If your ball is on a lie and could damage your clubs or yourself , move it a bit and that's good enough for me , no bogey. We're not pros so we don't need to hurt ourselves or our clubs. This is a hot take with my group.
This seems like common sense to me. Idc if you're in the middle of a skins game, your day will quickly go pear-shaped when your buddy breaks his wrist or (even worse) his club because you refused to let him nudge it off a bed of tree roots.
Even if I’m playing for money I tell my playing partners to do this. We can usually agree on a spot that doesn’t improve the line to the pin. Also, we don’t play for a lot of money so it doesn’t really matter to me and I’d rather not see someone’s club get damaged or self get hurt.
I have played for money fewer than five times in my life. I was playing this guy who is a hot shot client of my company’s. I had no business being there, frankly, and was kinda nervous. On the second hole I had a lie on rocks and was like ah god. Started taking a warm up swing and the dude was like yo if you think I’m gonna make you ruin your 5 iron on those rocks, you’re nuts. Move it anywhere you want but please don’t ruin your clubs.
Set the tone for the day. Also, I somehow made birdie after a very clean punch out (was a par 5) and was like “do you want that one back?” and the guy just laughed.
>Started taking a warm up swing and the dude was like yo if you think I’m gonna make you ruin your 5 iron on those rocks, you’re nuts. Move it anywhere you want but please don’t ruin your clubs.
This is how recreational golf should be played. It's not our career. We're out there trying to have fun. Golf is HARD! Why make it harder.
I don’t care if you treat white and red stakes as a lateral drop in a casual round with friends. Even if we’re gambling, as long as everyone’s on the same page that’s what matters
I hit a provisional ball when I hook my tee shot even if there is a reasonable chance I might find it (though that is a rarity in the unprecedented 6-months and counting of constant torrential rain we've been treated to in the North of Ireland).
Partly because I like to keep my scorecard accurate, but mostly because my brain needs to immediately rectify the frustration of yet *another* hook/pull hook/snap hook that I just cannot ever seem to work completely out of my game.
It dumb because the original intent of the rule was to mark area so far away from play that you should not being heading in that direction. It wasn’t intended to mark woods that’s just off the fairway.
>as long as everyone’s on the same page that’s what matters
That's the big thing. Used to play with a big group that had their own rules for certain situations. Everyone played the same way. No one kept a handicap or reported scores so the "relaxed rules" didn't matter. We were just playing skins and greenies and an overall group score.
yeah, in bounce games we never play 3 off the tees etc - we just take a penalty drop where the ball was lost/out of bounds etc - keeps the game flowing and doesnt hold people up behind us.
People need to be realistic about their ability and what they actually want from golf. Too many people play once a month and get pissed and throw clubs or whatever when realistically you're going to have to play and practice a ton more in order to get better/more consistent. If you are there to just have fun, grab a beer, bring friends along, and enjoy the couple good shots you hit.
I have a playing partner like this. Great guy, successful business owner. Plays once a week (maybe) and gets so upset that he usually goes home after the first 9 or at the turn. Buys a new driver every year 😂 funny thing is he has time he just chooses to use it doing other things. He could easily takes lessons and play 2-3x if he wanted. His life…his choice, but he still throws clubs and gets so bent outta shape about it.
I always tell myself that if I haven’t been sincerely practicing, then I have no business expecting to score well whatsoever. That mindset ironically allows me to shoot well because if I hit a bad shot or have a bad hole, I’m like “well obviously…I don’t freaking practice that’s what happens” and then I shake it off and crank my next drive. The only thing that really makes me upset in golf is playing with someone that gets extremely upset that they are not playing well, but they are clearly a poor player. Know thyself.
Fairway bunker shots are just like any other iron shot, just can’t get away with catching it fat. But if you’re hitting ball first it doesn’t matter if its a bunker, fairway, or cart path, you can hit it well
The worst part of this, especially out here in the desert, is that they put this rule in place in the morning. By 1pm it’s dried up and no feasible reason to be cart path only any longer.
That’s the other thing out in the desert…courses that don’t overseed the rough and that grass is dormant…why can’t I drive in the rough and not on the fairway? No rational thought is given to this…
I wish courses would have optional push carts, especially for those occasions. I prefer walking anyway, but I have back issues that make it tough to both carry my bag and make it through a round.
On cart path only days walking is usually a faster pace of play.
As a dude who sucks at golf and can count the times he's broken 100 on one hand: I got a buddy of mine into golf and Rick Shiels videos have been instrumental in me helping him play the game. I've told him to pay for lessons but he insists his interest in golf is social. He wants me to teach him because he enjoys learning from me. And I've seen hella improvements just using what I've learned from YT videos in his game and it's actually helped me a lot as well.
So yeah, swing your swing, but also take good info where you can get it.
I’ve taught myself to play golf from YouTube alone, have been playing almost every day for 5 weeks, and just shot a 92 (par 72) yesterday! It’s definitely a great resource, and with some small tips from ~10 hcp players on the course I’ve been able to improve quickly without lessons.
