And about those rules of golf ...

Anything in the book that really pisses you off, or makes no sense? Anything you'd add or change or do differently?

1. OB -- for years, like many, I've clamored that OB should be treated like a lateral. I've been thinking about that more and more and I'm not so sure. Internal hazards and obstacles aren't the same as the boundaries of the stadium, even if they are in close proximity to one another. You gotta at least start out in the arena. Hit a provo; don't walk back and slow the rest of us down.

2. Desert, lake, forest ... why the distinction? If you can't find your ball in the lake yet you and your playing partner are certain it went in the lake, you don't have to take the Walk of Shame back to the previous spot. OK. So why penalize those who play where the nasty stuff on the edges might just be forest primeval or a wasteland studded with all manner of thorny things, instead of gator habitat. Don't make us go in and try to extricate the shot. Don't make us declare it lost if we can't find it and then walk back to re-hit. If we can stand there and pretty much agree where a ball crossed the margin heading to the drink, we can and should do the same for these other impediments within the course of play. But please oh please, learn what it means when you "cross the margin of the hazard." Don't continue another 125 yards equidistant from where the orb stopped and drop one/add one.

3. Line up your own damn putts and shots. (I'm looking at you, most notably, LPGA.) If putting without anchoring is an essential element of the game, so, too, is that whole thing called alignment.

4. We know the adage, "There is golf, and then there is tournament golf." I'd add there is also hit and putt and laugh. It's perfectly OK to go to a golf course, with golf equipment, play the various shots and then not post a score. Pick up, roll it out of a divot, chuck the ball out of a concrete-filled bunker, do whatever you want. Just don't then tell me you shot an "84" and act like you have a legitimate handicap index. I don't care about the numbers. I just want people to have fun and be honest. Since most recreational players cheat like mad -- perhaps unknowingly -- but with the rules of the game being tweaked, flaunted or shattered many many times a round, let's just give up on the pretext. You can play golf and not play golf. Just be quick about it, whichever game you are playing. That is the most important thing.

That's a start.

 

I hear a lot about this book, been playing golf for 40 years, I've never had one, seen one, or played with anyone who's ever brought out this mythical book to consult. If a tree falls in the forest, and lands on a book no one reads, does it make a sound?

 

I worked in the golf business as a cart guy for many years, so I've seen a ton of terrible score cards.

I think OB should be treated as lateral purely for pace of play/people are cheap and don't want to lose another ball so they won't hit a provisional.

Love #4. There was a great Feherty with Lee Travino where he explained the rules of his famous cash games: in the rough? Put it in the fairway. Behind a tree? Move it. You still have to hit the shot that beats me.

This is not a rule, but move up one tee! The average score of all golfers is 100, so why torture yourself? Make the game easier so you'll enjoy it more. Nothing wrong with that since that is the point.

Finally, a grammar rule: "golf" is not a verb. You cannot golf, just like you cannot basketball. The incorrect usage of the word needs to be stopped.

 

And that's the beauty of #4: It takes care of everything else. (And amen on move up; we've ranted about that here many times.)

Ego handicaps crack me up. Berman lies how many ways to Sunday to claim an 18 so he can play the Clambake???

What gets me is "the surface." IB-F, wtf is the surface?

 

Berman takes 18 to get out of a bunker. It's on YouTube.

I'm a 10 HC and I play with people anywhere from 20 to +2. I usually am the one to suggest playing the middle or the whites, pretending it's for the benefit of the high handicaps but it's really for everyone. We need to do something to remove the stigma of playing from the closer tees.

 

#4 - I could not agree more with you without joining your political party. This one irks me.

 

This book however is not mythical :evillaugh

Overbroad and vague like a constitutionally challenged statute in violation of the 1st Amendment, yes but mythical, no.

 

I'm with you on your 2nd point regarding forests, desert, lakes all being treated like a lateral hazard but we know that won't change any time soon. In the mean time, I wish people in regards to forests and deserts would heed your advice in point 1 and play a provisional. Nothing worse than someone who wants to play by the rules but then buries one 150 yards deep into Nottingham Forest and says "oh we can find it" then you don't find it and they trek back to the tee. Save us the time and play a provisional.

Also, while on topics of hazards, I'd like to see them do away with regular hazards and lateral hazards. They convolute the rules, most people don't understand the difference in the two or the rules that go with them, some hazards are half red (lateral) and half yellow (regular), it is just a mess. Make everything lateral then you get to either replay from the previous spot, get 2 clubs from where it last crossed or as far back on a line where it crossed keeping in line with the flag. Eliminate the regular/yellow hazard and having to keep the hazard between you and the hole, the hazard has done it's damage let's not get repetitive and force Johnny to hit 7 in the lake until he clears it, this ain't Tin Cup. Nothing worse than hitting a shot that just carries a yellow hazard, hits the bank and bounces back in and not getting to play your next from the other side of the hazard because you have to keep the hazard between you and the hole unless you're a masochist and you like that kind of thing.

