The rules of golf are the rules of golf

Would you just want a few hours on the range or the chance to play a round too?

  • Just a few hours on the range would be enough, I dont want to play afterwards

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  • I would love to play with some forum members, we could organise this ourselves.

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Cernunnos

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Following on from the balls thread. How many people think the rules of golf are the rules of golf or do they consider them to be only aplicable tothe pros'.

Now for a social round certain things in my opinion are permissable to speed play up. But come a proper club or society competition the rules of golf are law. where OB is OB, you cannot swap balls mid hole just becase you putt better with that softer ball & drive better with the hard one. Heck, you'd get a ticking off from me in a social round if I noticed that sort of thing.

Would you let anyone any day of the week tee up outside the tee-markers or move the tee-markers? No!

There is no such thing as a free drop from a divot as much as we'd like there to be.
 

Imurg

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As far as I'm concerned the rules are the rules whatever you're playing. Its bad habit to play some rules in a social game as you'll get used to just dropping another ball down etc etc. Come medal day - do that and you'll get a roasting.
Always play to the rules. All the rules.
 

Cernunnos

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Imurg... I must admit that is how I view it, certainly as far as I am concerned. No matter what others do in a social group for instance, If I incure a penalty I call it on myself. If something is unplayable its under the penalty of one drop. etc etc. If I suspect my ball is OB I will play a provisional etc & I certainly do not change balls mid hole just because I feel like it.

I will allow others in a social setting to declare something to speed up play before setting off, though I generally take a dim view I will permit it. But when its a serious competition whether the annual lads in Wales day or the bigest club compof the year & wow betide anyone who doesn't obide by the letter of the R&A.

The glovesw come off & there is no such thing as a gimmie

Now none of us will admitt to being experts with the rule book, but most of us know when something is not right.
 

welshjim22

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I think that when in competition you must play strictly by the rules. However, i play alone alot and i do quite often take a second tee shot if there is a large gap between me and the group behind. Sometimes just to slow me down from catching groups in front, also prone to the odd retake of chip shots. Especially recently as i have a new 3 wood and have been taking a lot of extra shots and comparing to driver tee shots.
 

HartleyHare

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I'm nowhere near a standard where I would be in contention to win much (going off last years consistancy anyway).
but in a game like golf you're only kidding yourself if you bend the rules.
the only yardstick I've got is my own score and I always call any fouls on myself and score as if it was a comp.
 

USER1999

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When competing, in any way (casual or comp), then rules are rules. If I am just bashing it round, on a friday afternoon with some mates (we don't score it on fridays, it is just for fun), it is non competitive, so if I want to kick it back out of a bush, or a bad lie, I will. Social golf is meant to be fun, it is relaxation time, not purgatory. Hacking out of a poor lie also does more damage to the course.

Come the medal (or if there is money on it), then rules is rules.
 

TonyN

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I hink most of us know when we can just drop on the fairway and play it as the 4th shot, usually, when you aint keeping a score against a pal.

Come comp day, its the law. FOLLOW IT!
 

HomerJSimpson

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I guess the blase answer is what game are you playing if you don't play to the rules but the honest answer is I know what everyone means and that in a social game or a quick solo round a few indiscretions aren't the end of the world.

I have to be honest and say whenever I'm playing a competitive round, I'm usually too intent on my own game to watch everything my partners do and would hate to be one of the guys you sometimes get that are almost waiting for you to slip up so they can show off their (usually flawed) vast knoweldge of the rules
 

DCB

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If I'm out for a quick nine holes on a Friday afternoon(very rare nowadays) or in a summers evening I use that as a form of practice. If I'm out for a social game then there are occassions where we will allow a drop to speed up play.

Anything else is too serious so it has to be by the book.

Just remember, the rules aren't there to punish you, they are there to help you. Get to know them and use them to assisit you play this game properly.
 

Herbie

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The rules are there for a number of reasons for the benefit of all, they are designed for competition so if there is no competition and you are not harming the course or anyone else, do what you want I say. If you stick rigidly to rules every time you play, even alone, you will miss practice opportunities, no pressure rounds of golf, fun in non compettitive rounds with pals, smoother flowing rounds, inventive challenges, you name it.

The only time I will play by the rules is in a competition, because that is what the majority of rules, general or local, are created for.
 

Robobum

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I have to be honest and say whenever I'm playing a competitive round, I'm usually too intent on my own game to watch everything my partners do and would hate to be one of the guys you sometimes get that are almost waiting for you to slip up so they can show off their (usually flawed) vast knoweldge of the rules
I agree to a point here Homer but it's important that you keep an eye on your playing partners and vice versa, you are the eyes of the rest of the field too.
 

