Playing by the Rules

[NEhomer]

I don't consider myself to be a real stickler but I do insist on proper drops and counting your strokes correctly. In my league I have a bit of a rep for being particular about rules but I think it's the other guys being pussies.

Learning the game, I never took mulligans. I always counted every stroke and tried to pay by all the rules I know. In my league, if a guy loses a ball and is looking to shake one out of his pocket, I simply tell them what I would do. I go back to the tee. Sorry, I know it takes time but we're playing a match here. If you don't care to play by the rules, knock it around with your wife. You know you're going to be boasting at the bar later which is fine if your score's legit.

If you forget your son's putter in your bag and have a 15th club, no biggie....shit, I don't even care if you ground your club in a hazard. I would never call you out for advice...wouldn't make you replay if you hit out of turn. Don't even care if you've lined up in front of the tees.

Do not, however, drop your ball 90 degrees out from where it ended up in a hazard. Do not, pick your ball up in the rough to identify it. It just never seems to settle back down the way it was originally. Do not forget strokes played....ever. Not in a match.

Where do you guys stand on the rules?

 

[TobyTyler]

I don't consider myself to be a real stickler but I do insist on proper drops and counting your strokes correctly. In my league I have a bit of a rep for being particular about rules but I think it's the other guys being pussies.

Learning the game, I never took mulligans. I always counted every stroke and tried to pay by all the rules I know. In my league, if a guy loses a ball and is looking to shake one out of his pocket, I simply tell them what I would do. I go back to the tee. Sorry, I know it takes time but we're playing a match here. If you don't care to play by the rules, knock it around with your wife. You know you're going to be boasting at the bar later which is fine if your score's legit.

If you forget your son's putter in your bag and have a 15th club, no biggie....shit, I don't even care if you ground your club in a hazard. I would never call you out for advice...wouldn't make you replay if you hit out of turn. Don't even care if you've lined up in front of the tees.

Do not, however, drop your ball 90 degrees out from where it ended up in a hazard. Do not, pick your ball up in the rough to identify it. It just never seems to settle back down the way it was originally. Do not forget strokes played....ever. Not in a match.

Where do you guys stand on the rules?[/QUOTE]

In a competition, play by all the rules. For fun, just play whatever is easy and everyone agrees on.

 

[SFNL]

uhhh... the rules are the rules. I play by them 100% whether I like it or not.

By far the most unfair rule(s) out there is not getting relief from a divot or being able to tap down a spike mark. Both of those are created by someone & not simply "rub of the green"

That said, it pays to know the rules of golf. Sometimes you can get big advantages from them too.


In some situations outside of tournament golf though I believe it is perfectly acceptable to go with rules interpretations that are agreed upon within your game.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

I don't consider myself to be a real stickler but I do insist on proper drops and counting your strokes correctly. In my league I have a bit of a rep for being particular about rules but I think it's the other guys being pussies.

Learning the game, I never took mulligans. I always counted every stroke and tried to pay by all the rules I know. In my league, if a guy loses a ball and is looking to shake one out of his pocket, I simply tell them what I would do. I go back to the tee. Sorry, I know it takes time but we're playing a match here. If you don't care to play by the rules, knock it around with your wife. You know you're going to be boasting at the bar later which is fine if your score's legit.

If you forget your son's putter in your bag and have a 15th club, no biggie....shit, I don't even care if you ground your club in a hazard. I would never call you out for advice...wouldn't make you replay if you hit out of turn. Don't even care if you've lined up in front of the tees.

Do not, however, drop your ball 90 degrees out from where it ended up in a hazard. Do not, pick your ball up in the rough to identify it. It just never seems to settle back down the way it was originally. Do not forget strokes played....ever. Not in a match.

Where do you guys stand on the rules?[/QUOTE]

In a competition, play by all the rules. For fun, just play whatever is easy and everyone agrees on.

Agree - especially when you are talking about lesser or newer players. You certainly don't want some slow group ahead of you to have to go back to the tee in certain situations or do other things that could significantly slow down play.

Different people have different motivations to play this game. Some are mainly there just to have fun - some are much more serious. As you say - if everyone agrees on certain rules just go with it, but that certainly does not apply to tourneys and similar. If everyone in the group only wants to play by the official rules that is also obviously fine.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

By recreational play standards, we're kind of sticklers...no two off the 1st, play it down, where did it actally cross the margin as close as we can guess...the one that we have made our own if you will is lost ball outside the margin of a hazard. We let you drop in the area where we last saw it heading but you're playing 4 from there. Going back to the tee is just unrealistic on weekends. Pace of play is the main reason. If we see your ball heading towards white stakes from the tee or we just know you're OB...stroke and distance apply...you gotta put a provisional in play. Whether you "announce" it or not is not that big a deal.

Now...I'm not going to count the clubs in your bag, and even if you did have 15 I wouldn't "know".

When our tourney was in full swing, we were not an official tourney to the golf course, but you had to putt out on every hole, we strongly suggested continuous putting and that sped up play a lot.

What is a little amusing to me is how many people I run into that literally don't know the rules. Just this past Sun I played as a single, with a twosome and another single. The guy I'm riding with hit a ball into the water on a par 3 (yellow stakes). He came to the target side (by the green) and dropped, hit onto the green and putting out...said he had a 5. I said you did, but you do realize that you should have dropped keeping the water between your ball and the hole. He said it hit the bank on the green side and rolled in the water...I said right, but the stakes were yellow, not red...he had no clue what that meant and he's been playing for 5 or 6 years he said.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Different people have different motivations to play this game. Some are mainly there just to have fun.

