• We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas from all at Golf Monthly. Thank you for sharing your 2025 with us!

Golf Random Irritations

Usual people with the usual sanctimonious attitude.

There was never any requirement for the rule to be applied in the first instance. A quick "explanation" would have sufficed here to put it all to bed. "Gent's I'm not 100% sure here but your playing partner is possibly in direct line behind you I'd advise he moves."

That's the way the game was intended to be played, that's the way I would have handled/approached it and possibly called an infringement later on if it happened again, even then I don't think I'd be as petty.
 
Usual people with the usual sanctimonious attitude.

There was never any requirement for the rule to be applied in the first instance. A quick "explanation" would have sufficed here to put it all to bed. "Gent's I'm not 100% sure here but your playing partner is possibly in direct line behind you I'd advise he moves."

That's the way the game was intended to be played, that's the way I would have handled/approached it and possibly called an infringement later on if it happened again, even then I don't think I'd be as petty.
That is 100% the way things should have happened and I don’t think it’s people being sanctimonious, but as usual the OP blamed the events on a stupid rule when falling foul rather than either on themselves being in breach or for their opponents calling a 2 shot penalty rather than stepping in.
 
That is 100% the way things should have happened and I don’t think it’s people being sanctimonious, but as usual the OP blamed the events on a stupid rule when falling foul rather than either on themselves being in breach or for their opponents calling a 2 shot penalty rather than stepping in.

Either that or, probably what is do is to ignore the breach and just mention it sometime later in the round.
 
Usual people with the usual sanctimonious attitude.

There was never any requirement for the rule to be applied in the first instance. A quick "explanation" would have sufficed here to put it all to bed. "Gent's I'm not 100% sure here but your playing partner is possibly in direct line behind you I'd advise he moves."

That's the way the game was intended to be played, that's the way I would have handled/approached it and possibly called an infringement later on if it happened again, even then I don't think I'd be as petty.
That's exactly what I would have expected to be honest. A word to say my partner was standing behind me and we're potentially falling foul of the rule inadvertently, and we'd have definitely known not to fall into that trap again, and everyone would have been happy. Felt harsh to apply the 2 shot penalty immediately, but I also understand his need to be a stickler for the rules as club secretary. It was certainly irritating that's all. :p
 
That is 100% the way things should have happened and I don’t think it’s people being sanctimonious, but as usual the OP blamed the events on a stupid rule when falling foul rather than either on themselves being in breach or for their opponents calling a 2 shot penalty rather than stepping in.
It is 100% a stupid rule as well though. My partner standing 5 or 10 yards behind me doesn't help me line up in any way, he was just stood there watching me hit my shot at the end of the day.

Why do people think it's forbidden to have an opinion on some of the rules?? It's mind-boggling.
 
That's exactly what I would have expected to be honest. A word to say my partner was standing behind me and we're potentially falling foul of the rule inadvertently, and we'd have definitely known not to fall into that trap again, and everyone would have been happy. Felt harsh to apply the 2 shot penalty immediately, but I also understand his need to be a stickler for the rules as club secretary. It was certainly irritating that's all. :p

He doesn't need to pull you on this one just because he's club secretary, in matchplay the player also has the option of not calling a penalty they see their opponent committing, this would then allow them to advise after completion of the hole.

I may be wrong but I think that to advise during play of the hole that a breach has been made and then not penalise the player would be considered an agreement between the players not to play by the rules, which is a DQ.
 
It is 100% a stupid rule as well though. My partner standing 5 or 10 yards behind me doesn't help me line up in any way, he was just stood there watching me hit my shot at the end of the day.

Why do people think it's forbidden to have an opinion on some of the rules?? It's mind-boggling.
It’s much more mind boggling that people constantly harp on about rules being stupid just because it goes against them. 🤣🤷‍♂️😩
 
He doesn't need to pull you on this one just because he's club secretary, in matchplay the player also has the option of not calling a penalty they see their opponent committing, this would then allow them to advise after completion of the hole.

I may be wrong but I think that to advise during play of the hole that a breach has been made and then not penalise the player would be considered an agreement between the players not to play by the rules, which is a DQ.
Thanks for that. Can both teams be DQed from a match play semi-final though? How does that work??
 
It’s much more mind boggling that people constantly harp on about rules being stupid just because it goes against them. 🤣🤷‍♂️😩
It's a stupid rule no matter who it goes against. I would not have called that on another team unless I was 100% sure that they actually were helping to line up the putt rather than just standing there innocuously.
 
I didn't blame him really, he just stood back well out of the way so I could putt. If he'd have been what, one foot to the right of where he was it would have been fine?? Or a yard? I think it's harsh to call a penalty on that basis, there is no chance whatsoever he was helping me line up the shot, he just happened to be standing there.

Have you never once experienced or witnessed a penalty that you thought was a touch harsh? Or you expect everybody to be able to recite every rule for every situation parrot-fashion?
The Secretary is an arse and should have either ignored it or given you the opportunity to fix it by letting you step away and your pp move off the line.
 
It's a stupid rule no matter who it goes against. I would not have called that on another team unless I was 100% sure that they actually were helping to line up the putt rather than just standing there innocuously.

