Missing the ball altogether

[naval2006]

The other day playing with a friend his ball was on a penalty area, weeds knee high and the ball clinging off the burn's wall.  He proceeded to hit and he whiffed it three times.  He finally dropped the ball and continued play.  Like three holes later a guy we know showed up and we told him about my friend's nightmarish hole.  This guy, who used to be a pro, said missing the ball altogether no longer counted as a shot under the 2019 rules

 

I don't know where this all has come from but I've heard more than one golfer pro and amateur alike repeat this.  Perhaps it's something that was predicted by media and internet sites prior to 2019 and the change has never happened in the end.  Has anyone heard about that "new rule"? 

[ThinkingPlus]

I am fairly sure whiffs still are considered strokes if the intent was to make a stroke.

[Abh159]

If a player is trying to hit the ball and misses (or whiffs) it then that is a stroke . If the player stops or alters swing in an effort to miss the ball and does not make the ball move, then there is no stroke assessed. The only time this isn't true is if your ball falls off the tee on the teebox during a practice swing and you accidentally hit it. 

 

I'd be weary of that "Pro's" advice in the future....

Edited January 4, 2021 by Abh159
Clarification

[jvincent]

18 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

If a player is trying to hit the ball and misses (or whiffs) it then that is a one stroke penalty. If the player stops or alters swing in an effort to miss the ball and does not make the ball move, then there is no penalty. The only time this isn't true is if your ball falls off the tee on the teebox during a practice swing and you accidentally hit it. 

 

I'd be weary of that "Pro's" advice in the future....

 

Just to clarify, a whiff isn't a penalty. It's an actual stroke. A stroke that didn't move the ball but no different than a stroke that did move the ball.

[Halebopp]

The pro was clueless:

 

https://www.randa.org/en/rog/2019/pages/definitions?definitionsEdition=FullEdition#stroke

 

13 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

If a player is trying to hit the ball and misses (or whiffs) it then that is a one stroke penalty. If the player stops or alters swing in an effort to miss the ball and does not make the ball move, then there is no penalty. The only time this isn't true is if your ball falls off the tee on the teebox during a practice swing and you accidentally hit it. 

 

I'd be weary of that "Pro's" advice in the future....

 

There's no penalty, only the stroke counts. So if you whiff your first stroke, you're lying 1 and hitting 2, not 3. Also, movement of the ball is irrelevant, it's all about intent to strike the ball and whether or not you struck the ball (see the definition linked above).

 

It seems like you're implying there's a penalty if you make contact with a ball falling off the tee in the teeing area with a practice swing. Just to make sure, there's no penalty as you're  allowed to move the ball inside the teeing area any way you want (whether or not the ball is in play) nor is it a stroke as there was no intent to strike the ball.

 

Making contact with the ball with a practice swing outside of the teeing area would naturally be a one-stroke penalty and the ball would need to be replaced.

[Abh159]

Yes I've corrected the language in my original post. Thank you @Halebopp and @jvincent for jumping all over my typo.

[naval2006]

42 minutes ago, Halebopp said:

The pro was clueless:

Sad story is the kid just repeats what his senior say.   

[PappyVanWinkle53]

4 hours ago, naval2006 said:

The other day playing with a friend his ball was on a penalty area, weeds knee high and the ball clinging off the burn's wall.  He proceeded to hit and he whiffed it three times.  He finally dropped the ball and continued play.  Like three holes later a guy we know showed up and we told him about my friend's nightmarish hole.  This guy, who used to be a pro, said missing the ball altogether no longer counted as a shot under the 2019 rules

 

I don't know where this all has come from but I've heard more than one golfer pro and amateur alike repeat this.  Perhaps it's something that was predicted by media and internet sites prior to 2019 and the change has never happened in the end.  Has anyone heard about that "new rule"? 

With extra emphasis on "used to be a pro".......this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.  A whiff is definitely a stroke if he intended to hit it....which, based upon your description of the events, is what happened.

[Pepperturbo]

Unless something has drastically changed that I am not aware of, if someone takes a swing at the ball and totally misses the ball, it's still a stroke.

 

[Augster]

This all stemmed from Kevin Na’s problems a few years back before he became an absolute world beater. He couldn’t get to where he wanted at the top of the swing, so he would finish the swing and swing over the ball. I.e. intentionally miss it. He’d do this multiple times. 
 

I remember many, many people and discussions locally and on the net that would go like this, “He’s whiffing and not counting all his strokes” then someone that understands the rule would say, “He wasn’t trying to hit the ball so it’s not a stroke”. Which, I guess, go interpreted into “If you make a stroke and miss it, you don’t count the stroke. Like Kevin Na.” 
 

I have no idea how many times I’ve had that exact discussion. I know it’s more times than I have fingers. 
 

Not to change the subject, but my friend, THREE TIMES this year, accidentally struck his ball in play with his practice swing. He put it back and wasn’t going to take the penalty. Saying, “I thought they changed that last year”. Ugh. 

[rogolf]

It's unfortunate when the score becomes more important than knowing and  playing by the Rules.

[naval2006]

9 hours ago, Augster said:

This all stemmed from Kevin Na’s problems a few years back before he became an absolute world beater. He couldn’t get to where he wanted at the top of the swing, so he would finish the swing and swing over the ball. I.e. intentionally miss it. He’d do this multiple times. 
 

I remember many, many people and discussions locally and on the net that would go like this, “He’s whiffing and not counting all his strokes” then someone that understands the rule would say, “He wasn’t trying to hit the ball so it’s not a stroke”. Which, I guess, go interpreted into “If you make a stroke and miss it, you don’t count the stroke. Like Kevin Na.” 
 

I have no idea how many times I’ve had that exact discussion. I know it’s more times than I have fingers. 
 

Not to change the subject, but my friend, THREE TIMES this year, accidentally struck his ball in play with his practice swing. He put it back and wasn’t going to take the penalty. Saying, “I thought they changed that last year”. Ugh. 

I too think it must have all started with the Kevin Na intentional whiff affair.  If I can recall, the guy used to tell

officials before the tournaments started that if he missed the ball it'd be intentional.  

 

6 hours ago, rogolf said:

It's unfortunate when the score becomes more important than knowing and  playing by the Rules.

 I couldn't agree more with this.  I notice that in the past years for many golfers rules are ornaments of the game or even annoying stuff.   Probably the golf associations, clubs and ruling insititutions have failed to show the importance of the Rules in our sport, otherwise it's difficult to explain why so many people look down on the rules in a game where cheating is the easiest thing to do but, at the same time so detrimental to the spirit of the game.  Rules are an integral part of the game.  You search for a good swing while you learn the rules to play the game to its full.

[nsxguy]

On 1/4/2021 at 9:41 AM, Abh159 said:

If a player is trying to hit the ball and misses (or whiffs) it then that is a stroke . If the player stops or alters swing in an effort to miss the ball and does not make the ball move, then there is no stroke assessed. The only time this isn't true is if your ball falls off the tee on the teebox during a practice swing and you accidentally hit it. 

 

I'd be weary of that "Pro's" advice in the future....

 

 

On 1/4/2021 at 10:36 AM, Abh159 said:

Yes I've corrected the language in my original post. Thank you @Halebopp and @jvincent for jumping all over my typo.

 

Sounds a little snarky but it wasn't a typo, it was a mistake.

 

Regardless though, you corrected the part about the whiff being a stroke, as opposed to a penalty.

 

But, as Halebopp mentioned, the last part is still incorrect.