I'll leave it at that rant as I could go for days. But don't forget if you play long enough you will find enough situation that the rules truly do benefit you, in my experience most often with sprinkler heads and cart paths.

 

Oops, double hit. Call me Chen.

 

As noted, I'm an ardent proponent of teeing it forward. But it's not just that simple. Awareness and timeliness are perhaps more important for good recreational players (10-15) than yardage. In my usual groups over the years, two of our best players are our slowest players, regardless where the rest of us might be chunking it or spraying it, whether we might take an extra stroke on each hole. Being ready, thinking ahead and step up/hit up goes a long way toward easing congestion. Lose the practice swing. Take up bowling if you do two or three or more. Step in, loosen the grip, swing ... that should take but a few seconds.

Yes, the wrong tees can bring more shit into play, and shit can be slowing, but not all shit is created equally. And what if moving up actually brings more fairway bunkers or encroachments into play? Twenty yards per hole might add up to an additional 360 for the course, but if it takes a few bunkers out of play per nine -- fairway and greenside -- maybe things actually move more quickly; we hacks might not chip so well but we mostly only need to do it once, now in a PGA West-like greenside bunker ...

Of course, overall, move up, but do so logically. Look at yardages not tee colors. My home course from the whites would abuse an 18, kill a 26 and beat down a short-hitting 10.

 

And you know my political party for it to irk you?

 

Yep, nuke the yellow. Good call.

Your beef is not really related to the rule; OB didn't cause that idiot to not hit a provo, as the rules allow. As for you, keep walking. If your rules-obedient partner or opponent isn't rules-savvy enough to hit a provo, just keep walking to your next shot.

As for helping, the "rules" as most players apply them almost always are a benefit. They're already taking relief from stuff that offers no relief. You need to remember that here, your level of play might be matched by shifter and a few others but most are not so wired as to ability, why/how they play, posting or the importance/applicability of the rules.

 

Myself and my golfing buddies simply see the rules as guidelines - nothing more. Everything is negotiable amongst friends. The whole idea is to have fun - not be tied to what other people think is right.

Having said the above, when I play alone I follow "the rules" to the letter, more as a personal test than anything else. It's entertaining to see if I can outplay myself.

Now, I'm not saying the way I play is the way others should play. I have no problem with people either following "the rules" or not. It's up to them to make that choice.

Bill

 

I suck at communication. . Just ask my wife.. #4 irks me. Politics are best left untouched.. again.. just as my wife does to me..

Even my response doesn't make sense. I need to stop trying to work and post at the same time.

I was trying to say that the only way I could agree more with your sentiment around #4 was to join your political party. This is why they made me stop snorting Ether at work...

 

Mea culpa. I re-read your post. Now I get it! Looks pretty obvious now. Sorry.

 

No need to apologize. My main goal in life is to make people laugh - and to hit more fairways.

I think Feherty summed it up best back in 2012:

Why don’t professional golfers make rules for professional golfers?” Feherty asked as reported by GolfChannel.com. “We’re the only sport that allows amateurs (to make rules). It’s not working for me if a guy is trying to make a living. A major championship may have hung in the balance.

 

Well, the tour and the PGA of America are under no obligation to follow the Stuffed Shirts, but they choose to over and over and over again (with ever so finite exceptions).

 

What do y'all think about making divots GUR? It is, after all, isn't it? I think Nicklaus makes this point. You shouldn't be punished for rolling into a divot. What is the hang up here? Distinguishing from a divot and something occurring naturally?

 

I think there is hang up on more than just what is naturally occurring but as to how far you can extend it and most of all putting the ball in the players hand in a game where it is meant to be played as it lies.

When it comes to how far it extends... obviously the fairway is one thing but what about the first cut of rough? or how about the fringe around the green? or can you move it out of a divot in the rough? There would need to be another overly detailed rule added to the already burdensome book. For the most part I don't know many amateurs besides the real good players that will hit from a divot in their regular rounds so it's kind of a wash and for the good players if you end up in the right spot in a divot like the front edge it can be advantageous in the sense of getting clean contact and controlling the ball a little more.

Then it harks back to just tradition. It's a game where you play it as it lies, the old "rub of the green" if you will. Shit happens but not nearly that often unless you are playing on a less than desirable course that doesn't maintain any type of playing conditions. A good portion of divots get replaced by players although not all. Our club has a get together I believe every week or two weeks on a Sunday evening and a group walks the course and fixes hallmarks, replaces divots, and sands par three tees then the club treats them to dinner in the grill. Maintenance does a pretty good job of stopping while mowing if there is an egregious amount of sod missing and replaces them. I find it worse on Bermuda grass courses where they fill divots with sand because most most don't take the time to either do it or if they do its half assed and they don't smooth it out.

My 2 cents at least.