Can you replay a hole in a competition.?

Question

we were the 2nd flight and because the pin position was on the slope no matter what the ball would not stay on the slope. Even if it was an inch away it would roll all the way back down. As we were taking a long time there were four flights waiting. We finnally completed the hole and moved on. Later in the round the officials came and told us the hole had been changed and we were to go back and replay that hole. This involved three flights. As the rules of golf say you must play the holes in sequence did they have the right to do this. The player in my flight had an eleven the first time round and a par when she replayed it. Was it fair to the rest of the field. The organizers felt it would hold up play.

Answer 1

This would not happen in a serious, USGA or PGA sanctioned event. You'd hope that the organizers of such an event would take more care in pin placement than that, but at the end of the day all they could do is make everyone play it out then complain about it afterwards. No changes are ever made to a hole during the course of a tournament.

Answer 2

really depends on yoru level of competition, like if it was AJGA or IJGT or SCPGA etc. i doubt its legal, but if its like a course association thing for juniors im sure tournament officials would allow it, its not legal though.

Answer 3

Under rule 33-2b, every player in a tournament must play with the hole in the same position.

If the committee needs to move a hole, they must declare the round null and void. What they basically did was cancel your first hole.

The rules allow the committee to specify the sequence of the holes you play (defintion of "Stipulated Round", this is why some players start on #10 in big tournaments.)

It's weird, but it's all within the rules.

The fact that someone who get an 11 on a hole, later got a par when the hole was moved should indicate that the first hole location was terribly unfair.

Answer 4

No

Answer 5

Local tournament rules prevail. Sometimes they get a little hokey but they do prevail.

Answer 6

This happened in a qualifier for the Open Championship a few years ago; basically the exact circumstance you're talking about (the hole was cut in an impossible location).  The first four groups had to go back and replay the hole.  Unfortunately, one golfer parred the hole in question with the 'bad' hole location, and bogeyed it with the 'good' location, and of course, missed qualifying for the Open by one stroke.

Ultimately, the local committee has the authority to do this.  The bigger question is what the committee was thinking with a hole location as you described.