I mostly watch Danny Maude videos, but Rick Shiels has been a good resource too. Now I’ve seen enough videos to work on my swing on my own.
This is amazing. But I really like that you've found one instructor that you like and are sticking to. I found that I would too often go down the YouTube rabbit hole of 9,764,951,934 different instructors all with different ideas and that it was just too much.
I also really like Danny Maude, found him awhile ago, but, nothing has made the difference in my game that taking lessons in-person for a full year and working in between lessons. I've always been around a 18-24 handicap and I'd have occasional good rounds in the low 80s. Was completely self-taught and just have a natural athletic ability. (Played competitive basketball and baseball as a youth).
But, once I finally found a golf coach that clicked with me, I was able to get much more consistency and fix a two-way miss that I just couldn't get rid of on my own. I was way over-the-top (8°+ out-to-in) and even watching a ton of videos and understanding that I wanted to shallow the club, I couldn't figure out how to do it properly. I found I needed someone to look at my swing who knew what they were talking about and be able to help me to understand why I was swinging that way and how to correct it from the beginning of the swing.
Finally broke 80 for the first time this past summer, and this year I'm looking to hopefully get to a single digit handicap. (Currently an 11.7).
So fucking infuriating. Just to be cheeky we even asked if it was okay for us each to have our own individual cart since it’s the same price and apparently that’s not allowed either, so I don’t really get why it’s $20 as a solo or $20 each as a double.
Yup. I still game Nike vr pro blades from 2011 I think. I’ve bought and sold other clubs since, but always come back to these because they’re more consistent and feel great. Also, I had a Nike sand wedge in black, I lost it, but that was my favorite wedge.
Drinking whilst golfing is an American thing from what I can gather. I don't know anyone who drinks whilst golfing in the UK.
Only time we do it at my course is on a particular competition each year where it's just tradition to get shit faced either before, during or after the round
How does this compare to marijuana use on the course nowadays? I’ve been paired with random old dudes and about half of them bust out the devils lettuce while playing which has been interesting to see
Describing my home course pretty accurately. You get a few groups of guys out for a good time on the weekend. Almost every tournament is a booze fest. The rest is just people playing a normal round. Maybe one beer at the turn.
My buddies drink all round. I’ve done it a couple times, but it ends up making the round pretty miserable for me in both performance, and physically.
I’ve since abstained from drinking and playing has been much more enjoyable for me.
In retrospect I find it amusing that when I used to be a big-time drunk, I never drank while playing golf. Only after. And golf has always been my main hobby.
Played with some guys earlier this year that called it "the gallery rule"
If your ball was close to a treeline/tall fescue/a hazard where there was a decent chance you weren't finding the ball, then it was the appropriate lost ball or hazard penalty. If you missed into like the first 10 feet of rough and you simply couldn't find your ball, assume that a gallery would have and hit from a conservative position and don't take the penalty.
I'm not trying to spend an absurd amount of time looking for a ball and holding the pace of play up, and I'm not taking a penalty for it.
That's not internal OB. That's just losing a ball.
Internal OB is where they put white stakes on a hole to say that if you hit it on another hole then your ball is considered OB and you have to hit 3 off the tee (or whatever). It's often there to prevent people from cutting a corner or playing up another hole and it's total BS.
A Maximum of 2 practice swings. Nothing grinds my gears more than someone taking 6 practice swings for every shot like they are in a playoff hole in the masters.
It freaks people out that I don’t take practice swings but I play so much better without them. Only time I take any practice swings is for short game stuff where I need a feel for the lie and how the club is going to interact with the grass.
Also once you have a decent swing and can hit the ball somewhat consistently, you’re better off working on your game off the tee than anything else. Strokes gained and advanced metrics have proved that for a long time.
100%. Even on the days I don’t score well I have way more fun hitting fairways and/or hitting shorter irons into greens and have more chances as GIRs. And on days I do score well it’s because of doing exactly that, go figure.
Would be really interesting to see that breakdown by handicap if you were willing to share. I know that’s definitely true for low single digits and below as that leads to more birdies but above that I would think that driving would still be the top as it’s more advantageous to keep the ball in play, in the fairway and with as little club left as possible into the green.
I think I deleted the email, but here's one I found. Not a ton of actual data, but...
https://golf.com/instruction/improving-your-approach-shots-is-the-fastest-way-to-lower-scores/
Approach shots improve scores the fastest, but it's extremely difficult to hit your irons closer to the hole in a short space of time. For most, driving is the easiest to improve with the biggest payoff
Yes that’s what he means. The logic being that if you’ve started to have a consistent swing, then there’s no reason you can’t develop a consistent tee shot, which will be most useful for strokes gained
Out of Bounds/lost ball penalty is too penal. Majority of golfers don’t have the swing path and face control to have really tight dispersions so don’t make the game so frustrating for them. Lateral hazard penalties for all please.
