Mulligan question

[Danny1982]

Went for a round with a few lads from work this afternoon to take advatage of our early finish... nothing serious just something to pass a couple of hours

two of us hadnt played the course before and one had barely played golf before so we decided one mulligan font 9 and one back.

One lad whos been playing a good while stepped up to the first tee and scuffed his tee shot around 12 feet infront of him. He played his mulligan which he sliced wildly into seriously heavy rough with little hope of ever seeing that ball again.
He then returned to his first shot and said he didnt have to drop a shot because he was allowed to play the first ball if he wanted to. I disagreed. Who is right? is there a written rule on this?

sorry if i havent explained it very well but after a heavy week at work my brain is a little bit fried

 

[CrapHacker]

In principle, I'd agree with you.

BUT

If the game is 'nothing serious' I'd go with his definition to keep the game in good cheer.

Does it matter, as long as you all play to the same rules ?

It's the first hole, so it's not like he's gaining an unfair advantage. In fact, by ballsing up his mulligan, he's giving you an advantage to actually use your mulligan later in the round to improve your score - he's obviously just wasted his.

As a mulligan is just an unofficial option, I can't see that there can possibly be an official definition on how to use one.

 

[DCB]

Well since yo were playing by your own rules you can make up any rule you want to cover the situation.

The Obvious answer to the situation would be that he could proceed to play his original ball under Rule 1D 10 T. Which clearly states that he can play the original ball if he plays the next shot wronghanded (ie left handed if he is right handed) and blindfolded whilst standing on one leg.

 

[CrapHacker]

Changed my mind.

If a mulligan is there to make the game more fun, then use it any way you like to keep a smile on your face.

I'd play it like your mate wanted.

And then offer the chance to 'buy' an extra mulligan to make up for wasting his.

And if one of you has hardly played the game before, I'd probably offer him a few more sneaky mulligans if he's looking like running up a dozen or more on some holes as well. ( Especially for those air shots and 2 inch tops that we all played when starting out ).

But then, the one who uses most mulligans gets the first round in

Golf is important - but sometimes beer is even more important

 

[RGDave]

These sort of "fun" rules are OK until there are disagreements, proper or petty.

In the early days (unlikely to break 100) we (with mates) would play all sorts of hackers rules to speed up play, make life generally easier and improve the chances of playing matchplay with good competition.

The sort of scenario would be
first player hits a good drive down the middle.
second player scuffs it to a place where even the best shot out of the lie would not even be close to the first player's drive. We'd just say....."take it again"......
If player 1 then loses the hole, so be it, as long as everyone is relaxed about bending the rules.

We did this a lot, no regrets or reconsiderations.

Sometimes, I'd win by a hole or two and yet had been given 3/4/5? mulligans off the tee. Once we were better (could get the ball away 90% of the time) even if sliced/hooked, we stopped playing these made-up rules.

 

[JustOne]

The error was using mulligans in the first place.
Just play the hole and see who gets the lowest score - should be fun enough?
If you take 26 shots then you take 26 shots, no big deal. If you're that bad then a mulligan is hardly going to make a difference as you'll be needing 10 of them per hole.

I think the idea of buying a shot sounds quite a laugh. If you duff one (including missed putts) and want to take it again you have to pay all the other players 50p.... has potential for a fun round.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

At the end of the day if they are just starting out do whatever it takes to keep them happy and get them hooked. There will come a time and place for playing within the rulebook as they become proficient but for now just enjoy the laughs