Rules of Golf ?????

[frayne]

Do you play by the strict rules of golf, playing it as it lies or do you roll it around, never closer to the hole, for a better lie and possibility a better shot ?

Just curious and not judging, just asking after a number of us old farts discussed the pros and cons yesterday after a wet and nasty day on the links.

If you hit your provisional and then find your original, do you play it ?

Do you take a mulligan off the first tee, or play one per nine ?

Own up dudes and lets see who plays by the rules !

 

[Midpack]

Our senior league is officially winter rules all season. Otherwise I've always played whatever the other players I'm with want to play, usually based on the quality and condition of the course. On a great course we play them as they lie. On a local public course, where the fairways are highly variable, we play winter rules. Of course no improving your lie unless you're in the fairway (not first cut or worse)...

 

[Meadbh]

I play with two groups. One group is deadly serious and plays by all the rules. The other group is, let's say, more pragmatic!

 

[Dawg52]

My course is not PGA tour quality. We roll it in the fairway, down in the rough. Mulligans on the first tee only. Gimme putts within the leather. Pretty much follow all other rules.

 

[Music Lover]

I always play by the rules. If the course is in poor shape, we may agree in advance to be allowed to "roll" the ball on to grass instead of playing out of mud or damaged ground. For practical reasons, we rarely go back to the tee if a ball can't be found and a provisional hasn't been hit, but you are now hitting 4 from there, not 3 as your second tee shot would have been the 3rd. All drops are made legally. Rarely a gimme putt other than sometimes picking up a ball if it's 2 inches from the hole.

That being said, a couple of my friends don't keep score at all...they're just out for fun, so on those golf days I keep my own score, they don't keep score, and we get along just fine.

 

[exnavynuke]

 

[HadEnuff]

We don't roll the ball around once April 1 rolls around. Winter time we cheat like bandits.

We play a municipal course which is in most respects, remarkably well kept. The exception is the sand bunkers, which can have ruts, rocks, deer poo, dead animals...more often than not standing water, landscaping fabric exposed....deep footprints etc etc
I noticed that the high school teams when they play are allowed to rake, and place, which we generally do not, but we do allow for nudging if it's really obviously a bad lie due to lack of any maintenance.

 

[gcgang]

I play by The Rules.

At a Rules workshop several years ago, one of the attendees said their group disagrees with some of the rules, like stroke and distance for OB, and they just played lateral drop near where the ball went out. The instructor said you are free to do whatever you want, but you're not really playing Golf.

 

[RockyMtn]

We play by the rules...no breakfast balls, no mulligans, no rolling. On occasion if wet we will play lift, clean and place.

 

[HadEnuff]

I play by The Rules.

At a Rules workshop several years ago, one of the attendees said their group disagrees with some of the rules, like stroke and distance for OB, and they just played lateral drop near where the ball went out. The instructor said you are free to do whatever you want, but you're not really playing Golf.

Well, that approach assumes that the self-appointed "governing" bodies actually dictate what "golf" is, as opposed to dictating how the game will be played in their sanctioned tournaments.

 

[HadEnuff]

And of course, no conversation on the rules of golf would be complete without Sir Robin William's take on the sport... WARNING: if the "F" word offends you, skip this one...

 

[Ian S]

"Improving your lie" is defined as changing your score which was inaccurate to begin with.

 

[pb4uski]

We have some pragmatic looseness with the rules.

If your ball is near to a root then you can roll it so you don't risk injuring yourself without penalty.

We frequently will roll the ball on the fairway if the ball is in a divot... people are supposed to replace divots after all.

The other day we were rolling them on the fairway because it is so early in the season hear at home that the grass hasn't fully come in so you might be on a bare/sparse spot.

One group that I play with will play red stake throughout the course (unstaked and OB) just to keep play moving... that group is low net of all team members so it is unlikely that it impacts the outcome.

But no mulligans and you find your original ball you play it unless you declare it unplayable... in which case your provisional is lying 3 (off the tee)... IOW, we don't make people go back to the spot of the last shot if they find their original ball and it is unplayable and they chose a stoke and distance penalty... we just allow them to play the provisional... not true to what you would do in a tournament but it keeps play moving.

Also, we generally allow gimmes in the leather, but if winning the hole is on the line we can chose not to. No gimmes for birdies or eagles though (one of my playing partners had a 6-inch eagle putt a couple weeks ago and we made him putt it because we wanted him to have the satisfaction of putting it in... thank god he made it... I would have felt real bad if he had missed it).

