in match play after the result of the hole has been determined:

What happened A player plays the wrong ball on a hole because his original ball was played by another player. Both balls were the same brand and type.

What's more, he lost this wrong ball with his next shot in a penalty area.

The players finished the round and announced the result to the scorekeeper, the player who played the wrong ball won "1 up".

When they arrived at the clubhouse, the player who had played the wrong ball suddenly arrived and informed the players. He also showed the ball to the player who had won the match "1 up". He also confirmed that this was his ball.

The two players went to the match management to report this and demanded a ruling.

The referee's decision was as follows:

After the result was official with the announcement to the match management, the following:

Rule 20.1b Disputed cases in hole play
(3) Rules decision requested after the result of the hole play has been determined. A player requests a ruling after the result of the hole play has been determined:
-The match director only gives the player a rulings decision if the following two conditions are met:
"The rules request is based on facts that were not known to the player before the result of the hole play was determined and
"The opponent violated Rule 3.2d(1) (Giving incorrect information about the number of strokes) or Rule 3.2d(2) (Failure to notify the player of a penalty) and the opponent knew of the offence before the result of the hole play was known.
-There is no time limit for such a ruling.

The referee's decision was absolutely correct in this case as the result was official and the participants were also informed of it when the result was announced to the referee.

If you would like to know more about the rules of golf in the meantime, please contact me directly at hans.kienesberger@golf.at.