Some golf rules are just daft - discuss

[guest100718]

Which are?

RTFM

http://www.randa.org/en/RandA/~/med...s/QuickGuideToTheRules2012.ashx?download=true

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Ref the plugged ball thing, I'm aware clubs can have a local rule but if you can make a local rule then why not have permanently as a rule of golf?

Yep agree

Same with DMD's

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Yep agree

Same with DMD's

I agree although I'm sure DMD's will get looked at again at some point

 

[guest100718]

I agree although I'm sure DMD's will get looked at again at some point

can I use my phone as a DMD......

 

[Robobum]

RTFM

http://www.randa.org/en/RandA/~/med...s/QuickGuideToTheRules2012.ashx?download=true

YFP

 

[3565]

And you could guarantee that, when you've walked back to the tee to play 3 off the tee with it, you would definitely hit it to where your provisional lay and not back into the trouble in which you just found it.

So it poses the question if the only option is to go back, why can't you just go play your provisional? And save time?

 

[JohnnyDee]

One that really bugs me. Your ball is sitting in water within a bunker so you get a drop. However this inevitably means a horribly deeply plugged half buried lie in what approximates to claggy clinging gloopy mud.

Seems overly penal to me when you consider most bunker shots under normal conditions do not incur such an onerous penalty

 

[ColchesterFC]

Sorry but I agree that you can't have relief from a divot - it would be manipulated by players who would look to take relief from the smallest scratch on the fairway to get a better lie

The plugged ball and spike marks would be the rules I would change

Which is why after I unpack my bag/trolley etc at the course I always make sure I have my pocket full of rabbit droppings ready to be used for whenever I get into a difficult position. A quick sprinkle of rabbit droppings and all of a sudden the old divot I've landed in has become an animal scrape and I'm entitled to free relief. It's all about making sure the rules work in your favour.









Just in case anyone missed the smiley and thought I was being serious the above post was obviously meant in jest.

 

[Hickory_Hacker]

We've all done it. Nailed our Sunday best with the big stick knowing that it's now only going to be a simple 9-iron to the green.

We leave the tee chattering happily to our PPs about the upcoming new season of Game of Thrones as we approach our ball happy in the knowledge that we're a shoe-in for a par, but with a real opportunity for a birdie.

Then we spot it. Our ball is slap-bang in the middle of the deepest old divot and suddenly our sunny disposition evaporates. Two weeks earlier with "Winter rules" in force we could've picked and placed and set the ball up on a nice piece of lush turf. But now...now... Now we have to play the flaming thing as it lies!

But as 'golfers' do we take this stoically on the chin and smile benignly, happy in the knowledge that this 'rub of the green' is what separates our chosen game from the run of the mill mainstream vulgar pastimes that others indulge in.

Or perhaps do we suddenly hate those old and ancient rule-makers with a passion that can scarcely be concealed, a passion that may want to make us to smash £80 quids worth of value off our Powakaddy with our 9-iron.

I am placidity personified until such an unfair (IMO) dilemma rears its ugly head. And when faced with the challenge I have been known to fail the test 😒

But what about you. Are some of our rules simply character-building or else just plain stupid?

How many times have you had to play out of a divot? Is this a general comment re the state of your home club or just in general ... It's hardly a great advert for any club if it's a regular occurrence

 

[Robobum]

One that really bugs me. Your ball is sitting in water within a bunker so you get a drop. However this inevitably means a horribly deeply plugged half buried lie in what approximates to claggy clinging gloopy mud.

Seems overly penal to me when you consider most bunker shots under normal conditions do not incur such an onerous penalty

Once or twice a year???

You're easily bugged

 

[Foxholer]

It's been discussed at great lengths many times in this forum and you know, in your heart of hearts, what would happen if both those rules were changed. It would be a cheats charter with players claiming that every minor blemish was a divot mark or spike mark, or probably both.

I can understand that divots might be debatable, but spike marks are pretty obvious. And I did say I could understand why they are as they are!

My reasoning is/was that the earlier groups have an 'unfair' advntag over the later groups - particularly for spike marks! Several times the clumsy oafs in front of us have created a huge mess on the greens for which we have suffered. The, as proper golfers that we are, we have repaired most of them so that subsequent groups don't suffer the same fate! Hardly fair, but it an certainly take a bit of time - the main reason for not implementing it imo!

Divots, I can live with though, as the likelihood of landing in a 'fresh' one is pretty remote, and it would merely allow clubs to reduce the filling of them - as I have actually seen!

