Golf rules we let people break - what is one you know of?

[Burnsey]

Letting the green clear (is it a rule), ready for your second shot, holding your 3 wood, when it's 300 yards away and you only drove 186 yards

 

[rulefan]

"Take your time" when someone asks to putt out.
Counts as advice and that's breaking a rules Stupid, yes, but it breaks a rule.

That does not appear in the Definition of Advice

 

[Bratty]

That does not appear in the Definition of Advice

I was told this by a person who is a referee at tournaments, so I'll have to ceck the rules myself, I guess.

 

[Golfnut1957]

This is a VERY bold assumption.

Well, it's very bold now.

 

[sjw]

On the advice thing, I've heard this before, but I can't remember... who gets the penalty?

If I ask for advice, I presumably get a 2-shot penalty or something? If someone answers me, do they get a penalty as well?

If they just turn round and say, "I hit 7 iron", unprompted, is that a penalty to them?

 

[jim8flog]

One I hear regularly in GP and competition golf is people telling everyone what the distance is on a par 3.

Giving or asking for distance is not a rules infringement and has not been so for many years.

 

[jim8flog]

That’s so wrong. Group’s sticking to their allotted tee time helps spacing and pace of play.

We have 10 minute spacing. A few groups don’t pay any attention to it and it causes hold ups. We’ve had them behind us a few times where they have been teeing off before we’ve all played our second shots. Then they stand there in their tea pot pose while we are on the green. It can be rather off putting for some.
Usually we’ve left them behind by the 3rd or 4th. But if you get stuck behind them you are in for a long round.

Not sure from your wording if you agree with the rule or not.

We have 9 minute tee intervals which are based around 4balls., however we often get 2 or 3 balls going out or completely empty tee slots. It is not uncommon to turn up the tee and find nobody anywhere on the 1st hole in front of you. We only have a starter for opens and major comps.

 

[Mandofred]

My pet hate is people who laser the flag - you're not going to slam dunk it in the hole so pointless information.

Huh?....so it's irrelevant to know the distance to......anything? I get the distance to the flag and then decide where I would "like" to land the ball. When it is wet as heck (last week)...yeah, I could probably land the ball right on the distance and the ball wouldn't move since the greens were so wet and soft. Summer?....whole other story, and since I'm not a big spinner of the ball I then need to decide where in front of the flag I want the ball to land....sometimes quite a ways depending on how dry the ground is....whether it is with or against the wind.....anything I need to land over? I quite often zap the flag, then something in front of the green about where I want the ball to land. Knowing front/middle/back works as well.....and then make a judgement call on where you would like the ball to land. Granted....some people may just be trying to hit the ball in the general direction of the green and praying hard.....

 

[WorldHandicapSystem]

Not sure from your wording if you agree with the rule or not.

We have 9 minute tee intervals which are based around 4balls., however we often get 2 or 3 balls going out or completely empty tee slots. It is not uncommon to turn up the tee and find nobody anywhere on the 1st hole in front of you. We only have a starter for opens and major comps.

I do agree with the rule.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

On the advice thing, I've heard this before, but I can't remember... who gets the penalty?

If I ask for advice, I presumably get a 2-shot penalty or something? If someone answers me, do they get a penalty as well?

If they just turn round and say, "I hit 7 iron", unprompted, is that a penalty to them?

It's okay, we let them break the rules on this one, as per the title, so it doesn't matter

 

[Neilds]

Huh?....so it's irrelevant to know the distance to......anything? I get the distance to the flag and then decide where I would "like" to land the ball. When it is wet as heck (last week)...yeah, I could probably land the ball right on the distance and the ball wouldn't move since the greens were so wet and soft. Summer?....whole other story, and since I'm not a big spinner of the ball I then need to decide where in front of the flag I want the ball to land....sometimes quite a ways depending on how dry the ground is....whether it is with or against the wind.....anything I need to land over? I quite often zap the flag, then something in front of the green about where I want the ball to land. Knowing front/middle/back works as well.....and then make a judgement call on where you would like the ball to land. Granted....some people may just be trying to hit the ball in the general direction of the green and praying hard.....

My post was partly tongue in cheek - hence the winking emoji
You then go and (mostly) prove my point by saying that where you land the ball is (probably) more important as most of us aren't accurate enough to get the slam dunk.

 

[Backache]

Anyway, massive pet hate is people who stand on the tee and announce the distance.
A. I might not want to land on the pin and might have another distance in mind, probably shorter but sometimes longer...
B. Our lasers are almost certainly saying different numbers...
C. If you're using GPS not only are you guessing how far the pin is but it will definitely disagree with my laser...

Closely followed by people who ask what you've got once you laser it...Just sort yourself out mate

Gosh I can't say any of this is a bother if someone has a different distance than me so what? Either I find the information useful and I check my distance or I ignore it either way no skin of my nose.
If I have a distance measuring device and I'm using it it's no problem to share the information.

 

[Mandofred]

My post was partly tongue in cheek - hence the winking emoji
You then go and (mostly) prove my point by saying that where you land the ball is (probably) more important as most of us aren't accurate enough to get the slam dunk.

I'd love to go back to having markers and then just making a good guess how far it is.....but those days are gone. Every course had different degrees of marking the course anyway and places back in the US where I played had sprinklers all over the fairways (or the grass would die in the summer) and they had distances to center of green on each one. I made a swing change on Saturday that added about 10yds to all my shots.....I didn't have time to figure out how far things were going.....and now I can't get to the practice field to check what the actual difference is. Snow isn't going anywhere until next week.

 

[rulefan]

I was told this by a person who is a referee at tournaments, so I'll have to ceck the rules myself, I guess.

As it happens I am a referee and this is the advice I was given when training and have worked to since.

If it is just a casual comment and was not designed to influence how the stroke was made, there’s not been a breach of the Rules.
However, had the comment been clearly intended to influence the player, then it would be a breach.

 

[Imurg]

As it happens I am a referee and this is the advice I was given when training and have worked to since.

If it is just a casual comment and was not designed to influence how the stroke was made, there’s not been a breach of the Rules.
However, had the comment been clearly intended to influence the player, then it would be a breach.

How do you tell the difference?

 

[rulie]

How do you tell the difference?

By referring to the definition of advice in the Rule book, and the clarifications provided in the book. Note the "intended to".

Advice​

Any verbal comment or action (such as showing what club was just used to make a stroke) that is intended to influence a player in:

• Choosing a club,
• Making a stroke, or
• Deciding how to play during a hole or round.
  

But advice does not include public information, such as:

• The location of things on the course such as the hole, the putting green, the fairway, penalty areas, bunkers, or another player’s ball,
• The distance from one point to another,
• Wind direction, or
• The Rules.

 

[cunnini]

common one broken is when a practice swing knocking some leaves down when in the trees - and no penalty shot is taken ?

 

[Imurg]

So how do you determine whether "Take your time" is meant as a throwaway comment or designed to influence how the stroke is made...?

 

[Golfnut1957]

This is a VERY bold assumption.

Having re-read the thread, is it really? (my earlier response was tongue in cheek)

There is ample evidence on this thread alone that people are misinterpreting or misunderstanding rules. They are not deliberately cheating, they are unknowingly breaking them through a lack of knowledge and if nobody is there to correct them they will continue to unwittingly get it wrong.

I am positive that once the correct interpretation is pointed out to them, 99.9% of golfer will apply them as well as their understanding allows.

 

[doublebogey7]

One I hear regularly in GP and competition golf is people telling everyone what the distance is on a par 3.

I see no rule infringment there, please can you quote me the rule number.