As we walked down the 12th fairway, my match play opponent and I were all square in a back-and-forth battle. We both piped our drives and had about 100 yards in. My opponent got just a little bit more on their shot (or maybe a bit of a helping wind), so I was away and hit first. I stepped up with my wedge in hand and stuck it to about four feet. I felt pretty good about my odds of walking away with a birdie and the lead... until my opponent canned their shot.

Frustrated with my poor fortune and obviously with no way to win the hole I picked up my ball and we moved on to 13. That putt didn't matter when it came to the match but now I'm curious what score I should put down when I post my score. I'm pretty confident I could've sunk it but I don't know for sure. Can I even post this round since I technically didn't play out the hole? If so, what score do I put down?

The Ruling

First things first, you absolutely can post your score even if you don't complete a hole. In fact, you can post any score as long as you complete at least nine holes with a Course Rating.

As for what to put down for your score, this is where you implement a procedure known as Most Likely Score. It's exactly what it sounds like: you put down a reasonable estimate for what the most likely outcome of the hole would be. Most Likely Score is enacted when you have a valid reason for not holing out. This can include a match play scenario like this, when your partner already posts a better score in a Four-Ball format or even if you've already reached net double bogey and decided to move on to the next hole.

In order to add some level of objectivity to the determination, the USGA has produced guidelines for how to estimate your score:

Within five feet of the hole - add one additional stroke to the current number of strokes on the hole (including penalty strokes)

Between five and 20 feet from the hole - add two or three additional strokes, adjusting for the position of the ball, the difficulty of the green and your personal playing ability

Greater than 20 feet from the hole - add three or four additional strokes, again accounting for the above factors

Note: your Most Likely Score cannot exceed the maximum score for handicap purposes for the hole (net double bogey).

Following these guidelines, given that you were within five feet after two shots, you can reasonably mark your score as a three for that hole.