 

[williamalex1]

Which is why after I unpack my bag/trolley etc at the course I always make sure I have my pocket full of rabbit droppings ready to be used for whenever I get into a difficult position. A quick sprinkle of rabbit droppings and all of a sudden the old divot I've landed in has become an animal scrape and I'm entitled to free relief. It's all about making sure the rules work in your favour.









Just in case anyone missed the smiley and thought I was being serious the above post was obviously meant in jest.

Don't forget to take a gallon of water , casual water on tap. :whoo:

 

[mikejohnchapman]

The one that always seems daft to me is a ball going down a rabbit hole which is in bounds ends up out of bounds due to the hole going under a fence.

 

[Odvan]

We've all done it. Nailed our Sunday best with the big stick knowing that it's now only going to be a simple 9-iron to the green.

We leave the tee chattering happily to our PPs about the upcoming new season of Game of Thrones as we approach our ball happy in the knowledge that we're a shoe-in for a par, but with a real opportunity for a birdie.

Then we spot it. Our ball is slap-bang in the middle of the deepest old divot and suddenly our sunny disposition evaporates. Two weeks earlier with "Winter rules" in force we could've picked and placed and set the ball up on a nice piece of lush turf. But now...now... Now we have to play the flaming thing as it lies!

But as 'golfers' do we take this stoically on the chin and smile benignly, happy in the knowledge that this 'rub of the green' is what separates our chosen game from the run of the mill mainstream vulgar pastimes that others indulge in.

Or perhaps do we suddenly hate those old and ancient rule-makers with a passion that can scarcely be concealed, a passion that may want to make us to smash £80 quids worth of value off our Powakaddy with our 9-iron.

I am placidity personified until such an unfair (IMO) dilemma rears its ugly head. And when faced with the challenge I have been known to fail the test 

But what about you. Are some of our rules simply character-building or else just plain stupid?

Johnny, I like the way you write. Keep up with the posts :thup:

 

[JohnnyDee]

1.How many times have you had to play out of a divot? 2. Is this a general comment re the state of your home club or just in general ... 3. It's hardly a great advert for any club if it's a regular occurrence

1. Occasionally, as I would imagine all of us might've had to.
2. No, it relates purely to the application of the rules of golf when we find ourselves in a divot on any course anywhere.
3. Agreed. Courses regularly presented covered in divots would not get my vote.

 

[duncan mackie]

So it poses the question if the only option is to go back, why can't you just go play your provisional? And save time?

the answer is because you are the sole arbiter as to whether your original ball is unplayable, and your decision will be influenced by the situation you have put your provisional ball into.

if permitted it would slow the game down horrendously - everyone will hit provisionals off every tee (and every fairway!) and (as a practical example) decide whether to tap in a birdie for a 5 or chip from behind a tree playing 3 in the hope of making a 4......

and this ignores the additional options you have under 28, and their consideration relative to the know position of the provisional ball.

 

[duncan mackie]

Ref the plugged ball thing, I'm aware clubs can have a local rule but if you can make a local rule then why not have permanently as a rule of golf?

I completely agree with this one - it's an obvious reverse 'catch 22'; if your ball is embedded TTG then it's clear that the committee should have implemented the relevant LR to extend 25-2; the rules even say as much!

Therefore 25-2 should be extended permanently

I am still hoping that the recent clarification of what constitutes embedded may lead to this in due course!

It's the only rule I think is wrong.

 

[North Mimms]

The only one that I really would like to change is flooded bunkers...
If there is nowhere to drop in the bunker that is further from pin, you can drop outside but under penalty. Boo!

I know committees can deem certain bunkers as GUR but it doesn't happen at my club

 

[MadAdey]

1. Occasionally, as I would imagine all of us might've had to.
2. No, it relates purely to the application of the rules of golf when we find ourselves in a divot on any course anywhere.
3. Agreed. Courses regularly presented covered in divots would not get my vote.

Lets be honest here, I can count on one hand how many times a season I end up in an old divot. If I'm ending up in anymore then I would question the standard of the course I am playing. As has already been said, allowing free relief from them will open up a big old can of worms regarding the people that like to use the rules to their advantage on a far too regular occurance.

 

[Val]

The local rule is intended for temporary use when extreme conditions prevail and is not meant to be a permanent feature.

I knew that which is why I was surprised people had local rules in place which I assumed rightly or wrongly make it a permanent fix. We have 2 holes on our course where we get issues if we get a heavy downpour and I'm sure our course ain't unique in this