Code Two

[John Morrissett]

Don -

Nice to hear from you. I hope all is well at wonderful Pennard.

With regard to the broader net for disqualification after the close of competitions, one theme of this project is the elimination of as many exceptions as possible (as we believe that exceptions add to the difficulty of learning the Rules). In that regard, it is concerning today how one minute can make the difference between disqualification and no penalty (e.g., if the Committee learns of a player's breach (of which he was unaware) before the close of competition or after the close of competition). While there is certainly a valid practical argument to be made to provide some type of statue of limitations for penalties, it does provide a significant exception that does lead to some confusion (i.e., with some people today mistakenly believing today that there is no penalty for a breach, discovered after the score card has been returned but before the close of competition, if the player did not realize he had committed a breach).

This is one change that David and I discussed for some time, as we were anxious about its ramifications. However, part of the purpose of this project is to raise such issues for discussion as so often there is a trade-off between a desired result and the complexity that is added to the Rules to achieve that result; sometimes the trade-off is worthwhile, sometimes perhaps not.

All the best,
John