First, answers about rule #3, then a few questions about equipement.
QUESTION 3.1: What is the decision if the caddie concedes the next stroke to his player’s opponent to tie the hole without knowledge from the player; and the opponent picks up the ball?
ANSWER: The opponent must replace the ball without penalty to either player. A concession can only be given by the player or his partner if it is a team match.
QUESTION 3.2: A player tells his opponent on the first tee that he has a handicap of 12. When arriving on hole # 9, he tells his opponent that he made a mistake and his real handicap is 16. What is the decision?
ANSWER: When the match has started, the player must play with the declared handicap even if the holes affected by the strokes are not played yet. It is very important to make sure we give the proper handicap. We must check very closely because in 2020, we see a big difference in the handicaps depending on what tees you play.
QUESTION 3.3: before the start of the match, a player tells his opponent that he has a handicap of 12. Before arriving at the first green, he tells his opponent that his handicap is actually 10. What is the decision?
ANSWER: When a player has declared a handicap lower than reality and the match starts., The player loses the match even if the affected holes were not played.
QUESTION 3.4: On hole # 1, the player tells his opponent that he made a 4. His opponent made a 5. A few holes later, the player tells his opponent that he made a mistake and his actual score for hole # 1 was a 5. Is that hole tied?
ANSWER: Even if the real score would have resulted in a tied hole, the player loses the first hole because he gave a wrong information to his opponent and that information changed the understanding of the state of the match. It would have been different if the opponent makes an 8 and the player says he played 4 instead of 5. This would not result in a penalty because it does not change the understanding of the result of that hole.
QUESTIONS RULES 4 – EQUIPMENT
4.1 The player starts his round with a non-conforming club (a club with hinges on the shaft). What is the decision?
4.2 On the 5th hole,of the second round a players finds out he has 15 clubs but the extra club does not belong to him. He found that club yesterday on the course during his first round. What is the ruling?
4.3 In a Four Ball competition, the two teammates have all their clubs (28) in the same bag. What is the penalty?
4.4 A player wants to check the wind direction. He pulls out a handkerchief to see the strength and direction of the wind? Is that a breach of the Rule?
4.5 Between the play of two holes, before making his tee shot, a player puts a donut on his driver to make stretching exercises. What is the decision?