Stymied By The Old Stymie
Stymie (also stymy).
n.
1. An obstacle or obstruction.
2. Sports A situation in golf in which an opponent’s ball obstructs the line of play of one’s own ball on the putting green.
Despite having been officially banned by the rules of the game in 1952, you’ll still find it in the dictionary and in case you’ve ever heard someone light-heartedly suggest playing ‘stymies’ and you’ve been a bit flummoxed, I thought I’d share my potted history.
Stymies evolved by accident really, simply because they hadn’t been anticipated by the original Rules of Golf in 1744. They became something of a common law rule of the game – unwritten but acknowledged by all – and even later amendments failed to address them, with provisions for lifting a ball still very limited.
The ‘rule’, was such that in single ball match play, if an opponent’s ball was in a direct line between your ball and the hole, but more than six inches away from your ball, it was not allowed to be lifted to clear a path to the hole. Your playing options would therefore be to slice or draw your putt around the offending ball (if that’s even possible) or to dink your ball over your opponent’s. A little annoying, right? Only if the two balls in question were situated within six inches of each other would you be allowed to move the ball blocking the line of play.
On playing a ‘stymied’ shot, if your ball struck your opponent’s, your ball would have to be played as it lied, but your opponent would have the option of putting his ball from its new position, or indeed replacing it at its original position. And to add insult to injury, if your ball knocked your opponent’s ball into the hole, your opponent was deemed to have holed out!
Golfers with a mean streak soon cottoned on to the competitive advantage gained by intentionally stymieing an opponent’s ball and set about driving each other nuts all within the rules of the game. Though I still think it takes a lot of skill to putt your ball deliberately on to another person’s line. If you’re that accurate, why not putt it straight in the hole?! But I can see there would be times, when you’re trying to make up a shot to save the hole, when it made sense to obstruct rather than hole out. I guess it’s not dissimilar to trying to snooker your opponent and no less skilled. But really, in golf? (Said with suitably haughty tone).
It’s beyond me how they last as long as they did – the game’s tough enough as it is – but thankfully the were removed once and for all from the game in 1952, so you can always rebuff any suggestion to include them in your weekend fourball on official grounds. You’re bound to be wary of anyone keen to play them anyway – they can only be a past master.
Still, if you fancy something a little different this winter, give it a try! Just don’t blame me if you don’t have any hair left by the end of your round.