What you have to realise is that we and tour players play to the same rule book so, occasionally, a rule can be seen to be stupid for us but sensible for them. Not many of us want a different set of rules that are dumbed down for amateurs
 
What you have to realise is that we and tour players play to the same rule book so, occasionally, a rule can be seen to be stupid for us but sensible for them. Not many of us want a different set of rules that are dumbed down for amateurs

Do we really?

Do we as amateurs have an army of 100's following, watching and hunting for our ball, do we have the opportunity of 20+ fans moving tonne weight boulders for us?

Do we get "line of sight" from tight against an OB boundary because we argue we are going to draw the ball into the green over a TV tower/stand then once we get relief play a completely different shot?

On paper we may play to the same rules but in reality we probably get scrutinized and penalised more.

In relation to this incident the application of the rule which may/may not have been applicable was an absolute farce. Take a step in either direction from where you are looking and then the line of sight disappears. Common sense has gone. Are people that desperate to win??

I'd have been tempted to shake his hand there and then and tell him how much of a (insert what you wish) wish him well in the final and walk in.
 
What you have to realise is that we and tour players play to the same rule book so, occasionally, a rule can be seen to be stupid for us but sensible for them. Not many of us want a different set of rules that are dumbed down for amateurs
You're right, and I did mention that earlier. I can't find what rule it is to check the wording but perhaps the phrase 'to line up the shot' should be in there, so that you at least have to be certain that's what they were doing to apply the penalty.

Anyway, we don't have to make the whole thread just about this, let's just say I was randomly irritated and move on.
 
You're right, and I did mention that earlier. I can't find what rule it is to check the wording but perhaps the phrase 'to line up the shot' should be in there, so that you at least have to be certain that's what they were doing to apply the penalty.

Anyway, we don't have to make the whole thread just about this, let's just say I was randomly irritated and move on.
I'll say one more thing.. If you'd stuck with the hatton li thread you'd probably have not had this problem 😉
 
Do we really?

Do we as amateurs have an army of 100's following, watching and hunting for our ball, do we have the opportunity of 20+ fans moving tonne weight boulders for us?

Do we get "line of sight" from tight against an OB boundary because we argue we are going to draw the ball into the green over a TV tower/stand then once we get relief play a completely different shot?

On paper we may play to the same rules but in reality we probably get scrutinized and penalised more.

In relation to this incident the application of the rule which may/may not have been applicable was an absolute farce. Take a step in either direction from where you are looking and then the line of sight disappears. Common sense has gone. Are people that desperate to win??

I'd have been tempted to shake his hand there and then and tell him how much of a (insert what you wish) wish him well in the final and walk in.
I think there have been further clarifications to this rule and the guy in question was possibly wrong in calling the pen
 
I was delighted to play well and almost pain free for 3 full rounds last week, only to wake on Sunday morning with a really stiff back and can hardly move .:mad::cry:.
 
You're right, and I did mention that earlier. I can't find what rule it is to check the wording but perhaps the phrase 'to line up the shot' should be in there, so that you at least have to be certain that's what they were doing to apply the penalty.

Anyway, we don't have to make the whole thread just about this, let's just say I was randomly irritated and move on.
Try rule 10-2b.(y) The word " deliberately " might be relevant in this situation.
 
Last edited:
Do we really?

Do we as amateurs have an army of 100's following, watching and hunting for our ball, do we have the opportunity of 20+ fans moving tonne weight boulders for us?

Do we get "line of sight" from tight against an OB boundary because we argue we are going to draw the ball into the green over a TV tower/stand then once we get relief play a completely different shot?

On paper we may play to the same rules but in reality we probably get scrutinized and penalised more.

In relation to this incident the application of the rule which may/may not have been applicable was an absolute farce. Take a step in either direction from where you are looking and then the line of sight disappears. Common sense has gone. Are people that desperate to win??

I'd have been tempted to shake his hand there and then and tell him how much of a (insert what you wish) wish him well in the final and walk in.

I quite agree that we play a different game but ostensibly to the same rule book. line of site and other changes are to enable tour players a fair situation where needed and are the subject of local rules. I agree that this was dealt with wrongly imo but it cannot be denied that had the 2 players known the rule it could have been avoided. Rather than criticise the rules I would say that all players should be learn the basic rules better, but agree wholeheartedly that the man calling the rule, whilst correct, should have ignored the breach. Personally I've ignored loads of breaches over 20 years of playing in matchplay win or lose, some I've pointed out afterwards some I've not .
 
Try rule 10-2b.(y) The word " deliberately " might be relevant
Thanks. It certainly does say deliberately, so on that basis perhaps we didn't actually break the rule. It also says 'caddy' only but perhaps there is a caveat somewhere that extends that to playing partner in a pairs match, I don't know.
 
Thanks. It certainly does say deliberately, so on that basis perhaps we didn't actually break the rule. It also says 'caddy' only but perhaps there is a caveat somewhere that extends that to playing partner in a pairs match, I don't know.
Same rules apply to caddies, playing partners and team members, i think, but an expert will no doubt be along shortly.(y)
 
Top