Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

is an unusual sport in that television viewers can directly influence the outcome of a game by reporting

rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule perta ...

infringements which would otherwise have been missed. Numerous golfers have been penalized at, or disqualified from, televised tournaments after a rules infringement which was not spotted by players or a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

at the time but was later noticed by a member of the public and communicated to tournament officials by phone, tweet or email. If a player has already signed their scorecard by the time such an infringement is discovered, disqualification is frequently the outcome. In April 2011, the

USGA The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

and

The R&A The R&A is the collective name of a group of companies that together play a significant role within the game of golf. Historically, "the R&A" was a colloquial name for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews; in 2004, the club spun off ...

announced a rule change which would allow players to avoid disqualification if a rules infringement was discovered after they had signed their scorecard. In December 2017, the same bodies announced a local rule change which would greatly limit the number of such incidents from 1 January 2018.

Instances of golf tournaments being influenced by television viewers

Sources

{{reflist Rules of golf Interactive television