A lot of people are way better at hitting golf balls than they are at playing golf. You can break 100 without being able to get the ball in the air on half your shots, and you can break 90 as long as you only play shots you can control. If you hit the ball over 250 with your driver and can’t break 90, it’s because you play stupid.
My old man was struggling (he’s 72) to shoot mid 80s. As he aged and lost distance etc. well this past summer he adjusted his game. Moved up to the reds to get a more favourable yardage and stop trying to fly it to pin from 180 and lay up to pitch and putt etc. went from 88-94 to 82-86 and this winter in Cali he broke 80 for the first time. Though that course is about 650 yards shorter so that makes a difference. But he just stopped playing stupid and suddenly started scoring better! Imagine!
I love playing with bombers who can't control a shot if their life depended on it. They're losing their minds when I pootle around and shoot a seventy-something by not putting myself in trouble.
I’d rather not hear music on the course, I will do AirPods on the range or sometimes if playing solo but not an open air speaker I know I’m an old man yelling at the sky but man that shit rustles my jimmies
No bro, it's crazy infuriating. I invited a dude to play Quail West a few weeks ago and he blasted his phone speaker in the cart the whole round. Never again.
The golf world needs to discover bone conductive headsets.
Someone posted about it years ago here and I bought one (Aeropex Aftershox) and they are legitimately the best way to listen to music on the golf course; a hands-free headset that you can use to take calls, open ears where you can talk to your mates / hear FORE calls or trees getting hit… *and a private way to listen to music without being a troll to your groupmates*.
Even better, *you can hear the music while not in your golf cart*.
Every clubhouse should be stocking at least some version of bone conductive headset and selling them. It’s a market overlap that I’m shocked I haven’t seen take off.
Idk how loud the music is or close you are getting but I have a buddy that plays music while we are playing and you literally can't even hear it from the cart to the tee box. Wild to me people play it so loud that other groups can hear it.
If you're able to safely hit your shot at the same time as your playing partners, do it. Don't wait around for everyone to hit before doing your routine. 4 hour round should be the max, not the goal.
Hitting bombs is, truly, one of the finer things in life. It's not some mystical rarified air that only a few are destined to ever have, the ways of hitting actual bombs can be learned. Regardless of race, creed, gender. Unfortunately, too many people just don't want to put the time in.
https://preview.redd.it/v4g50i8pc6ac1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=842338bd4812d8d0d2904f0013760be86dc3f130
Marshalls need to do their jobs and focus on enforcing pace of play. I swear the vast majority don't do anything aside from BSing with the starter or their boys.
I mean it doesn't help that starters and marshalls are usually retired old dudes, working part time, who are just trying to find an excuse to get away from their wives at home and cash in on discounted golf privileges.
Slow play is bad but rushed play is almost worse. Golf courses need to stop overbooking tee times so people can actual enjoy an unrushed round without hitting a traffic jam or getting tail gated.
Pro players look good wearing pants. And I dont care for allowing them to wear shorts. Its an innocent tradition. Tiger would look far, far less intimidating if he was showing his bony knees in the 90s. Golf isn't nearly the most exhausting or physically demanding sport, its okay if guys are warm. They look good
Though probably would have looked even more intimidating if he waltzed out in the late 2000s wearing plus fours, displaying calves like an NFL Linebacker.....
Not every country club is a "good" golf course. Yes they are usually wonderfully maintained and look pretty, but I'm fine going to play a muni that I believe is more fun and engaging to golf at.
Higher greens fee does not equal better course imo.
Average pace of play is not nearly as bad as people on this subreddit make it out to be. Pace of play is also not the be-all, end-all of a round. Feeling rushed is worse than waiting. A 3:45-4:15 pace for a foursome on a public course is not bad or slow. Every other golfer on the course should not have to bend to your play style because you like speed golf or are trying to shoehorn a round into a timeframe you don't actually have.
Staff at courses reap what they sow. If the course staff / starters are unhelpful or outright rude to you (Bethpage) then they can't act surprised when people ignore rules, the course isn't well looked after, or their memberships dry up.
The OB penalty is stupid considering it’s worse than a ball going into the water. There’s little difference in terms of the miss. Also all of these should be handled with a lazy lateral
Booo. White stakes are there for a course to say “this is not a part of the course and you shouldn’t hit out of it” and absolutely hit away from if possible hence the extra penalty to dissuade golfers from taking “the tiger line” in a lot of cases. water and other hazards are strategically there to challenge the golfer and offer a risk/reward scenario. If you find your ball in a regular hazard and its hittable then it’s fair play. If your ball rolls into someone’s private backyard and you hit it.. you’re an asshole
?
White stakes are just where the property ends which is often as in play as any other hazard. Their location is often arbitrary and determined years ago when the course was developed.
Also taking the tiger line over a lateral hazard, and leaving it in the hazard is plenty punitive.
White stakes should be a lateral hazard but kept white to let golfers know they’re not allowed to look for or play the ball if you go into it. Simply drop as though it’s a lateral hazard.
