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The thread in the Tour Talk section about Ames & Johnson being DQ'd for signing incorrect score cards got me thinking.

What is the process the pros use when keeping score during a round. Do they keep the other guys card, as well as their own?

At the end, do they match up cards with each other to verify, then with the scorers tent to confirm?

Why do they sign cards before they make sure that everything is correct with the official score?

It doesn't seem that difficult to me. In all the tourneys I've played, everyone keeps another guys' card, and you keep one for yourself as well. When the round is over, you verify scores with the guy who kept your card, and then sign and turn it in. Fairly straight forward right. If you discover that you incorrectly marked a hole, you correct it before you sign it.

You'd think it be that easy that is should hardly every come up as a problem. In following my son's junior tournaments, you can't believe how often that shows up, and I've seen 1 'winner' of the junior Tournament of Champions and 1 State H.S. Championship lose their 'winners trophy' by being DQ'd for signing the wrong score (other guy kept the score....they just looked at it and signed)...evidently, if you sign a higher score, you keep the score, if you sign for a lower score, you get DQ'd.

On that respect, I'd like to see some action against the person keeping the score as well, as it often boils down to the playing partner keeping the incorrect scorecard is one of the players in the last/final group the guy that gets DQ'd is competing against and ends up becoming the winner.

I know I've mentioned Junior tournaments...and I've often seen these kids too anxious to see what everyone else shot before handing in their scorecards. Glad to see the higher caliber junior tournaments have regulations for not speaking to anyone and going strait to the scorers' tent/table. As for the pro's, perhaps being disgusted with the way they've finished, they don't pay enough attention to the little details and just sign and hand it in without looking? I've also seen a double mistake that gets by.....incorrect lower score on one hole cancelled by an incorrect high score on another.....correct total score....but DQ'd nonetheless for incorrect score on individual holes.....only identified by the player himself to the scoreboard manager afterwards leading to his own DQ, ouch.

Yep, that's pretty much it. You keep each others score as well as your own so you'll have something to reference when it's time to tally up what was shot. I've always went to the scorers tent/table and verified my scores and my playing competitors as well and then the official at the tent/table will go over each of our scores and any errors are corrected before any of the cards are signed.

I assume that these guys have been doing this for so long that they assume that everything is correct and they sign prematurely...then adios!

6-6a/5 Marker Attests Wrong Score Knowingly But Competitor Unaware Score Wrong


Q. In stroke play, a competitor returned a wrong score because his score card did not include a penalty he had incurred. The competitor was unaware that he had incurred the penalty. The competitor’s marker (a fellow-competitor) was aware of the penalty but nevertheless signed the card. The facts were discovered before the result of the competition was officially announced.

The competitor is, of course, disqualified — Rule 6-6d. Is the marker also subject to disqualification?

A. Yes. The Committee should disqualify the marker under Rule 33-7.

Shade

KEEP A LOOK OUT THIS YEAR.
I have seen many of the Tour guys caddies marking the cards.
Most European Tour events have a card with space for two scores on each hole- 1.The Player and 2.Markers.
Mark James has twice posted over 100.
1. He was fed up on 18 and played it One-Handed for an 15 I think. Got fined for this.
2. He missed a cut and just signed his card without checking it, his marker had not put the score for the 18th in its box but MJ's total for the back nine 39. His score of 76 became a 111.

Shaderunner, is that a new ruling in the decisions on the rules of golf?....but that ruling is based on the marker knowingly putting down the wrong score. What if he 'accidentally' or 'unknowingly' but down the wrong score? I've seen it happen 2-3 times first hand in the last few years and the marker wasn't DQ'd. I recall when questioned, the marker said he thought he got a par and put down a 4 instead of 5 and then wrote down what the player told he him had for a total....when questioned and asked what he got on the last hole, he said "5"....total was correct but the 18th hole score was wrong...ugh, that was messy(in the big end of year Tournament of Champions where the apparent winner was DQ'd and another in the same group became the winner, but it wasn't the marker). The guy in charge was a PGA official from our PGA section, lol. 10 minutes earlier, he had called my son about a mistake on his scorecard....I rolled my eyes....but he said it was a 'good mistake'....he had the correct individual 18 holes, but added it up wrong (rule was he doesn't even have to add the score up or he could have put 300 down for the total...not responsible for the total, just the individual scores....he said had it been the other way around...DQ....then 10 min later, the apparent winner came in and he was that other situation...what a learning experience, heh?).

Good question...I'm on it, stay tuned.

Shade