What happens if our Four-Ball team turns in a wrong score on the scorecard?

If your side returns a scorecard with a wrong score for a hole, you're usually disqualified — unless the mistake was an unknown penalty, in which case you just add the penalty strokes and carry on (Rule 3.3b(3) exception). The Committee decides which partner's score counts, but every score must be clearly tied to the player who made it.

What the scorecard has to show

In Four-Ball stroke play, you turn in one scorecard for the side. For each hole, at least one partner's gross score must be on it, and each score has to be clearly identified as that player's — just writing the side's total isn't enough. If a score can't be matched to the right partner, the side is disqualified. Only one partner needs to sign the card.

How the Committee picks the score that counts

The Committee, not you, decides which score counts on each hole. If only one score is written down, that's the side's score. If both partners' scores are there and they differ, the lower one counts. If they're the same, the Committee can pick either — but if the one they pick turns out to be wrong for any reason, they'll use the other one instead.

When a wrong score means disqualification

Returning a score lower than you actually made gets you disqualified under Rule 3.3b(3). The exception: if the only reason the score was wrong is a penalty you didn't know about before signing, you're not DQ'd — you just add the penalty strokes to that hole. But if you knew about the penalty and still turned in the lower score, it's disqualification, no exceptions.

Exceptions that change the answer

• The wrong score comes from a penalty you didn't know about before returning the card → You add the penalty strokes to the hole; no disqualification (Rule 3.3b(3) exception).
• Both partners' scores are entered and identical, but the one the Committee picks is later found to be wrong → The Committee counts the other partner's score instead — no extra penalty.

Frequently asked questions

Do both partners have to sign the Four-Ball scorecard?

No. Only one partner needs to certify the hole scores on the side's scorecard under Rule 3.3b(2).

What if we write down both scores but don't say whose is whose?

The side is disqualified. Every score on the card must be clearly identified as the individual partner who made it.

Can we fix a wrong score after we've handed in the card?

Only before the competition closes and if the mistake was an unknown penalty. Otherwise, a lower score than actually made means disqualification.

What happens if one partner is disqualified on a hole but their score was the one counting?

The side is disqualified. If the score that counts for the side belongs to a partner who's DQ'd for that hole, the whole side is out.

We both made 4, but one of us got a handicap stroke. The marker wrote 4 for Player A, nothing for Player B, and a net 3 for the side. Is that okay?

No. The gross score for each partner who holed out must be entered and identified. A net side score alone doesn't satisfy Rule 23.2b.