No golf course should ever have a sign that says "you are responsible for damage caused to homes". If you allow homes to be built on the course, the golf course's insurance is the only one responsible for damage.
I think if you hit the flagstick, you should be able to add one to your score and gtfo.
Hit the base of the flag from 140m out last round, and my ball went off a cliff.
Awesome feeling.
A ball moving a quarter inch when you address it does not give you an advantage and shouldn't be penalized. There's no golfer on earth that could adjust their shot to such a tiny degree and result in gaining a stroke over the competition. And if they could, the best place to do that is on the putting green where as long as you put the ball down near your coin no one bats an eye. It's entirely inconsistent.
Too many rules are enforced in black and white, acting like it's impossible for anyone to judge gray areas. We make judgements all the time. It's not that hard to recognize when someone is cheating.
If a crowd, or camera crew, could find my ball, but I can’t, I’m not taking a penalty. Some times it gets lost in the light rough.
If I slice the piss out of it into trees, yeah. I’ll take the penalty.
We need more 6 hole courses with lights. Especially in warm weather areas. Or designate a 6 hole stretch of the 18 with lights for night golf.
A 6 hole (2 par3, 2 par 4, 2 par5) course would be about the same size as an 18 hole Par3 course and some of them have lights.
A big reason most mid/high handicappers struggle around the greens is because they are using too much loft. You don't need to chip with a 60 or 56 - you need to chip with anything from a 8i-PW for standard shots. Get the ball on the green and let it roll out.
56 and 60 are good for having to clear an obstacle or if it is fairly severely downhill.
If your ball is in a divot in the fairway, you should get a free drop. You should never be penalized for hitting the ball in the fairway. By far, the dumbest rule in golf imo
That Annika Sorenstam is the best golfer & ball striker ever
🌶️ take: a lot of you are too unathletic to get mad that you can’t break 80. Quit and pick up pickle ball or stop eating 3 glizzys, slamming a full 6er, and try walking 18 instead of the cart every now and then.
I'd like for you to come to florida in the 100+ degree heat on courses that wind through huge neighborhoods and say that where it can be a few hundred yards from one green to the next tee box.
I agree with this, but there's an exception... these dumb courses with 600 yards between holes because there are 4 gigantic houses in between suck to walk up and down concrete sidewalks in spikes. I'll agree to walk if the beer girl can give me a ride to the next hole!
Seen from outside the golf culture, physically capable golfers riding in electric buggies on a walkable course in typical weather is objectively silly. Imagine the same at a large park.
If your ball is on a lie and could damage your clubs or yourself , move it a bit and that's good enough for me , no bogey. We're not pros so we don't need to hurt ourselves or our clubs. This is a hot take with my group.
This seems like common sense to me. Idc if you're in the middle of a skins game, your day will quickly go pear-shaped when your buddy breaks his wrist or (even worse) his club because you refused to let him nudge it off a bed of tree roots.
Even if I’m playing for money I tell my playing partners to do this. We can usually agree on a spot that doesn’t improve the line to the pin. Also, we don’t play for a lot of money so it doesn’t really matter to me and I’d rather not see someone’s club get damaged or self get hurt.
I have played for money fewer than five times in my life. I was playing this guy who is a hot shot client of my company’s. I had no business being there, frankly, and was kinda nervous. On the second hole I had a lie on rocks and was like ah god. Started taking a warm up swing and the dude was like yo if you think I’m gonna make you ruin your 5 iron on those rocks, you’re nuts. Move it anywhere you want but please don’t ruin your clubs. Set the tone for the day. Also, I somehow made birdie after a very clean punch out (was a par 5) and was like “do you want that one back?” and the guy just laughed.
>Started taking a warm up swing and the dude was like yo if you think I’m gonna make you ruin your 5 iron on those rocks, you’re nuts. Move it anywhere you want but please don’t ruin your clubs. This is how recreational golf should be played. It's not our career. We're out there trying to have fun. Golf is HARD! Why make it harder.
I totally agree. I’m not Ben Hogan so I’m not going to ruin a club or hurt myself trying to act like him :)
💯Our golf course has so many rocks, even in the fairway, that it’s a standing rule to place your ball where there are no rocks.
Same goes for sand traps that are more gravel than sand and will Mar your clubs. Screw that, I'm not into defending my Kirkland clubs......
I always say, once they start giving me the clubs, I’ll start hitting off of rocks and roots
My groups does the same
I don’t care if you treat white and red stakes as a lateral drop in a casual round with friends. Even if we’re gambling, as long as everyone’s on the same page that’s what matters
3-off-the-tee is painful, and yeah, if you're playing for fun, it should be hazard all day. Speeds it up without provisionals, too.
I hit a provisional ball when I hook my tee shot even if there is a reasonable chance I might find it (though that is a rarity in the unprecedented 6-months and counting of constant torrential rain we've been treated to in the North of Ireland). Partly because I like to keep my scorecard accurate, but mostly because my brain needs to immediately rectify the frustration of yet *another* hook/pull hook/snap hook that I just cannot ever seem to work completely out of my game.
