What really grinds your gears with golf?

[johnmcluckie23]

Hi all,

New member here. I am an amateur golfer, been out the game for 2 years since I lived in Germany whilst working for adidas, back to Scotland now and very much back in the swing of things. All going well I'll have single figure handicap by the end of the year.

Anyway, intro done, on to my main topic of discussion - "What in golf really grinds your gears?"

I wanted to do a quick qualitative survey of what annoys you in golf, specifically equipment wise. This can be anything from golf clubs, what you'd like to see improved/changed/revert back to something on them, or the simpler things like pitch mark repairers or ball markers (if such a simple thing can improve), do they annoy you in any way for example?. Honestly anything which annoys you on a golf course, and any innovation you'd love to see created or changed to make your day out golfing simpler and care free.

Thanks in advance for your responses, go in to as much detail or as little as you like - one word answers to essays. I'll read them all!

Ciao!
John

 

[Dasit]

Hitting greens in reg and 3 putting

 

[ScienceBoy]

Nothing other than inconsiderate and overly selfish people and "stuffiness"

 

[Yant]

Things that annoy;

Manufacturers bring out 'new' clubs (or balls) every year, when in fact, the club are in essence exactly the same.
People that take it too seriously (i'm one of them)
Pitchmarks on the green - there's no need for it!
Jobsworth members that think they own the place

Things i'd like to see;

GPS golf ball locators!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Nothing major or I would not play. Saying that:

Long par 3's are a grave disappointment and increasingly common
Inevitably, players who refuse to let you through even though they are clearly holding you up

I'd like to see 9 hole competitions. 18 is often too much time wise for me and others. I'd play more comps if they were 9 hole.

 

[Khamelion]

Things that annoy;

People that take it too seriously

Definitely, it's a game, we are amateurs, supposedly out for the enjoyment, we're not playing to pay the mortgage.

Pitchmarks on the green - there's no need for it!

Oh hell yeah, this is just down to plain laziness and lack of respect for the course and fellow players.

Jobsworth members that think they own the place

Yup, add to that the ignorant members, other players who have no courtesy or manners.

 

[Curls]

Mmm.

I think ye've all missed the point.

What John would like is someone to suggest an equipment problem, or maybe even a solution, am I right?

 

[johnmcluckie23]

Actually, Curls, this is all good! I just want to know what the problems are... Products would be nice to improve, but problems with the game lead to improvements in products.

I'm just interested to hear what the general thoughts are.

Pitchmarks for example annoy me, very simple tool to fix them or even a tee, but would an innovative pitchmark repairer encourage people if it was easier?

Divots also annoy me when not either stamped back properly or even at all.

Keep them coming!

 

[Curls]

Basic rule of marketing - don't ask your customers for opinions on what products they'd like, ask them what their problems are and come up with solutions.

 

[Jates12]

Nothing major or I would not play. Saying that:

Long par 3's are a grave disappointment and increasingly common
Inevitably, players who refuse to let you through even though they are clearly holding you up

I'd like to see 9 hole competitions. 18 is often too much time wise for me and others. I'd play more comps if they were 9 hole.

Funnily enough we have a weekly 9 hole stableford on a friday and it gets filled up every single week, the members love it.

My frustration with golf is the lack of people around my age that play the game. (Especially in my area) the demographic of around 20-30 must be the least populated by golfers.

 

[Yant]

Divots are a bit different. you can replace your divot to your hearts content, but birds with lift them again to get to worms etc.

What i do disagree with that really annoys me is why you are not able to take relief if you are in a divot on the fairway. You've hit a good shot and you are penalised for it. Simple rule to fix.

 

[guest100718]

Divots are a bit different. you can replace your divot to your hearts content, but birds with lift them again to get to worms etc.

What i do disagree with that really annoys me is why you are not able to take relief if you are in a divot on the fairway. You've hit a good shot and you are penalised for it. Simple rule to fix.

one that we hear a lot. but in practice would be too tricky to implement. how do know what's a divot and not a hole made by a crow. you'll end up with everyone trying it on when they get a less than perfect lie on the fairway

 

[ScienceBoy]

I think ye've all missed the point.
?

Was why I started by saying nothing.

Very little is wrong with golf, it's the people that cause the issues.

 

[Curls]

Divots are a bit different. you can replace your divot to your hearts content, but birds with lift them again to get to worms etc.

What i do disagree with that really annoys me is why you are not able to take relief if you are in a divot on the fairway. You've hit a good shot and you are penalised for it. Simple rule to fix.

My understanding of why that hasn't been fixed is folks might try to take advantage and give themselves perfect lies and the opportunity to clean the ball when really the divot is repaired/not bad enough to warrant the drop. I think there's a feeling that this would slow down play. When it's preferred lies at our place play is no quicker or slower. You can hardly say someone marking and moving their ball 6 inches is the reason for it when as recently as last weekend I played behind a guy who must have though the best place to leave his bag was generally 30 yards before the green and consistently on the wrong side of the green. He must have thought that, because he walked at a very relaxed pace to this trolley every time.

He was very relaxed.

 

[Yant]

Confirm with a playing partner that it is in a divot (just like you would do for repairing a pitchmark on your putting line).
Replace within 6".
Cleaning not permitted.
Would take seconds to do.

 

[Hosel Fade]

Divots are a bit different. you can replace your divot to your hearts content, but birds with lift them again to get to worms etc.

What i do disagree with that really annoys me is why you are not able to take relief if you are in a divot on the fairway. You've hit a good shot and you are penalised for it. Simple rule to fix.

You can have divot relief as soon as you throw every ball that hits a tree and comes back into the fairway back into the woods.

Exactly how many weeks growth makes it no longer a divot? Not simple to fix at all bearing in mind you have to ensure the same standards for fields of 100+ players.

 

[guest100718]

Confirm with a playing partner that it is in a divot (just like you would do for repairing a pitchmark on your putting line).
Replace within 6".
Cleaning not permitted.
Would take seconds to do.

well you don't need anyone's conformation to repair a pitch Mark on your line.. but anyway assuming you did and I said no what then
what you describe is pretty much permanent pick and place .

 

[guest100718]

sorry it's not for me.

 

[PJ87]

Long par 3's are a grave disappointment and increasingly common
/QUOTE]

I hate long par 3s with a passion

150 yards is the perfect length.. short hitters can use a 6 iron or hybrid whatever they choose and long hitters a wedge or whatever

there is one near me 200 yards... I think ive only landed on it once.. too tight to take my driver.. (not a long hitter myself) and barely any other of my clubs go long enough... that said I did hit a 3 hybrid 203 yards yesterday which felt good! (rare connection clearly)

 

[trevor]

I'm with Lord Tyron on this, long par 3's 200 yds plus, totally no nead for them. Plenty of chances to hit long shots on the fours and fives. Par 3's should be about accuracy not distance.