Was I in the wrong?

sawtooth

sawtooth

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I played in a friendly pairs matchplay (with a small side bet of cash) the other day it was very tight and late on in the round our opponents (who I know from work) tee'd off out of turn. I asked for it to be retaken as I am entitled to do and he did after we played but he didnt take it well and we hardly spoke a word for the remaining holes. The mood changed completely and I was taken back by the reaction. We ended up losing 2&1 and after being rattled had a bad penultimate hole after playing extremely well up to that point.

I was accused of being petty but I cant help this as I like people to respect the rules and exercise good etiquette on the course.Regardless if a friendly or club competition.

To be perfectly honest the same "mates" talk, move when you are playing, stand in your view when putting, etc its subtle but it does annoy the life out of me.

Its a shame to fall out over this and I enjoy the competition but starting to think I would rather stick to a 2 ball with my regular playing partner who is a gentleman of the game.

Felt bad afterwards but in the cold light of day I think I would do the same again despite the grief I got.

What do you think? Has this happened to you?
 
Sawtooth
You play golf for fun don't you? It sounds like a great laugh going round with you. The stakes were probably very high I guess?
 
What you did was right in the rules so it was right in my book.

I know that if I did that with most of the people I play with they would gladly do it and only use it against me in the future as a good wind up and banter is part of it.


Some people I know would have got funny about it but then I wouldn't have minded not playing with them again or having a falling out with them. If they can't play the game in the spirit it should be played in then I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Some might say you were being petty and childish but rules is rules and I'm sure they will take better notice of that rule in the future. They should be thankful it happened in a friendly match.

Have a couple of rows on course over rules but everyone is fine in the bar and its good for all involved to get used to questioning rules and learning the right rulings and different interpretations of them.

Fair play for making them play again.
 
Some people like to throw their toys outta the pram, when you know who they are then you can use it to your advantage...

If you even HINT that Smiffy has done something wrong he throws clubs, sulks and gets all shirty... it doesn't take more than a stern look and you can practically get him to walk in....I love it :D

Of course he'll disagree... LOL
 
I think the OP was being overly pedantic. Penalising someone for playing out of turn in a friendly game does strike me as being a bit ridiculous tbh and i dont blame those lads for being annoyed.

If its a club comp then obviously it should be called but when its just for a bit of craic and a few quid let it go.
 
I should add that I did not purposely wait for the the guy to tee off - I would never do that, to be honest we halved most holes so I wasnt sure whos turn it was at first. It wasnt even me that mentioned anything it was his own playing partner. But I did ask for it to be retaken afterwards.

The money stakes is nothing but we are a competitive lot the best of times. This never happened before I guess the occasion got the better of me and my will to win clouded my judgement.

Its hard to explain how it was but I am not anal about rules, I had my competition head on maybe I should have let it go.
 
I swear and I am not just saying this, if the boot was on the other foot I would have happily played it again.

I expected a laugh in a way and a bit of friendly banter. Tensions were running high and I guess his reaction was a measure of how much he wanted to win also.

I'm not proud of what happened but what can you do.
 
In a friendly match, yes, I think you being overly 'pedantic'.

Maybe a sarcastic 'well I could ask you to re-take that shot, after we've played' etc, with a grin on your face, would have sufficed........

I'd have got a bit miffed in a friendly game....
 
Absolute crap from loads of you!!

I'm with you all the way sawtooth, rules are rules and they are not meant to be broken, be it a friendly match for a couple of quid or a competition.

If you break the rules, however small the break may be, and you get used to breaking them.....where doees it stop?

You stick to your guns fella, you were dead right IMHO.
 
I completely disagree with KeefG. It's a friendly match, why would you ask the shot to be replayed?

I understand it to be in the rules, but I play golf to have fun not to replay shots when I've accidently teed off before you. What would have been the harm to let the guy know that it was your honour and you'd like to have it in the future? I'm sure the guy would have respected that and ensured he didn't do it again.

What do you do when you've got a similar distance approach shot to the green? Pace out who's closest? x


EDIT: In actual response to the initial question. You were not in the wrong. Your opponent probably was a bit OTT having a sulk. But I can't imagine he would want to play a round with you anytime soon x
 
I swear and I am not just saying this, if the boot was on the other foot I would have happily played it again.
Click to expand...

Me too.

If I do something wrong then I'm happy to learn from that even if it means taking a penalty. Once I gave a putt that I didn't realise was actually for the match.... my partner wasn't too happy, I could have laughed out loud looking at his face, I'll TRY not to do that again though :) hehe
 
Anal if you ask me!

Sunday morning 4 ball with a couple of squid riding on it, as far as I'm concerned whoever is ready can tee off.
 
Interesting discussion this. I'm curious to know whether those of you say let it go are doing so because he gained no advantage from playing out of turn. I've always found the honour rule curious. If I won the last hole surely it would be to my advantage to watch you tee off and then watch your ball flight to see how the elements affected your shot.

As a newbie I've had a more experienced player watch me tee off with my ball an inch in front of the tee markers and made me take the shot again saying "better you learn now than in competition".

Coincidentally this is the topic of my book review today on the blog. Personally I'd have joked that I could make you take that again in turn. But if it was the other way round I'd have taken it in good grace and learnt from my error. But that's down to personality.
 
You should have pointed out that it was your honour before letting the guy tee off. Waiting until he played and then calling it would raise tensions in any situation.

Honour errors occur all the time especially in strokeplay, most players wouldn't get too bothered about it.

If you don't realise the mistake until after someone else has teed off I'd just leave it.
 
I must admit, I wouldn't have asked for it to be retaken, but I agree with most that I would have probably made the point (if I had my competition head on), all be it lightheartedly, that they played out of turn.

If it was one hole, then they obviously didn't do it as they were not aware of the rule, they obviously just forgot. If they did it consistently on most holes I would have pointed it out to them as they were probably not aware of the rule, and that is where, as most people have said, it's good to try and educate people, especially whilst playing a friendly game so they don't fall foul in competitions.
 
Absolute crap from loads of you!!

I'm with you all the way sawtooth, rules are rules and they are not meant to be broken, be it a friendly match for a couple of quid or a competition.

If you break the rules, however small the break may be, and you get used to breaking them.....where doees it stop?

You stick to your guns fella, you were dead right IMHO.
Click to expand...

They didnt know who was first to go initially, why recall the shot in a friendly game. The fact that they weren’t sure is enough for me to say play away, not to recall after working it out….surely. Oh, where does it stop, it stops at nonsense like this.
 
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