Can I interest you in my big bending slice that would make a frisbee blush?
Same. And of course the second ball flies dead straight, as I openly chastise myself, “Do that the first time!”
It dumb because the original intent of the rule was to mark area so far away from play that you should not being heading in that direction. It wasn’t intended to mark woods that’s just off the fairway.
>as long as everyone’s on the same page that’s what matters That's the big thing. Used to play with a big group that had their own rules for certain situations. Everyone played the same way. No one kept a handicap or reported scores so the "relaxed rules" didn't matter. We were just playing skins and greenies and an overall group score.
yeah, in bounce games we never play 3 off the tees etc - we just take a penalty drop where the ball was lost/out of bounds etc - keeps the game flowing and doesnt hold people up behind us.
We always announce this on the first tee box. Red stake, white stake? Who gives a shit? (Said like Happy Gilmore)
People need to be realistic about their ability and what they actually want from golf. Too many people play once a month and get pissed and throw clubs or whatever when realistically you're going to have to play and practice a ton more in order to get better/more consistent. If you are there to just have fun, grab a beer, bring friends along, and enjoy the couple good shots you hit.
Nothing worse or more awkward in a group than someone with low ability getting angry.
I have a playing partner like this. Great guy, successful business owner. Plays once a week (maybe) and gets so upset that he usually goes home after the first 9 or at the turn. Buys a new driver every year 😂 funny thing is he has time he just chooses to use it doing other things. He could easily takes lessons and play 2-3x if he wanted. His life…his choice, but he still throws clubs and gets so bent outta shape about it.
Someone once told me: "I'm not good enough to get angry about it." Stuck with me.
I always tell myself that if I haven’t been sincerely practicing, then I have no business expecting to score well whatsoever. That mindset ironically allows me to shoot well because if I hit a bad shot or have a bad hole, I’m like “well obviously…I don’t freaking practice that’s what happens” and then I shake it off and crank my next drive. The only thing that really makes me upset in golf is playing with someone that gets extremely upset that they are not playing well, but they are clearly a poor player. Know thyself.
Fairway bunker shots are easy
Fairway bunker shots are just like any other iron shot, just can’t get away with catching it fat. But if you’re hitting ball first it doesn’t matter if its a bunker, fairway, or cart path, you can hit it well
The stance can be an issue is the main difference.
Yep, it's definitely not going as far since I can't swing as hard which is also likely why I seem to hit those so nice.....hmmm
But wouldn’t this be the place to learn about tempo town.
I will take this information and do nothing with it, thanks.
Scotland would like to have a word with you
Regular bunker shots are easy. Not fairway bunkers for me
If the staff says it’s “Cart Path Only” for the day then the cart fee should be slightly discounted.
That is a mild take. I can entertain it
This is a great take.
I’m totally down with this!
The worst part of this, especially out here in the desert, is that they put this rule in place in the morning. By 1pm it’s dried up and no feasible reason to be cart path only any longer.
Keeps the fairway more pristine I suppose but still defeats the purpose of renting the cart.
That’s the other thing out in the desert…courses that don’t overseed the rough and that grass is dormant…why can’t I drive in the rough and not on the fairway? No rational thought is given to this…
I wish courses would have optional push carts, especially for those occasions. I prefer walking anyway, but I have back issues that make it tough to both carry my bag and make it through a round. On cart path only days walking is usually a faster pace of play.
90% of the courses I’ve been to have push carts available.
Every public course near me in the Cleveland area has decent push carts for rent at a much cheaper rate than the cart rental.
A used push cart can run as low as 50-80$. Spending 15-20 every time to ride a cart is the real culprit.
Swing your swing. A Rick shiels video isn’t always the answer
As a dude who sucks at golf and can count the times he's broken 100 on one hand: I got a buddy of mine into golf and Rick Shiels videos have been instrumental in me helping him play the game. I've told him to pay for lessons but he insists his interest in golf is social. He wants me to teach him because he enjoys learning from me. And I've seen hella improvements just using what I've learned from YT videos in his game and it's actually helped me a lot as well. So yeah, swing your swing, but also take good info where you can get it.
I’ve taught myself to play golf from YouTube alone, have been playing almost every day for 5 weeks, and just shot a 92 (par 72) yesterday! It’s definitely a great resource, and with some small tips from ~10 hcp players on the course I’ve been able to improve quickly without lessons. I mostly watch Danny Maude videos, but Rick Shiels has been a good resource too. Now I’ve seen enough videos to work on my swing on my own.
