rules- too many??

[teetime72]

Hi.Guys/Gals.
Just been glancing thro the rule book and to cover a hole
190yds over water with OB on the right (par 3 )requires 77
pages of rules,to me this seems a bit OTT.
A famous golfer(can`t remember who)once said "All the rules
needed to play the game could be written on the back of a fag packet"If this is true,what would be your fag packet rules?.

Incidently,a sentence taken on it`s own made me smile.
Page 69 line 5.-A golfer is not necessarily entitled to see his ball when making a stroke-.
Pin the tail on the donkey anyone ?.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Which rule book are you looking at. Can you break down how you came to that conclusion?

 

[teetime72]

Hi. Homer

RandA rules of golf.Rule 1 starts on page 44 and rule34 ends on page 121,thus 77 pages

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I take it that doesn't include the sections regarding equipment specs or amateur status

 

[teetime72]

No siree.

If we include these it brings the tally up to 105 pages of rules.You need to be a Philadelphia lawyer to understand half of them.I open the book at random-When proceeding under rule 26-2b,the player is not required to drop a ball under rule 27-1 or 28a.Ifhe does drop a ball he is not required to play it.He may alternatively proceed under rule 26-2b(ii)or (iii).- All this in a 31/2 hr. game.
There`s gotta be a better system.

 

[billyg]

Good question.

For the record there are a number of little books about that take most of the scenarios you're likely to encounter week to week and explains them a little more fully. Ive found such a book invaluable but like most things it's experience that will engraine them in the end.

There's still plenty that stump me and it's a seeming perversity of the game that at the start is when you're likely to need a ruling about relief from situations a better player will encounter less frequently.

Thus is golf.

Here's a classic:

My lady duffed a tee shot into the rough 30 yards forward and elected to hit a provisional which sailed down the middle. I found her first attempt (within five minutes) which means she is obliged to play it (she's not happy about that). She hits the original within 10 feet of the provisional and then marches forward and picks it up preparing to play (what she thinks) is her third stroke with the provisional. She's foul of so many rules I gave up counting. Lordy lordy - did we have fun with that one.

What she doesn't seem to take on board is that i'm not just spitefully imposing some punative crackdown on her game - it's just i'm the one that bothers to read the rules- grrrrrrr

I always try and soften the blow by prefacing it with...'If you were in a competition and suchandsuch happened it would cost 'X' strokes and here's why....'

Fag packet rule?

Read the rules , play them and don't whinge when ignorance turns out not to be a defence.

One that's got me stuffed at the moment is where I mis-clubbed and hit an approach over the green and it bounced on the concrete path then into a bush never to be seen again.

What I thought was right was to drop a ball the other side of the path in line with the path of approach and take a two stroke penalty, one for loss of ball and one for the shot that caused it to be lost.

Therefore, alternative fag packet rule - start playing golf with someone confident in the rules and ask lots of questions.

 

[Greenkeeper]

I think the most important thing is to do what is in good sportsmanship and always ask your partner if the action you are about to take it to their full agreement.

However this is not always plain sailing, I once played with a particular obnoxious individual who was determined to throw every rule at me in order to get an advantage. It was winter league, and on one incident I landed in a particular bad spot at the back of the green. I told him I was entitled for a free relief and his reply was a stern “absolutely not” I then had to point out the rules. 1, we had improved lies through the green. 2, I was on a mole hill, 3, the mole hill had been squashed by a tractor tyre and 4, the area around the green was all obvious green keepers workings.
After a short dialog he said I could only move my ball 6 inches! When I explained that the area was over 10ft square and I couldn’t get a decent lie he suggested I kept moving the ball every 6 inches until I got a decent lie, it took some time a some chuckling from the others in my group.

 

[par_par_par_treble]

at my club, the drive is in play as two holes go over it. if your ball comes to rest on the drive you get a free drop within 2 club lengths of the nearest point of relief (no nearer the hole).

in a medal lest year, one of my playing partners insisted i had to drop behind a tree, as that was in my line when the ball was on the road - wouldn’t believe otherwise until after the round when i marched him to the pro shop...

2 very similar rules, but with very different consequences

 

[backwoodsman]

I stll like the quote in the front of the rule book "Play the course as you find it, play the ball as it lies and if you can't do either then do what's fair"

The rules, complex as they may be, are the attempt to be definitive about the "fair" bit. Pernickity they may be, but every clause & sub clause is an attempt to close the loopholes that people use - or have used - to say "Well now, what I've done is fair, but what you done isn't.."

Moreover, who ever grumbles when the rules give you a bit of good fortune - like the last post where a free drop away from the drive gets you out from behind a tree??

 

[Nico]

Backwoodsman you are spot on.

In a competition though you are always able to play2 balls and sort it after the round.

We must remember that the rules are not meant to be "fair" just "equitable".

If I am not sure about a ruling someone wants I will always ask "why" they feel they are entitled to something.

I have learned a lot that way rather than saying "NO" just because I dont Know a rule.

 

[Dave3498]

"All the rules
needed to play the game could be written on the back of a fag packet"

The questions are; how big is the fag packet and how small can you write.

 

[viscount17]

Not necessarily too many, but badly written - still!

Before any review, the first question should be 'is all this verbiage necessary?'

You soon learn in my job that if you have to go into clauses, sub-clauses and sub-sub clauses to explain anything you haven't started the explanation properly.

Teetime's rule is a good example, if you find it necessary to refer forward to something not yet explained in order to make your point, then you've got the sequence wrong.