I think the majority of people are out to have fun...the main thing I was taught as a newbie was NOT to be slow....you can be a terrible player, but if you know when you've had enough strokes and pickup you allow everyone else to enjoy their round.

 

[beardown07]

Motherfuckers that call it a gimme when its 4 feet out still.


Put out, pussies.


I like the dudes who get up there and one-hand it cuz its such a gimme, then when they miss it, they act like it was a gimme all along, and that is why they were so non-nonchalant about it.


I have missed more than my fair share of two foot puts....if it's casual play, and it's inside the leather, or you made a great shot to put it within tap-in range, I'll concede it to you, but if it's outside the leather, you're putting that shit.

 

[beardown07]

putt-out




moar coffee please

 

[TobyTyler]

Different people have different motivations to play this game. Some are mainly there just to have fun.

I think the majority of people are out to have fun...the main thing I was taught as a newbie was NOT to be slow....you can be a terrible player, but if you know when you've had enough strokes and pickup you allow everyone else to enjoy their round.

Amen!

 

[NEhomer]

Some people "play for fun" but ALL players boast about a good performance.

I was playing this decent player once. The previous week at the bar he told me about the 70 he had just shot. Well on the first hole in our match that week, he walks over to his ball in the rough, puts the club head under the ball and lifts it up onto the grass. At the green, I said, hey, what's with the preferred lie stuff?

"Oh, I was just making sure it was my ball."

70 my ass.

 

[NEhomer]

We play at match so conceding putts is common. It's also great that even if you get a rule incorrect, as long as the two competitors deem it fair, that's fine as you're not playing the rest of the field.

 

[TobyTyler]

Some people "play for fun" but ALL players boast about a good performance.

I was playing this decent player once. The previous week at the bar he told me about the 70 he had just shot. Well on the first hole in our match that week, he walks over to his ball in the rough, puts the club head under the ball and lifts it up onto the grass. At the green, I said, hey, what's with the preferred lie stuff?

"Oh, I was just making sure it was my ball."
70 my ass.

Apparently Gary Player makes good use of that trick as well. Supposedly he also pretends he is going to use a wood out of a deep lie and sets the club behind the ball in order to tamp down the grass and then "decides" to switch to an iron.

 

[Wazmankg]

In league play you play it by the rules and any exceptions the league makes. If we're playing for money we play it by the rules and any exceptions we agree upon. If I'm out by myself, no mulligans. I play it down. No grounding my club in a hazard (I'm surprised you let that one slide, NE). I eyeball my penalty & free drops rather than pull out a club and measure 1 or 2 club lengths depending. If it's inside a foot & 1/2 or so I might rake it up or putt it. I don't rake up 2-3 footers though. Lost balls are where I generally deviate. I'll hit a provisional if I know it might be in trouble, but I'm not going to hit a provisional every time I hit it in the rough. If I can't find it I drop where I thought I saw it land laying 3. I'm not going back to the tee in that situation. I don't care what anyone else does unless we're playing against each other and they don't do anything that might hurt someone or the course.

 

[packerzrule]

Put out, pussies.

I was for your first statement

 

[SoCalWizFan]

Different people have different motivations to play this game. Some are mainly there just to have fun.

I think the majority of people are out to have fun...the main thing I was taught as a newbie was NOT to be slow....you can be a terrible player, but if you know when you've had enough strokes and pickup you allow everyone else to enjoy their round.

Yep. Just about anyone can play at a relatively rapid pace. It is all about respect for everyone else and having at least a general knowledge of the game. Amongst your buddies and fellow competitors you probably want people to respect the rules and not cheat on their scorecard. However - with most everyone else you just want them to stay out of your way for the most part.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Foot wedge fits nicely in the bag still and I always said the best "wood" in my bag is the pencil.


Competition? Play by the rules...For fun? What ever your playing partners again upon works.

 

[TobyTyler]

I was for your first statement

Ha ha! me too.

 

[NEhomer]

In league play you play it by the rules and any exceptions the league makes. If we're playing for money we play it by the rules and any exceptions we agree upon. If I'm out by myself, no mulligans. I play it down. No grounding my club in a hazard (I'm surprised you let that one slide, NE). I eyeball my penalty & free drops rather than pull out a club and measure 1 or 2 club lengths depending. If it's inside a foot & 1/2 or so I might rake it up or putt it. I don't rake up 2-3 footers though. Lost balls are where I generally deviate. I'll hit a provisional if I know it might be in trouble, but I'm not going to hit a provisional every time I hit it in the rough. If I can't find it I drop where I thought I saw it land laying 3. I'm not going back to the tee in that situation. I don't care what anyone else does unless we're playing against each other and they don't do anything that might hurt someone or the course.

I don't ground my club but in league play, you have to consider the source. Opponents at the level of not knowing it's a penalty in the first place probaby ain't gonna take the hole from me anyway!

Playing swiftly is just playing ready golf. There's this one team we have where both guys are ridic when it comes to this. One dude will literally be sitting on the bench until his partner hits.

 

[SFNL]

Apparently Gary Player makes good use of that trick as well. Supposedly he also pretends he is going to use a wood out of a deep lie and sets the club behind the ball in order to tamp down the grass and then "decides" to switch to an iron.

 

[Wazmankg]

Yeah, I've heard that about him from multiple sources. He'd "address" the ball with a wood in the rough, creating a better lie, then "decide" he didn't want to use the wood after all. Very sketchy if true.