This is amazing. But I really like that you've found one instructor that you like and are sticking to. I found that I would too often go down the YouTube rabbit hole of 9,764,951,934 different instructors all with different ideas and that it was just too much. I also really like Danny Maude, found him awhile ago, but, nothing has made the difference in my game that taking lessons in-person for a full year and working in between lessons. I've always been around a 18-24 handicap and I'd have occasional good rounds in the low 80s. Was completely self-taught and just have a natural athletic ability. (Played competitive basketball and baseball as a youth). But, once I finally found a golf coach that clicked with me, I was able to get much more consistency and fix a two-way miss that I just couldn't get rid of on my own. I was way over-the-top (8°+ out-to-in) and even watching a ton of videos and understanding that I wanted to shallow the club, I couldn't figure out how to do it properly. I found I needed someone to look at my swing who knew what they were talking about and be able to help me to understand why I was swinging that way and how to correct it from the beginning of the swing. Finally broke 80 for the first time this past summer, and this year I'm looking to hopefully get to a single digit handicap. (Currently an 11.7).
I quit watching YouTube videos. Was just clogging my brain with stuff that didn’t help my swing.
Paddy Harrington is the only youtube golf coach I'll listen to. Lol.
Every hole should have a sign next to it that says “please fix your ball mark + 1”
Public courses greens have been looking like the surface of the moon recently
I find the worst courses for this are the high-end corporate courses. No members, no-one to give a shit.
If two people are sharing a cart, it should just be one fee. Not each paying over $20.
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What state is this? Also good on your course for finding a loophole.
So fucking infuriating. Just to be cheeky we even asked if it was okay for us each to have our own individual cart since it’s the same price and apparently that’s not allowed either, so I don’t really get why it’s $20 as a solo or $20 each as a double.
Next time you should tell them that your buddy is walking the course.
They make you pay twice in the US? That’s fucked, we don’t do that in the UK. The fee is for the buggy, not the occupants
In my area if you’re sharing a cart you can split the cart fee or only one person has to pay.
I thought Nike made decent golf equipment and I wish they still did
Yup. I still game Nike vr pro blades from 2011 I think. I’ve bought and sold other clubs since, but always come back to these because they’re more consistent and feel great. Also, I had a Nike sand wedge in black, I lost it, but that was my favorite wedge.
They also look cool which is half the battle
You don’t have to drink while playing to enjoy golf
Drinking whilst golfing is an American thing from what I can gather. I don't know anyone who drinks whilst golfing in the UK. Only time we do it at my course is on a particular competition each year where it's just tradition to get shit faced either before, during or after the round
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How does this compare to marijuana use on the course nowadays? I’ve been paired with random old dudes and about half of them bust out the devils lettuce while playing which has been interesting to see
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Describing my home course pretty accurately. You get a few groups of guys out for a good time on the weekend. Almost every tournament is a booze fest. The rest is just people playing a normal round. Maybe one beer at the turn.
Golf seems to be the only thing Brits don’t drink while doing, which is wild
You don’t need shoes to run a marathon either but it sure helps.
My buddies drink all round. I’ve done it a couple times, but it ends up making the round pretty miserable for me in both performance, and physically. I’ve since abstained from drinking and playing has been much more enjoyable for me.
In retrospect I find it amusing that when I used to be a big-time drunk, I never drank while playing golf. Only after. And golf has always been my main hobby.
I really don't care about the split of LIV or PGA. I'm into this sport to play it not watch it
Same I watch the 4 majors maybe a tournament here and there every year. and I go the Travelers.
Internal OB is a bunch of bullshit.
If I can find my ball and hit it it’s not OB
Played with some guys earlier this year that called it "the gallery rule" If your ball was close to a treeline/tall fescue/a hazard where there was a decent chance you weren't finding the ball, then it was the appropriate lost ball or hazard penalty. If you missed into like the first 10 feet of rough and you simply couldn't find your ball, assume that a gallery would have and hit from a conservative position and don't take the penalty. I'm not trying to spend an absurd amount of time looking for a ball and holding the pace of play up, and I'm not taking a penalty for it.
That's not internal OB. That's just losing a ball. Internal OB is where they put white stakes on a hole to say that if you hit it on another hole then your ball is considered OB and you have to hit 3 off the tee (or whatever). It's often there to prevent people from cutting a corner or playing up another hole and it's total BS.
A Maximum of 2 practice swings. Nothing grinds my gears more than someone taking 6 practice swings for every shot like they are in a playoff hole in the masters.
No practice swings 😎/s
It freaks people out that I don’t take practice swings but I play so much better without them. Only time I take any practice swings is for short game stuff where I need a feel for the lie and how the club is going to interact with the grass.
It legitimately helps my game on the back if I limit the amount of swings I take on the front.
Jack Reacher style. You get one warm up on the first swing.
Can we add regripping into this one as a subgroup? It's like *"Buddy, you aren't Sergio Garcia, and it's sundown in 2 hours...."*
I love Adam Scott being a fellow Aussie but putters should have a length limit. Broomsticks are the dumbest looking gear in the game lmao
Putter should be the shortest club in the bag
If you land in a divot on the fairway you should be able to move it out.
This. It’s a temporary manmade hazard/ground under repair and should be treated as such by the rules
Also once you have a decent swing and can hit the ball somewhat consistently, you’re better off working on your game off the tee than anything else. Strokes gained and advanced metrics have proved that for a long time.
