Mulligans...why?

[Wazmankg]

Gimme's are naughty as well, in my book.

The hardest putts to hit in a tournament are the ones within 4 feet. Make yourself make them.

I'll rake it up if it's inside a foot sometimes. But anyone who rakes up anything much longer than that is kidding themselves. Mulligans are fine as long as you don't think you really scored whatever you wrote down counting them. As someone else posted, mulligans can bring in some interesting strategy when betting, but other than that... just say no.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

No.

I'm also an avid golfer and play in several Opens every year, so I might have a different take on it. Ultimately, you're only making yourself worse if you don't make yourself play every shot that you have gotten yourself into.

You have a game that a lot of us can't relate to but you're 100% right on the point in bold....you have to work your way thru the bad shot instead of covering it up with a mulligan. How can you overcome it if you don't face it.

Just yesterday...I hit was playing with some younger guys (I didn't know them) and was playing pretty well (-1) ...#6 a reachable par 5, I over swung and blew my tee ball right onto a bank with a lot of long wispy grass.

They said, man..take your mulligan, you haven't taken one yet...I said I'll just hit a provisional since that area is not marked in any way, and could be lost....I found it...punched out about 50 yds...3rd shot not great, lasered my next shot @ 118 yds to the pin...GW 4th to 6' and made the putt for 5...I had a similar situation on the back and made dbl, but the point is you have to continue to play golf when you get in trouble...recalibrate, get the ball back in play and grind out the best score you can...at the end of the ground you know the score is legit.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I'll rake it up if it's inside a foot sometimes. But anyone who rakes up anything much longer than that is kidding themselves. Mulligans are fine as long as you don't think you really scored whatever you wrote down counting them. As someone else posted, mulligans can bring in some interesting strategy when betting, but other than that... just say no.

True that...but that's where I see a lot of players going sideways...just yesterday I played with some guys...pretty good ball strikers... not newbies, they play golf...my cart partner said he was a "9", he kept stats the whole 9 but he took 2 mulligans, and he moved a ball from a sand filled divot in the fairway, at least twice he missed short putts for that I thought were for bogey, but took bogey nonetheless...end of the round he said he shot 84....at best he shot 90, but not skin in the game for me so I didn't say anything.

Now...I know that he knows he didn't shoot 84, but why would he write it down to fabricate a handicap? To feed his ego I suppose.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Gimme's are naughty as well, in my book.

The hardest putts to hit in a tournament are the ones within 4 feet. Make yourself make them.

For 12 years we had a traveling golf club (small group...8 stables and 10 to 12 players overall) and we played an annual tournament at different courses around the country (thus the term traveling)...ABQ, NM, Myrtle Bch, FL, CO, TX...played some really nice tracks...anyway it was a scratch, stroke play tournament 72 holes for the 1st 7 yrs...always 6 rounds, a practice round, 72 holes all on the host course, then a skins game on another course on the final day.

Then we changed to 54 holes and added a RC style team matchplay competition for the last 2.

The point...the stroke play tourney was played under USGA rules and local course rules...putt out was the critical point...in the months leading up to the I would always send out the rules and regulations of how the tourney was to be played and always stressed to new players...practice your short putts, practice your short putts. Over the course of 72 or 54 holes you could really tell the guys that were not used to making those short ones...that's typically what separated the contenders from the field.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Ok. So I played today and only took 1, and that's because the two guys (couple of random people that I was paired with, really nice guys) insisted on it. Just a horrid tee shot with my 4 iron that went about 50 yards. But I think I'm done with them. You don't go out to the basketball court and ask for retries on outside shots.

Your game will be better for it...you probably could still have grinding out a bogey from the 50 yd tee ball.

The guy that kind of broke me up from it also used a basketball analogy...he said if you're playing in a pickup game (causal, no refs) and a player picked up his dribble and then dribble again, you would call dbl dribble on him and want the ball in a turnover...right?...Right...then why allow a do over in golf?

Again...playing by yourself, practice round, or just not serious about the game (meaning the score is not important) it's not a big deal.

 

[fknhippie]

True that...but that's where I see a lot of players going sideways...just yesterday I played with some guys...pretty good ball strikers... not newbies, they play golf...my cart partner said he was a "9", he kept stats the whole 9 but he took 2 mulligans, and he moved a ball from a sand filled divot in the fairway, at least twice he missed short putts for that I thought were for bogey, but took bogey nonetheless...end of the round he said he shot 84....at best he shot 90, but not skin in the game for me so I didn't say anything.

Now...I know that he knows he didn't shoot 84, but why would he write it down to fabricate a handicap? To feed his ego I suppose.

Isn't the whole point of the handicap to even the playing field against better golfers? Why would you cheat to get a lower handicap, that'll just fuck you over in a tournament. Hell, if I were establishing a handicap, I'd be try all kinds of different strokes and not even care about my score.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Isn't the whole point of the handicap to even the playing field against better golfers? Why would you cheat to get a lower handicap, that'll just fuck you over in a tournament. Hell, if I were establishing a handicap, I'd be try all kinds of different strokes and not even care about my score.

Yep...It's stupid, but I'm okay with a guy forging a lower handicap, he's only stealing from himself...I wouldn't be trying to artificially raise my handicap, that's actually worse...just play it by the rules and it is what is it.

But a lot of players..."want" a certain index.

 

[NEhomer]

Yep...It's stupid, but I'm okay with a guy forging a lower handicap, he's only stealing from himself...I wouldn't be trying to artificially raise my handicap, that's actually worse...just play it by the rules and it is what is it.

But a lot of players..."want" a certain index.

You actually need one if you want to talk golf with the wrestler.