Golf Licence

[Lord Tyrion]

I Like the idea of a „Golf Buddy“ - I wish I had one here at the club where I‘ve startete to play, even if it would be to show me the course : Where to go next after finishing a hole, what‘s the fairway layout etc. !

I think golf in Germany is still considered a “sport of the upper class,” i.e., people with (a lot of) money. I may be wrong, however I get the impression that this is not (as much) the case in the UK and the US - what do you think?

And I think it makes a (big!) difference whether it's “old money,” the nouveau riche, or wannabes.

“Old money” was and is not a problem: you have money, however you don't talk about it. The only problems are caused by the nouveau riche and the wannabes, and the latter in particular not only like to turn up their noses, they also like to let others know that they think they are better than them.

And many who, like me, “just want to play golf” don't play in tournaments either - simply because they “just want to play golf”!

I think it very much depends on which part of the country you are in. Golf can be very expensive in some regions, hence why on tv in particular, it is seen as a sport for the rich. I play in NE England and whilst there is the odd stuck up club, there are also many more clubs that you could easily call working class, if you wanted to go down that particular rabbit hole. It is not a sport for the rich here, the same is true for large swathes of Scotland as well.

 

[D-S]

I’ve reffed a few finals recently.

Quite frankly the rules knowledge of both seasoned and newer golfers is sometimes shocking. The fact that they are playing against me for my money with only their equally ill informed friends marking their cards is worrying.

 

[IanM]

I’ve reffed a few finals recently.

Quite frankly the rules knowledge of both seasoned and newer golfers is sometimes shocking. The fact that they are playing against me for my money with only their equally ill informed friends marking their cards is worrying.

This x lots! I can't believe what I see sometimes!

 

[abjectplop]

@Oops! I'm in Germany for a couple of weeks next summer. Are there any open competitions where anyone with a handicap can play, like we have in the UK?

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

I’ve reffed a few finals recently.

Quite frankly the rules knowledge of both seasoned and newer golfers is sometimes shocking. The fact that they are playing against me for my money with only their equally ill informed friends marking their cards is worrying.

Could say the same for those that know the rules and flaunt them in their favour over those less sure! Or try to manipulate them to their favour was some good examples of that on here alone a couple of weeks ago!

 

[cookelad]

I think golf in Germany is still considered a “sport of the upper class,” i.e., people with (a lot of) money. I may be wrong, however I get the impression that this is not (as much) the case in the UK and the US - what do you think?

It certainly over your eastern border! I would say that in the UK it's seen, by those who don't know the game, as being so too but the reality is it's nowhere near anybody and everybody can and does play.

 

[D-S]

Could say the same for those that know the rules and flaunt them in their favour over those less sure! Or try to manipulate them to their favour was some good examples of that on here alone a couple of weeks ago!

Is ‘not so sure’ the same as ‘have no idea’? Also isn’t the R&A rules app not available to these people?

Not knowing that you are incurring a penalty is no excuse for recording the wrong score in the simplest of circumstances. Deliberate ignorance is, in my humble opinion, basically cheating.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

Is ‘not so sure’ the same as ‘have no idea’? Also isn’t the R&A rules app not available to these people?

Not knowing that you are incurring a penalty is no excuse for recording the wrong score in the simplest of circumstances. Deliberate ignorance is, in my humble opinion, basically cheating.

Yes it is and how many people actually refer to it on course in my experience very few!

I don’t disagree but I’d add people who know the rules when others are unsure and use it to gain advantage is exactly the same

 

[Oops!]

@Oops! I'm in Germany for a couple of weeks next summer. Are there any open competitions where anyone with a handicap can play, like we have in the UK?

Sorry, I don't have a clue - I don‘t play competitions at all !

I can ask around if you like … ?

 

[D-S]

Yes it is and how many people actually refer to it on course in my experience very few!

I don’t disagree but I’d add people who know the rules when others are unsure and use it to gain advantage is exactly the same

Of course such sort of bullying is unacceptable but I assume (not ever having seen it) it would only be in matchplay.
My concern is strokeplay comps with a lot of people not having a clue about the rules as and when they break them they either don’t know they have or if they think they may have done they won’t penalise themselves or their mates as ‘it doesn’t really matter’.

