Shotgun

[Nick_Toye]

I only learnt of this term last night reading a magazine, but it made me think of the amount of times people do this on the course I play on.

Now we have the 12th hole which you cross to get from the 2nd to the 3rd, and many people play the first 2 holes, and then the 12th thru to 18. Members pay to play so its fair enough I guess, but it can get annoying if you've just arrived on the 12th to tee up and a group of people have just teed off. Which means you get a delay.

Yesterday me and my Dad booked a tee time, and was playing steadily with no delays, until we got to the 12th hole and a group of elderly ladies had just teed off, which then delayed us for the rest of the round.

My question is this fair, and also it kind of makes the point of having booked tee times irrelevant.

We weren't really in any rush, it's just a wonderment really.

 

[CMAC]

shotgun starts means every tee has people on it and no-one starts until they hear the shotgun (mostly a horn/hooter these days). Maybe you are mixing this up with people skipping the 1st and starting elsewhere?

The course is normally 'closed' from the shotgun start time for 4 hrs approx

 

[patricks148]

not heard of that before. only shotgun start.

we only have one hole that people cut across to which is the 16th from the 3rd( we are an out and back links course ) you can only cut in if there is no one playing the 15th and if there is give them priority on the 16th tee.

 

[Nick_Toye]

shotgun starts means every tee has people on it and no-one starts until they hear the shotgun (mostly a horn/hooter these days). Maybe you are mixing this up with people skipping the 1st and starting elsewhere?

The course is normally 'closed' from the shotgun start time for 4 hrs approx

ah right, yeah I did get confused, I mean the people who skip holes.

 

[GB72]

Not sure if you are confusing terms as a shotgun start to me is where competitions but groups on all 18 tees and everyone starts at the same time. The theory is that everyone finishes at the same time.

What you seem to have is people making up their own route and set of wholes to play. It happened at my old club as it was one loop of 18 and so people cut accross to later holes in the evening when they could not play a full 18. Normally it was fine as people only cut in to big gaps between other groups.

At my current club we have 3 starting points and the rule is that you allow one group to cut in ahead of you if there is a queue of people wanting to start and you are coming off your 9th hole. It can be frustrating if you have had a good pace on the front 9 that then gets slowed down but thems is the rules I suppose.

 

[Nick_Toye]

not heard of that before. only shotgun start.

we only have one hole that people cut across to which is the 16th from the 3rd( we are an out and back links course ) you can only cut in if there is no one playing the 15th and if there is give them priority on the 16th tee.

Thing is the path from the 11th to the 12th is about a 2-3 minute walk and is obscured, so you can't see anyone. I can see why it's tempting to just tee off, but perhaps when they realise someone is behind them they call them through.

 

[Nick_Toye]

Not sure if you are confusing terms as a shotgun start to me is where competitions but groups on all 18 tees and everyone starts at the same time. The theory is that everyone finishes at the same time.

What you seem to have is people making up their own route and set of wholes to play. It happened at my old club as it was one loop of 18 and so people cut accross to later holes in the evening when they could not play a full 18. Normally it was fine as people only cut in to big gaps between other groups.

At my current club we have 3 starting points and the rule is that you allow one group to cut in ahead of you if there is a queue of people wanting to start and you are coming off your 9th hole. It can be frustrating if you have had a good pace on the front 9 that then gets slowed down but thems is the rules I suppose.

yeah I guess your right.

 

[patricks148]

Thing is the path from the 11th to the 12th is about a 2-3 minute walk and is obscured, so you can't see anyone. I can see why it's tempting to just tee off, but perhaps when they realise someone is behind them they call them through.

I would say if you are already playing the full course, you have priority over people just cutting in, what if you are playing a tie or a comp.

 

[woody69]

My understanding of the term "shotgun" within golf is where all holes have someone starting on and they all go off at the same time, rather than all off the 1st or the 10th. Not what you have explained with a player effectively jumping from the 3rd to the 12th and skipping 8 holes. It would annoy the hell out of me if I was walking up to the 12th and saw a player just walking off the tee because they had jumped in front of me

 

[Region3]

We 'could' start on the 1st, 7th or 10th at ours, and there's also a few places you can skip a couple of holes if you're short on time (or freezing/drenched!).

It's common courtesy though that you wait if there's a group coming up the preceding hole and you won't be out of their way by the time they're ready to tee off.

 

[Region3]

I actually had someone jump in front of me one evening after work last year. I was playing on my own and they were a 2 and the hole they jumped in on was the last hole for both of us.

The tee isn't too far from the green I was on, and I half expected to hear them talking about whether or not they should let me go first.

Oh no, what I heard was "I suppose we should ask him if he wants to play up the last with us."

:angry:

 

[Nick_Toye]

I would say if you are already playing the full course, you have priority over people just cutting in, what if you are playing a tie or a comp.

Well exactly, there was a comp on that day just before we went out.

 

[Nick_Toye]

I actually had someone jump in front of me one evening after work last year. I was playing on my own and they were a 2 and the hole they jumped in on was the last hole for both of us.

The tee isn't too far from the green I was on, and I half expected to hear them talking about whether or not they should let me go first.

Oh no, what I heard was "I suppose we should ask him if he wants to play up the last with us."

:angry:

Yeah that's pretty annoying. These 3 people didn't even look back to see if we were there. Oblivious to us.

 

[guest100718]

Some courses have start points at different tees, but if they are just cutting in then I would tell them to wait while I play through.

 

[need_my_wedge]

We have a couple of points on the course where you can jump across between holes. Have been known to do so myself on occasion if playing late on a summers evening. Will always ensure that there is no one coming up the previous hole before doing so. We also have a two hole start, so people can cut in on the10th but we have recently changed the rules here so that the 9th hole must be clear in order for them to do so.

 

[pbrown7582]

we have a couple of potential start points and the previous hole must be clear if you don't start on the 1st

 

[rosecott]

As others have mentioned, the club committee should have a rule to cover such situations where players "jump in". The stance of R&A/USGA in the etiquette section of the Rules of Golf is clear about this:

"Any group playing a whole round is entitled to pass a group playing a shorter round. The term “group” includes a single player."

 

[Nick_Toye]

As others have mentioned, the club committee should have a rule to cover such situations where players "jump in". The stance of R&A/USGA in the etiquette section of the Rules of Golf is clear about this:

"Any group playing a whole round is entitled to pass a group playing a shorter round. The term “group” includes a single player."

They were already out of shouting distance, and all 3 were in their early 70s, so without assuming too much, I doubt me shouting 100 yards or so would have made a difference.

Interesting to know that there is a rule about this though.

 

[Tongo]

Thing is the path from the 11th to the 12th is about a 2-3 minute walk and is obscured, so you can't see anyone. I can see why it's tempting to just tee off, but perhaps when they realise someone is behind them they call them through.

Yes, that's what i would expect. Okay, people want to miss out a few holes for whatever reason, fair enough. But if that decision delays / impedes someone who you have jumped in front of then i think it is common courtesy to let them go first. Maybe the club should add a note of etiquette to their scorecard!

 

[Tongo]

As others have mentioned, the club committee should have a rule to cover such situations where players "jump in". The stance of R&A/USGA in the etiquette section of the Rules of Golf is clear about this:

"Any group playing a whole round is entitled to pass a group playing a shorter round. The term “group” includes a single player."

That's worth remembering! Is it in the R&A Rules of Golf book as it would be worth memorising?!