Guide

Does a whiff count as a stroke?

Yes. If a player swings meaning to hit the ball and misses it, that’s a stroke. It counts the same as a swing that sends the ball two hundred yards. Write it down.

Practice swings

A practice swing doesn’t count, because the player isn’t trying to hit the ball. If you can’t tell which it was, ask the player. They always know.

If a practice swing moves the ball, the player or coach will say what happens.

A whiff on the tee

One stroke. If the ball is still sitting in the tee area afterwards, whether it stayed on the tee or fell off, they can set it up again with no penalty and have another go. The whiff still counts.

Stopping mid-swing

If they start the swing and stop the club before it reaches the ball, that’s not a stroke. Nothing to write down.

Penalty strokes

A penalty stroke is a stroke added to the hole without a swing. For a scorekeeper, it’s one more number on that hole. The common ones:

• Ball in the water: one penalty stroke, and they drop a ball nearby.
• Lost ball, or out of bounds: one penalty stroke, and they go back and play from where they hit it. A ball is lost after three minutes of looking. Many leagues use a simpler option instead, two penalty strokes and a drop near where the ball went, so the group doesn’t walk back.
• Can’t play it from where it is: one penalty stroke to move it.

You don’t have to rule on any of this. The player or the coach says what the penalty is, and you add it.

Picking up

In ordinary stroke play every player has to finish every hole. Many youth leagues don’t play it that way: they set a limit for each hole, often double par, and a player who reaches it picks up. The limit is their score for the hole. Some leagues use a fixed number instead. Either way, ask the coach what the limit is before the first hole.

In GolfJot a penalty is one extra tap, and the card tells you when a player has reached the limit. golfjot.com