 

[CardsFan]

And of course, no conversation on the rules of golf would be complete without Sir Robin William's take on the sport... WARNING: if the "F" word offends you, skip this one...

F-ing hilarious [emoji23]

 

[Samething]

My regular group plays by the rules. How else do you know your true handicap? Plus there's our friendly wager riding on the outcome.

 

[Dawg52]

My regular group plays by the rules. How else do you know your true handicap? Plus there's our friendly wager riding on the outcome.

No one in our group has a hc. No need to around here......no local tourneys that requires one. We have friendly wagers too but we all play by relaxed rules so it's the same for all. We're geezers just having fun, not trying to qualify for the U.S. Open.

 

[zinger1457]

We usually have a money game going so it's mostly by the rules, to speed things up we do gimmes if it's inside 2 feet. I would say if you don't play in tournaments and just out having fun then do whatever it takes to enjoy the game more, nobody cares. If you do play in tournaments then your just hurting yourself by being liberal with the rules during your casual rounds since you'll probably end up with a lower handicap then you would otherwise have.

 

[SecondCor521]

I've played for almost 40 years and never had a lesson and never broken 100 and never had an official handicap.

I play in one of two modes:

1. I am keeping score and following all of the USGA Rules of Golf to the best of my ability to understand them and apply them to my situation. This is most of the time.
2. I am not keeping score and am playing for fun and do whatever I think is fun. I usually end up in this mode if I'm playing with my son or if I'm playing with friends and we're scoring so badly it makes sense to stop adding such big numbers together.

 

[donheff]

I've played for almost 40 years and never had a lesson and never broken 100 and never had an official handicap.

I play in one of two modes:

1. I am keeping score and following all of the USGA Rules of Golf to the best of my ability to understand them and apply them to my situation. This is most of the time.
2. I am not keeping score and am playing for fun and do whatever I think is fun. I usually end up in this mode if I'm playing with my son or if I'm playing with friends and we're scoring so badly it makes sense to stop adding such big numbers together.

This sounds sensible to me. If you are playing seriously follow the rules. If you are not, don't. I briefly took up golf when I retired but never took it seriously and at this point I only golf a couple of times a year, when I hook up with friends who golf. I enjoy whacking the ball around but am not even trying to compete so I don't pay attention to my score and never spend more than a minute or so looking for a lost ball. I never knowingly golf with people who would object to this.

 

[Bir48die]

For me it depends on who we're playing with and the time of year. I live in Oregon and since it's been under water for the last six months we play winter rules and "lift, clean, place". No more than 6" with no closer to the hole.

Then there's the round with friends that will give some putts inside of 3' depending on if you're out of the hole (score wise) or we just want to be nice.

Then there's the men's groups. Strict adherence to the rules. Putt everything out. Ask for rulings. Because things are a swamp right now we all allow for plugged balls with no penalty if we know the general area where it landed.

Sun's out today finally! Heading to the course in an hour.

 

[gcgang]

Major Proposed Changes

Above is a link to changes to Rules that USGA/R&A are considering. Their idea is to simplify and make the game faster. I think they are taking comments and getting feedback now, with their finalized version to go into effect in 2019.

 

[Popeye]

Major Proposed Changes

Above is a link to changes to Rules that USGA/R&A are considering. Their idea is to simplify and make the game faster. I think they are taking comments and getting feedback now, with their finalized version to go into effect in 2019.

I hope they add something preventing viewers from calling in or emailing about possible violations and resulting in penalties the next day.

 

[Jerry1]

The Reasonable Man's Rules Of Golf Photos - Golf Digest

I play a relaxed game. Every so often, I like to see if I can break 100 fully by the rules, but most of the time I just play for fun. If I ever get close to breaking 90 or 80 playing relaxed, I'd play by the rules and see if I can actually do it before I claim that level. Right now, I can break 100.

 

[6miths]

The instructor said you are free to do whatever you want, but you're not really playing Golf.

No one ever accused me of playing golf so I am good to go with a liberal interpretation of the rule book when I am out by myself. I putt out but have no problem with gimmies for others. When I play with others I play by the rules pretty much.

 

[6miths]

The Reasonable Man's Rules Of Golf Photos - Golf Digest

I play a relaxed game. Every so often, I like to see if I can break 100 fully by the rules, but most of the time I just play for fun. If I ever get close to breaking 90 or 80 playing relaxed, I'd play by the rules and see if I can actually do it before I claim that level. Right now, I can break 100.

Yes these are good.