Cernunnos

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Yes Homer makes a good point... I'd hope most of us are that intent upon what we are doing & not transgressing any rules ourselves to usually notice when someone else is pulling a fast one, whether inadvertantly or not.

Though some people do bring attention to themselves in what they do. Its not so much about trying to catch people out.

Say for instance teeing up out side the markers. I'd doubt most of us would wait for someone to take the shot, but would instead, ask if the player realised where they were teeing up. Much as a mate of mine did last week. He was so intent upon the parr 3 green, he was so shocked where he had shoved his tee when he had it pointed out by another fellowplayer. Didn't make any difference to him as he still won nearest to the pin.

The way I look at it if one of the playing group spots somethuing its as a way of helping each other keep to the straight & narrow rather than being vindictive...
 

Sam

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Most of you would have offside rule imposed on a 3-a-side footy match on Mablethorpe beach!
 

forefortheday

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Comps are comps you play by the rules simple as.

But if you know some obscure rule that your partners about to break be a gentleman, don't tell them the rule (which I think is in itself against the rules??) but give them a nudge.

Socially it depends upon the circumstances,playing with a mate who's hacking it around and he's in the deep doo doo?

Give him acouple of slashes at it then tell him to drop and play.

If it's a match for fun then I'm generous but I trust the guys I play golf with (why would you bother otherwise?)so cheatings not a concern of mine.
 

haplesshacker

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After reading his thread it really does make me wonder if everyone playing at the course in the weekly comps are playing by the same rules!

How many 'gimmies' are given?
How many free drops are allowed?
Mulligans?
How many aren't taking a 3rd shot from the tee when intial tee shot goes OOB?
How many 'kick outs' from under trees happen?

I'm really starting to think that some members just aren't 'playing the game'!! I have my suspicions, but as the club can't even hurry up very slow players, ie. 2 holes behind, how are they going to check if the rules are being enforced?

It's making me think that it's not worth doing the comps, and going for the 'me against me / the course'.
 

slaznick

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I think that the biggest sin in golf, even worse than slow play, is the golfer who deliberately cheats, even if it is only a minor infraction of the rules, such as not calling a penalty on themselves if the ball moves whilst clearing a leaf away for example.
I think most golfers who break a rule do so unwittingly and if we can point them out prior to an infringement happening then most of our fellow athletes would welcome it!
Golf has developed into a game whereby it has to be "self-umpired" and as soon as we start ignoring a few of the rules then we lose the best part of the game.
Having said that, if you are out for a round by yourself I can't see the difference between that and time over the range or putting green so why bother with penalties there? Mind you, if I practiced playing out sideways from behind a tree more often......
 

DCB

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Once watched someone tee of at our 8th hole and carve their drive into an OB area. They walked up and as the other two in the trio looked for the ball the offending player walked a bit further on and called the magic words "found it" what was even more amazing was that one of the others found the original ball in the OB area.

Okay these were juniors and may not have been sure of the rules, but blatant cheating like that has no place in this game.
 

EchtLoon

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Imurg... I must admit that is how I view it, certainly as far as I am concerned. No matter what others do in a social group for instance, If I incure a penalty I call it on myself. If something is unplayable its under the penalty of one drop. etc etc. If I suspect my ball is OB I will play a provisional etc & I certainly do not change balls mid hole just because I feel like it.

I will allow others in a social setting to declare something to speed up play before setting off, though I generally take a dim view I will permit it. But when its a serious competition whether the annual lads in Wales day or the bigest club compof the year & wow betide anyone who doesn't obide by the letter of the R&A.

The glovesw come off & there is no such thing as a gimmie

Now none of us will admitt to being experts with the rule book, but most of us know when something is not right.
Cerunos, in club competitions, or any competition for that matter, the rules are the rules, break any of them and you pay the consequences.

However you seem to have gone off on one purely because you actually misunderstand a rule about balls and the intent of other posters. You have assumed that because others have stated the rule is different to how you understand it, that they therefore condone cheating. That is one helluva leap.

It is clearly stated in the rules that you can only change a ball within a hole when it is visibly damaged, on no other occasion can you change the ball.

You extrapolate this to mean the same type of ball must be played for the whole round, now I stand to be corrected - and if you can find that rule for amatuers in the rule book I apologise - but I think you'll find as pointed out in the balls thread, by others as well as me, that you are under a misapprehension.

It would be appreciated that your misunderstanding of the rules, does not then lead to you implying others are cheats based upon that misunderstanding.
 
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