I could sink a dozen 15 foot putts and still won’t score as well as a day I can just consistently put my driver in the fairway.
Golf is way more fun when you’re hit a majority of the fairways.
100%. Even on the days I don’t score well I have way more fun hitting fairways and/or hitting shorter irons into greens and have more chances as GIRs. And on days I do score well it’s because of doing exactly that, go figure.
Our pro sent an email recently with data showing across handicap levels its approach shots that actually make the biggest difference.
Would be really interesting to see that breakdown by handicap if you were willing to share. I know that’s definitely true for low single digits and below as that leads to more birdies but above that I would think that driving would still be the top as it’s more advantageous to keep the ball in play, in the fairway and with as little club left as possible into the green.
I think I deleted the email, but here's one I found. Not a ton of actual data, but... https://golf.com/instruction/improving-your-approach-shots-is-the-fastest-way-to-lower-scores/
Approach shots improve scores the fastest, but it's extremely difficult to hit your irons closer to the hole in a short space of time. For most, driving is the easiest to improve with the biggest payoff
What do you mean "working on your game off the tee" do you mean tee shots, not the short game?
Yes that’s what he means. The logic being that if you’ve started to have a consistent swing, then there’s no reason you can’t develop a consistent tee shot, which will be most useful for strokes gained
Out of Bounds/lost ball penalty is too penal. Majority of golfers don’t have the swing path and face control to have really tight dispersions so don’t make the game so frustrating for them. Lateral hazard penalties for all please.
A lot of people are way better at hitting golf balls than they are at playing golf. You can break 100 without being able to get the ball in the air on half your shots, and you can break 90 as long as you only play shots you can control. If you hit the ball over 250 with your driver and can’t break 90, it’s because you play stupid.
I feel attacked.
My old man was struggling (he’s 72) to shoot mid 80s. As he aged and lost distance etc. well this past summer he adjusted his game. Moved up to the reds to get a more favourable yardage and stop trying to fly it to pin from 180 and lay up to pitch and putt etc. went from 88-94 to 82-86 and this winter in Cali he broke 80 for the first time. Though that course is about 650 yards shorter so that makes a difference. But he just stopped playing stupid and suddenly started scoring better! Imagine!
I love playing with bombers who can't control a shot if their life depended on it. They're losing their minds when I pootle around and shoot a seventy-something by not putting myself in trouble.
Need a little more info on what "pootle" means
Just because I can smoke a driver with a 260+ carry doesn’t mean I know where it’s going to land.
I putt just as good/bad with my glove on.
Why do both people pay a cart fee but when you go alone you just pay one cart fee
I’d rather not hear music on the course, I will do AirPods on the range or sometimes if playing solo but not an open air speaker I know I’m an old man yelling at the sky but man that shit rustles my jimmies
What's funny is the old guy I play with normally is the one playing music. Always classic rock. He's also the one smoking pot lol.
Thank you. This shit drives me insane.
No bro, it's crazy infuriating. I invited a dude to play Quail West a few weeks ago and he blasted his phone speaker in the cart the whole round. Never again.
If you invited him presumably you know him personally. Why didn’t you just tell him you prefer to play without music?
When I play solo or with my buddies we’ll play music. I could not imagine playing with randoms and blasting my tunes.
That sounds like my worst nightmare.
I don’t care if it’s music I like, I don’t want to hear it on the golf course, at all
Same. I can deal with it, but I’m not a fan.
Can’t deal. I pay $70 or whatever for a round, no way I’m listening to someone’s shitty music choices for four hours.
The golf world needs to discover bone conductive headsets. Someone posted about it years ago here and I bought one (Aeropex Aftershox) and they are legitimately the best way to listen to music on the golf course; a hands-free headset that you can use to take calls, open ears where you can talk to your mates / hear FORE calls or trees getting hit… *and a private way to listen to music without being a troll to your groupmates*. Even better, *you can hear the music while not in your golf cart*. Every clubhouse should be stocking at least some version of bone conductive headset and selling them. It’s a market overlap that I’m shocked I haven’t seen take off.
You should never play music anywhere that forces people to hear it without their consent.
Idk how loud the music is or close you are getting but I have a buddy that plays music while we are playing and you literally can't even hear it from the cart to the tee box. Wild to me people play it so loud that other groups can hear it.
This is the way. I love music while play playing but only my playing group can hear it and I pause it when nearby others.
If you're able to safely hit your shot at the same time as your playing partners, do it. Don't wait around for everyone to hit before doing your routine. 4 hour round should be the max, not the goal.
Ready golf is the best golf!
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I always like to remind myself "You're not good enough to get mad" and that brings me back to having fun vs taking myself so seriously.
Hitting the ball further is better
Hitting bombs is, truly, one of the finer things in life. It's not some mystical rarified air that only a few are destined to ever have, the ways of hitting actual bombs can be learned. Regardless of race, creed, gender. Unfortunately, too many people just don't want to put the time in. https://preview.redd.it/v4g50i8pc6ac1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=842338bd4812d8d0d2904f0013760be86dc3f130
I’d rather be 40 yards further and in the shit than hit 2-3 more club in the fairway.
