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Gimmies

Of all the guys I pay with on a regular basis there a players who I would give 20" putts and there are players who might not even be given a 2" putt.

WE just have had a new guy join us and his face when we said "no gimmes" one day said it all, sadly he was my partner for the round and the standard of his short putts was nothing but woeful.
 
Never like seeing them missed - but on some of our greens if you are careless you can leave yourself with a tricky cross-slope 12"er. So No - no auto-gimmes within one foot - the game (medal play) is about teeing off and holing out.
 
jim8flog said:
WE just have had a new guy join us and his face when we said "no gimmes" one day said it all.
Click to expand...
A gimme is supposed to be an unmissable putt, yes?
Therefore not giving a putt shouldn't irritate anyone - if it's unmissable, just tap it in, what's the problem?
If you think a putt should be given but are not 100% confident of tapping it in, then it shouldn't be given anyway.
 
To be honest I find gimmes a bit of a pita. On some holes I will say " you can have that" so said person decides to either have a putt anyway. Or even worse show me how good they are at putting with the end of there putter which sometimes they miss so have another go at putting it in. Then they will say when faced with an 18" putt "are you giving me that". Does me trolley in. Gimmes are at there most prominent in the winter. But ave seen 12" putts missed in comps and thought to myself said PP would of expected a gimme in a NQ comp.
 
Tashyboy said:
To be honest I find gimmes a bit of a pita. On some holes I will say " you can have that" so said person decides to either have a putt anyway. Or even worse show me how good they are at putting with the end of there putter which sometimes they miss so have another go at putting it in. Then they will say when faced with an 18" putt "are you giving me that". Does me trolley in. Gimmes are at there most prominent in the winter. But ave seen 12" putts missed in comps and thought to myself said PP would of expected a gimme in a NQ comp.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't get stressed about them - that way lies madness.

The stock responses to the question are you giving me that? Is basically gimmies are given never requested.

What else you decide to do is entirely up to you but most competent players will take significant strength from any request to putt out from 6" uphill and straight! (He thinks he can only beat me if I start missing these! - is the sort of mindset I would be using)
 
In my society we have a 6 inch “Gimmie” option,
So anything outside 6 inches has to be made.
However I’ve seen puts offered up to 18 inches, and have had to point out the “gimmie rule”

So if you introduce a gimmie rule, no matter what distance it is, it’s always going to get stretched, unless we start carrying rulers as the norm .
 
I joined a course where a group of friends play. I play with them Saturdays and sometimes on a Sunday. I started a few years back with them and on my first Sunday I was surprised at the length of putts they were offering. After a few weeks of this I said enough is enough. We play for a few pounds and now when I play Sundays they know the ball is dead when its in the hole. NO GIMMIES, not one, not ever!

They are now used to this, but still play gimmies in my absence. My primary reason for enforcing the change was that I wanted to be holing out 1-3 footers. I want the practice and hate the idea of playing a round and never having to putt anything inside 3 feet.

You can hear it in the car park....oh he is here today...we will have to hole everything - darn right you will ;)
 
I only consider them in friendly, social rounds and in competitive matchplay.
I think it was Laura Davies who summed it up in the Solheim Cup commentary, " They hole out every week, so what's the problem with being asked to make short putts in matchplay "
Was asked on the first green of an Open this month, "do we have to hole out or are we doing gimmies"........grrrrrr Player companions then revealed they had won an Open the previous week playing with friends !
 
Never really a problem with my friends and I. Normally just push their ball away with your putter back to them. They're my mates, and it's a fun game. Never an issue. In competitions never, of course.
 
We play gimmies in the Saturday roll up. No-one really takes the mickey and it's all part of the relaxed atmosphere of the group. On Sunday it's more serious with some big money at stake and so they decided a while back to make it a "hole out" game (stableford so pick up if you can't score) so there are no arguments. I am not bothered either way.

Even in matches, I like to think common sense prevails. There were plenty of concessions at the match on Saturday and then the odd one asked to be seen. All part of the game.
 
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