A lot of this could be solved with some basic rules knowledge being obligatory and those who rail against this raise my suspicions.

 

[D-S]

Yes it is and how many people actually refer to it on course in my experience very few!

Surely if people are being ‘bullied’ then this is the perfect defence and available to all - if they don’t use it then more fool them.

 

[D-S]

I don’t disagree but I’d add people who know the rules when others are unsure and use it to gain advantage is exactly the same

If these people are using incorrect rules deliberately then they are cheating, using the rules correctly is not cheating however ignorant (or App illiterate) the opponents are.

 

[D-S]

I'm not sure that stands up to too much scrutiny. I could join a squash, tennis, badminton club tomorrow and no one will test me knowledge of the sport. Same with team sports, football, rugby, cricket etc. Spread it across all sports, how many test you before you play?

Sports such as squash, badminton, tennis do not have moderately complex rules - they can almost all be learnt in your first ever game.

You are right that sports such as football, rugby, hockey and cricket do have somewhat complex rules that are not fully appreciated or known by all participants.

However there is a crucial difference between golf and those other games with a lot of tricky’ish rules - they have referees who oversee that people are doing the right things. Those players who are willing to play for my money have no such oversight, so insisting on some knowledge in this referee-less sport with many rules might help.

 

[Oddsocks]

@Lord Tyrion : Google has is right ! Probably it‘s a „German thing“ :
Everything has to be properly ‘regulated,’ otherwise it's not right!
And with the „Platzreife“ You automatically have a Handicap of 54.

It has its advantages and disadvantages. However, I don't think you can force people to engage with a subject in this way if they don't want to.

When I first started playing golf - a long, long time ago (more than 30 years!) - there was no such thing as a “Platzreife”! Instead, a city employee (!) stood guard at the entrance like Cerberus, looked deeply into the eyes of everyone who wanted to enter the course, and then decided who, in his opinion (!), could be trusted to behave correctly and appropriately on the course, and either let the “applicants” pass or turned them away – with no “right of appeal”!

And it worked perfectly! The millionaire's wife played with the student, the office worker, and the craftsman, without any airs and graces or even a hint of arrogance !

Unfortunately, that has also changed (there).

That's why I now prefer to play elsewhere.

No licence - driving range or basic p&p 9 hole courses only. This doesn’t exclude anyone as it seems through Covid there was a boom in range golfers becoming members who had zero idea on rules (even the basics) or etiquette.

I’m 100% for it!

 

[D-S]

Pay us lot of money!
Don’t wear that shirt!
Don’t wear those shorts!
Wear these shoes and don’t change them there!
Register for this App!
Play x rounds in y months!

Fancy the opportunity of taking people’s money with no idea of the rules of the game you’re playing? Crack on!

 

[Backache]

I have to say I never play for anything more than pin money.
I'm a little doubtful that an elementary license taken before one states playing will make people much more cognisant of the rules a few years later.
A lot of people's ignorance in my experience is half rememberd rules that are often out of date. And uncertainty about what applies when rather than total and absolute ignorance.

 

[abjectplop]

Sorry, I don't have a clue - I don‘t play competitions at all !

I can ask around if you like … ?

I had a look at golf.de and there are 'open' tournaments listed, but they seem to require a DGV ID so likely not open to visitors from other countries.

 

[Oops!]

I had a look at golf.de and there are 'open' tournaments listed, but they seem to require a DGV ID so likely not open to visitors from other countries.

Would you like me to inquire for you?

 

[nickjdavis]

My wife was the same when she started, even tried us both sitting with drinks just watching players on the first tee to show her some of the horror shows from ppl who've been playing a while (we've all had a mare off the 1st at some point) That didn't have the effect I hoped for she just thought when it was her up there... other folks would be sitting with drinks watching her

So the Oriental bloke we watched tee off when we played wouldn't have been an encouragement to her then? Hell...even I was encouraged!!

 

[nickjdavis]

Yes it is and how many people actually refer to it on course in my experience very few!

I don’t disagree but I’d add people who know the rules when others are unsure and use it to gain advantage is exactly the same

But if they are correct...where is the problem?

The rules are there to help a golfer as much as they are to penalise them.