Rules - Strip it back to basics

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Robobum

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A few people have got a bit hot under the collar recently when it has been inferred they should learn the rules or have a better understanding of them.
If you want to play in a friendly 4 ball with mates every week then absolutely no problem with making up and following your own rules.

However if you want to play in a comp or with "strangers" I think there has to be a measure of understanding.

So, if there were to be a short rules summary on the back of the scorecard, what do you think should be on there???

Five maximum, the ones that you think people misunderstand most??
 
1/ Count every shot, not just the ones you like.
2/ Keep up with play.
3/ Don't cheat like a cheating b, unless you can get away with it.
4/ Rake bunkers, mend pitch marks, replace divots.
5/ A massive list of conforming drivers.

That covers everything useful.
 
Unplayable ball rule

Lost ball includeing use of a prov ball

GUR

Hazards

Teeing ground

I think that would cover the basics it would need to be a big scorecard
 
I think there is some potential in this although a lot of courses have space taken up on card with local advertising whichbrings in much needed revenue. That means unless we are going to get even bigger cards there is limited room to do this especially once the local rules have been included.

That said I think it has possibilites and would think red/yellow stakes, GUR, staked trees and lost ball/OOB and the correct procedures would cover a lot of the misconceptions. Of course there are others, like putting out in matchplay, playing out of turn etc that have been discussed but you'd need to keep it simple
 
how about using some space on the tee boxes for a rule?

currently a lot have the hole info and a advertising section but you could have another section with a short rule blurb on it.

you could have them on removeable plaques so they could be rotated around the holes and different rules added over the course of the year
 
I think the lost ball rule is a must. I've been playing for years and it's only recently I've learned the correct rule for a lost ball. For years i'd always played with mates in friendly games and if we lost a ball we would drop it where we think it went. We would incurr a 1 stroke penalty. My problem was that I played this rule for so long that we thought it was an actual rule, then we decided it should be shot and distance. We never realised the actual rule was to go back to where you played the shot. I don't think it would be possible to choose 5 simply rule, what ever rule you choose and different playign options and you would have to include these to each card, you;d need too much room for the explanations. eg, an unplayable ball can either
a. replayed from original spot
b. played within the 2 club rule
c. taken as far back as required/you like in line with the flag.

pick a rule with 1 option.
 
how about using some space on the tee boxes for a rule?
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea, if a hole has water in play it could say how to proceed with yellow or red stakes etc.

Trouble might be that players complain that they hadn't thought of the water until it was brought to their attention........splosh!! :D :D
 
This isn't answering the original question but how about creating a separate forum section which caters for rules queries as that would save people giving out about the same questions being asked over & over again as I noticed in another post?

Or having a sticky which includes the most commonly misunderstood rules & what they really are? I know people say read the rules book but I've tried & it's really boring & I'm not sure I'm any more informed now than I was at the start.
 
You could probably apply that to a lot of repeated questions relating to all kinds of golf topics of which the same questions keep coming up. For instance 'how is my handicap worked out'. Trouble is these types of question are the bread and butter of the forum and i can envisage it becoming very quiet on here without them. Quite often one knows the rules, but it is applying them to a certain scenario that gets a bit tricky.
Also, although quite repetitive at times, it can lead to other side banter.
 
I think it would be good to have a short rules booklet, maybe an R&A approved summary of the main things. If there was room on a card to offer the most common ones, that would also be good. I don't carry a book....I only need to remember the basics (penalties/hazards/drops etc.) and rarely need these anyway. The trouble with the book is all the extras - maybe we could knock a 1 page simple rules up ourselves.
 
I think it would be good to have a short rules booklet, maybe an R&A approved summary of the main things. If there was room on a card to offer the most common ones, that would also be good. I don't carry a book....I only need to remember the basics (penalties/hazards/drops etc.) and rarely need these anyway. The trouble with the book is all the extras - maybe we could knock a 1 page simple rules up ourselves.
Click to expand...

I believe the R&A already produce such a thing....
 
Had 3 today that I didn't really know the rules to:

1, Can't you play a shot with your feet in GUR?

2, When on a road that runs lfet to right agross a fairway and you need to drop backwards is it only within 1 club length even if that means you are now in the rough when technically you are slap bang in the middle of the fairway

3, does a player have to RIGHT to mark his ball, my mate chipped on from 80yds and straight afterwards I chipped on from the edge of the green, he said he'd have like to mark it so I didn't get any advantage should I have hit his ball.

As it happens I DID hit his ball at pace (which got replaced) and I had a nice 8 footer left, that I missed :(
 
1, Can't you play a shot with your feet in GUR?

You can unless there is a local rule that says you must take relief from GUR.


2, When on a road that runs lfet to right agross a fairway and you need to drop backwards is it only within 1 club length even if that means you are now in the rough when technically you are slap bang in the middle of the fairway

Is it a one way street then?!

If you take relief from any situation, your lie/stance may get worse than it already is.....always best to not be too hasty in picking the thing up just in case you wanna play it

3, does a player have to RIGHT to mark his ball, my mate chipped on from 80yds and straight afterwards I chipped on from the edge of the green, he said he'd have like to mark it so I didn't get any advantage should I have hit his ball.

If he ain't quick enough to mark it then no....
 
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