Can A Stroke Be Cancelled In Golf?

Golf’s Rules can catch you out and there are many ways in which you can find yourself facing penalty shots for breaking them.

If you hit a ball off the golf course, beyond the out of bounds line, you’ll have to play again and add an extra shot to your score.

If you hit one into a penalty area you will be facing extra shots unless you are able to get in there and hit it.

A lost ball will mean you need to play again from the spot you originally hit and add on a penalty shot.

These are ways in which, you’ll need to play again under some form of penalty. But are there instances in golf where your stroke is simply cancelled, and you have to play it again?

The answer to that question is yes.

In match play the order of play is key to the contest. If your opponent plays a particularly bad, or good shot then that may well have an impact on your shot selection.

For that reason, you play in turn in match play and the Rules allow a player to ask an opponent to play again if they play out of turn. Basically, you can “cancel” an opponent’s shot if they have played when they were closer to the hole or it wasn’t their turn.

Rule 6.4a(2) says - "If the player plays when it was the opponent's turn to play, there is no penalty but the opponent may cancel the stroke.” The player must cancel the stroke promptly and once cancelled, they cannot retract the cancellation.

You don’t have to ask the opponent to play again, it’s just an option to effectively cancel their shot if they’ve played when it wasn’t their turn.

You might well choose to ignore it if your opponent has hit one into a pond for instance. But, if they’ve stuck it in close when it obviously wasn’t their go, you might choose to cancel their stroke.

When Annika Sorenstam played out of turn in the 2000 Solheim Cup and holed a chip shot, her American opponents Kelly Robbins and Pat Hurst decided to “cancel” her stroke and make her play again. It was within the Rules, even if many people considered it a touch unsporting!

Power Lines

Another instance in which a stroke can be effectively cancelled is covered by Model Local Rule (MLR) E-11. It deals with a ball hitting overhead power lines

If a permanent overhead power line interferes with the reasonable play of a hole, a committee can require that if a ball hits the power line (and towers, support wires or poles supporting the power line), the stroke does not count and the player must play the stroke again.

If E-11 is in place and a player’s ball hits the power lines or supporting structure, they must “cancel” their shot and play again. It is not optional.

Either the local rule is in place and you must play again, or the local rule is not in place and you must play the ball as it lies.

The question again then, can a stroke be cancelled in golf? Yes, in match play when a player plays out of turn or, more generally, if MLR E-11 is in place and a ball strikes overhead power lines.

Rules Quiz