In four-ball stroke play, if a player arrives late for his tee time after his partner has teed off on the 4th hole, what is the ruling?

In four-ball stroke play, if a player arrives late for his tee time after his partner has teed off on the 4th hole, what is the ruling?

• A. The late player may join on the 5th hole without penalty
• B. The late player must forfeit the hole
• C. The late player may join but with a two-stroke penalty
• D. The round is canceled

Answer: (A)

In four-ball stroke play, teammates can continue the round even if one partner arrives late. If the late player shows up after his partner has already teed off, he may join the game on the next hole without any penalty. The already-played hole on which the partner teed off remains completed by that partner, and the late arrival will participate from the following hole. This keeps scoring fair—each hole is still decided by the better score between the two partners, and the late player’s score is not counted for the hole that was started without him. That’s why joining on the next hole with no penalty is the correct outcome. It isn’t a forfeit, there isn’t a two-stroke penalty for this situation, and the round isn’t canceled.

In four-ball stroke play, teammates can continue the round even if one partner arrives late. If the late player shows up after his partner has already teed off, he may join the game on the next hole without any penalty. The already-played hole on which the partner teed off remains completed by that partner, and the late arrival will participate from the following hole. This keeps scoring fair—each hole is still decided by the better score between the two partners, and the late player’s score is not counted for the hole that was started without him.

That’s why joining on the next hole with no penalty is the correct outcome. It isn’t a forfeit, there isn’t a two-stroke penalty for this situation, and the round isn’t canceled.