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You might know some golfers at your club or course who have a habit of raking putts that are not “gimmes.” They might even pick up their ball after a hole has been decided in match play, even though they still had some work to do to earn the bogey they want to put down on the card.
Can you pencil in whatever score you want on a scorecard when your ball is in your pocket? If you’re playing by the official Rules of Handicapping, the answer is an emphatic no.
Rule 3.3 covers what to do when a hole is started but you don’t hole out. Subject to other provisions in the handicapping rules, you must record your most likely score or net double bogey, whichever is lower, “as appropriate for the situation and depending on the format of play.”
We bolded “most likely score” because it’s important to follow the guidelines the USGA outlines. That score would be:
- The number of strokes already taken to reach a position on a hole, plus
- The number of strokes the player would most likely require to complete the hole from that position, plus
- Any penalty strokes incurred during play of the hole.
You might have thought you have to take net double bogey when you pick up for handicap purposes. That’s not true. In the case of a player who knocks it stiff on a par 3 and rakes the ball, Rule 3.3 says one stroke should be added to the score for handicap purposes (so it’s a birdie). Any putt on the green from five feet or closer is considered made.
If a ball is between five and 20 yards from the hole and a golfer picked up, that player would add either two or three strokes to the scores. The number depends on the ability of the golfer and/or the difficulty of the hole (it’s at your discretion).
Finally, if they were outside of 20 yards, golfers add three or four strokes. In most cases, you would likely be at a maximum of net double bogey, but not always. A 30-handicap on a hard hole might add four shots to his or her score when picking up after hitting a tee shot out of bounds on the No. 1 handicap hole, but that would add up to a score of 6 when a net double bogey for that golfer would be an 8. Don’t forget, that golfer gets two shots on the harder holes.
Two other things to note about Rule 3.3: There is no limit to pick-up holes recorded for handicap purposes provided you had a valid reason for continuing to scoop up your ball. But if you pick up while using a format where holing out is mandatory (a “rattle-bottom” tournament, for example), you’d be disqualified for doing so.
Main image: Franck Fife
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