Are you cheating if you don't know the rules?

[Slab]

Steep dowhill putt, you set the ball rolling, leg it down the hill and stand behind the hole, the ball rolls past the hole and "accidently" hits you...... you think that would be ok?

I knew putting would be the one to be questioned about deflections but fine, whatever floats your boat. I've already missed the hole and legged it down said hill.

Exactly how many time do you think I'll get away with that even if I was so inclined (get it inclined/hill arf arf), that's right I'd get to do it precisely once!

Ask yourself was the penalty for a ball hitting own player brought in to prevent this scenario? Were we really running like mado's around greens stopping a ball in motion, I think not. It wasn't a problem before and it wont be in future

 

[guest100718]

The rules have been refined over a very long time and are pretty good as they are, you need so many decision etc because there are so many things that can affect the ball in play, from birds stealing your ball off the green to landing next to a wasps nest.

 

[Hacker Khan]

At the simplest form there has to be a rule for it to be breached/ cheated i.e no rules = no cheats

So more rules & decisions being made and changed can only lead to more breaches/cheats (acknowledging the huge diff between the two)

There’s so many cheats in golf simply because there’s so many rules. Golf is designed itself to have cheats!

I think golf’s’ rules are fascinating not least the complexity and variety but they are themselves one of the biggest dangers to the game

When the game and its rules have evolved to the point where the repairing or otherwise of a pitchmark/spikemark/any kind of mark, actually had to be defined, differentiated, penalty assessed and graded and subsequently ruled upon, it needs to be asked why in gawds name are we doing this?

When a decision has to be made whether your balls lies in an animal scrape or a 7 iron scrape, why are we doing this?

And while 2 rules might be cutting it a little too thin it can certainly be done with a lot less than the current ones

It’s simply because so many players seem to want to cheat (in the eyes of their FC’s) that the next rule comes along

If we were to stop penalising 2 & 3 times for every errant shot/lie and golf will be so much simpler, quicker and more enjoyable

If we were to go really radical, imagine preferred lies through the green (inc rough & hazards), leave the flag in the hole, play one at a time when you're ready, maximum one shot penalties, drop at boundary crossing point (even if its nearer the hole, you're already playing a shot more than you intended!) repair anything on your putt line (2 blemish maximum) and a few other simple things and hey presto who can say the winner/losers in their last comp would have been any different if we played along these lines?

Who really thinks I need a penalty stroke if my own ball hits my leg?

On what planet was it ever my intent to purposefully use my own body as part of my shot-making decision to deflect the path of my own ball, resulting in a better outcome than not using my body to deflect the ball!
Clearly somethings gone seriously wrong with my intended shot here, its gonna cost me at least one more shot to recover but no, simply because once upon a time some ejit took their shot and found the ball rebounding back towards them and stopped it going into the clag with their leg... and the FC shouted penalty!!
Now I not only have to have my real-world penalty but I need another penalty stroke awarded to me just to appease the FC's!!

Phew

Top post sir. Or madam I suppose.

 

[North Mimms]

I think anyone who wants to have a handicap should know the basic rules as outlined in the Quick guide to Rules which is a scant couple of pages, and they need to know how to use the main Rule book to find out how to settle a query.


Anyone who has a handicap of 12 and doesn't know about loose impediments is either having a laugh or is terminally lazy, relying on other prople to know the rules on his behalf.

 

[freddielong]

There is absolutely no excuse for not having an understanding of the basic rules and by basic I mean the unplayable ball, lost ball, out of bounds, hazard rules, on the green, marking your ball and you should have a rule book in your bag for anything else if you dont then you should not be playing any form of competitive golf as its not fair on everyone else who is playing by the rules