Casual Golf Rules

[MUAbb]

Hi all, new to this forum - I've been playing Golf for just over 2 years and I can say, I'm addicted to the sport.

We are a group of friends, mostly on the same level having started playing around the same time. As we are improving or I should say getting more serious about Golf and exploring new courses, the argument on rules keep gaining traction. I would like to ask if there is a set of rules anyone could suggest that we can follow as casual golfers with a potential element of relaxing/giving some relief etc.. There is an understanding of the actual game rules, which I for one, having the opportunity now to have played in a tournament or two can appreciate but would help to have a structured set of reliefs that anyone might suggest so the game can be enjoyed a little more e.g. we already have a mulligan rule - one mulligan per a round of 9.....

 

[doublebogey7]

Do away with the mulligan rule for a start. To be honest in my view there is little to consider beyond, when is a gimi a gimi, where to take relief and how many penalty shots for a lost ball or out of bounds. In winter you might also consider alloowing the cleaning and dropping in the rough. It seems to me you can continue to have a relaxed and enjoyable round by sticking by the rest of the rules as written, but try not to be too pedantic when something unusual occurs.

 

[Neilds]

In casual games you can ignore whatever rules you want. If you want to go down this route I would suggest the main one to ignore would be stroke and distance - ie going back to where you hit the ball from if you lose it. Just drop in the rough area it was lost and add a shot to your score. Will speed up rounds and make things a bit more enjoyable.

 

[jim8flog]

In casual games you can ignore whatever rules you want. If you want to go down this route I would suggest the main one to ignore would be stroke and distance - ie going back to where you hit the ball from if you lose it. Just drop in the rough area it was lost and add a shot to your score. Will speed up rounds and make things a bit more enjoyable.

do you mean 1 shot? I would go with 2, one for the lost ball and another for distance.

Agree a distance for putts as gimmes on the putting green, within the head of a putter and the grip is fairly common (known as within the steel), do not get hooked up on who goes first and play ' Ready Golf'. When playing on temp greens no one can take 3 putts if the ball is on the green i.e. everybody gets one go at the hole then pick the ball up if putt is missed.

 

[Neilds]

do you mean 1 shot? I would go with 2, one for the lost ball and another for distance.

Agree a distance for putts as gimmes on the putting green, within the head of a putter and the grip is fairly common (known as within the steel), do not get hooked up on who goes first and play ' Ready Golf'. When playing on temp greens no one can take 3 putts if the ball is on the green i.e. everybody gets one go at the hole then pick the ball up if putt is missed.

Why add 2 shots? They are beginners and just playing for fun, just keep things simple.

 

[MUAbb]

Thanks guys, appreciate the responses. Any suggestions on capping the hole? E.g. once someone is struggling to finish a hole or maybe a cap on the first.... etc.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Thanks guys, appreciate the responses. Any suggestions on capping the hole? E.g. once someone is struggling to finish a hole or maybe a cap on the first.... etc.

Normal cap is nett double-bogey. But maybe you increase that to triple, or even quad if your players are real casual beginners or inexperienced - or just not very good at all but enjoy it.. For someone with 2 shots on a hole a nett quad on a par four is a ten…and you really don’t want players keeping going on a hole after they can’t score a ten. But bear in mind…a fourball with all four each scoring ten on a par four is going to be mighty slow. You have to know your players, their ability and their h/caps to set the cap.

 

[doublebogey7]

Thanks guys, appreciate the responses. Any suggestions on capping the hole? E.g. once someone is struggling to finish a hole or maybe a cap on the first.... etc.

Sorry my reply forgot to include format. Either play match play or stableford, never medal, then that question never then arrises.

Edit: If you haven't all got handicaps then, in thew first instance allocate on best guess to start with and then reduce increase as you see fit, until you are all ready to get one either by joining a club or or iGolf/iPlay

 

[jim8flog]

Why add 2 shots? They are beginners and just playing for fun, just keep things simple.

Sometimes the habits built in social friendly games can start to extend in to more formal stuff when you start playing in it.
How many times do we hear queries about 'how many penalty shots'. Better to learn this stuff early.

 

[Orikoru]

If you're not playing a competition or putting handicap cards in, the rules are whatever you want them to be, really. There are plenty that beginners will overlook when starting out though. These are some incorrect rules that I would have done when I first played as a teenager with my mum and dad:

• Missing the ball doesn't count as a shot, you just go again.
• If you go out of bounds but it's playable then you'd just hit it anyway.
• If out of bounds and unplayable, you're not really going to walk all the way back to your last shot, so you just take a penalty drop back in play*.
• Before we had handicaps, we used to just make 10 the maximum score on any hole. If you're not in by then just pick up and write 10 down. If you do have handicaps then this will become nett double bogey when you pick up (so on a two-shot par 4, you'd pick up once you're unable to score a 7 for 1 point, and write down an 8).
• Dropping location wouldn't be particularly accurate - if you've gone straight in a pond, you're not going to want to drop behind it so you can just top it straight in again - you'd drop to the side of it so it's not in the line of your next shot. Otherwise you're just wasting balls. Similarly you might drop on the wrong side of a path or whatever if it was a nicer lie.
• Gimmies, essentially are a 'casual' rule of strokeplay golf since officially they'd only be allowed in match play. So the generosity of these is up to you and your group.
• Officially you only have 3 minutes to find your ball, but ain't nobody timing that. You find your ball in 4 minutes? None the wiser.
• If your ball is on a tree root or a rock, take a free drop off of it - I don't need to see anyone break their wrist.

*on a non-counting round we might still do this for pace of play, but it would be a two-shot penalty drop as per the optional official rule of golf they brought in a few years ago.