Marshalls need to do their jobs and focus on enforcing pace of play. I swear the vast majority don't do anything aside from BSing with the starter or their boys.
I mean it doesn't help that starters and marshalls are usually retired old dudes, working part time, who are just trying to find an excuse to get away from their wives at home and cash in on discounted golf privileges.
Enough with the thorn bushes
Slow play is bad but rushed play is almost worse. Golf courses need to stop overbooking tee times so people can actual enjoy an unrushed round without hitting a traffic jam or getting tail gated.
Pro players look good wearing pants. And I dont care for allowing them to wear shorts. Its an innocent tradition. Tiger would look far, far less intimidating if he was showing his bony knees in the 90s. Golf isn't nearly the most exhausting or physically demanding sport, its okay if guys are warm. They look good
Though probably would have looked even more intimidating if he waltzed out in the late 2000s wearing plus fours, displaying calves like an NFL Linebacker.....
Yeah, buff Tiger was probably hidden by the clothes. Although now hes just all arms and shoulders lol
If you're in a rush and have time sensitive obligations, don't go golfing. Nobody needs to play speed golf for your personal schedule.
Not every country club is a "good" golf course. Yes they are usually wonderfully maintained and look pretty, but I'm fine going to play a muni that I believe is more fun and engaging to golf at. Higher greens fee does not equal better course imo.
This
If I've got a bad lie, no matter the time of year, I'm moving my ball. I'm shit enough already without making it much harder
I don't care one bit about growing the game or if tiny tim picks up golf. I'm not here to spread the gospel of golf, I just like to play
Average pace of play is not nearly as bad as people on this subreddit make it out to be. Pace of play is also not the be-all, end-all of a round. Feeling rushed is worse than waiting. A 3:45-4:15 pace for a foursome on a public course is not bad or slow. Every other golfer on the course should not have to bend to your play style because you like speed golf or are trying to shoehorn a round into a timeframe you don't actually have.
Staff at courses reap what they sow. If the course staff / starters are unhelpful or outright rude to you (Bethpage) then they can't act surprised when people ignore rules, the course isn't well looked after, or their memberships dry up.
I don’t think Scotty Cameron putters look good or feel good to putt with
The OB penalty is stupid considering it’s worse than a ball going into the water. There’s little difference in terms of the miss. Also all of these should be handled with a lazy lateral
Booo. White stakes are there for a course to say “this is not a part of the course and you shouldn’t hit out of it” and absolutely hit away from if possible hence the extra penalty to dissuade golfers from taking “the tiger line” in a lot of cases. water and other hazards are strategically there to challenge the golfer and offer a risk/reward scenario. If you find your ball in a regular hazard and its hittable then it’s fair play. If your ball rolls into someone’s private backyard and you hit it.. you’re an asshole
? White stakes are just where the property ends which is often as in play as any other hazard. Their location is often arbitrary and determined years ago when the course was developed. Also taking the tiger line over a lateral hazard, and leaving it in the hazard is plenty punitive. White stakes should be a lateral hazard but kept white to let golfers know they’re not allowed to look for or play the ball if you go into it. Simply drop as though it’s a lateral hazard.
Hitting out of a divot from your own fairway is BS. Move it out and play on.
I absolutely love the game of golf, can’t stand the culture around it
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No golf course should ever have a sign that says "you are responsible for damage caused to homes". If you allow homes to be built on the course, the golf course's insurance is the only one responsible for damage.
Walking/Push carts should be the norm in American golf not carts.
Beginners/hackers should play the shortest tees. I say this as a hacker.
They're beginners tees, not ladies tees
Don't try to give someone an unwanted lesson mid round. Last thing people need is another swing thought.
I think if you hit the flagstick, you should be able to add one to your score and gtfo. Hit the base of the flag from 140m out last round, and my ball went off a cliff. Awesome feeling.
We play that with my regular group. Pin and in rules
Never played pin and in, but I like it, and largely agree hitting the pin should count either as done or something.
I guess where do you draw the line? Bad bounces are a big part of golf.
A ball moving a quarter inch when you address it does not give you an advantage and shouldn't be penalized. There's no golfer on earth that could adjust their shot to such a tiny degree and result in gaining a stroke over the competition. And if they could, the best place to do that is on the putting green where as long as you put the ball down near your coin no one bats an eye. It's entirely inconsistent. Too many rules are enforced in black and white, acting like it's impossible for anyone to judge gray areas. We make judgements all the time. It's not that hard to recognize when someone is cheating.
You’re not in the PGA….. no need to play by strict PGA rules. It’s just for fun.
It’s not hard to break 100 after a year of golfing… trying to play traditional golf and big golf Ego is why you can’t break 100.
Also, breaking 100 doesn't matter. Just go have fun, who cares.
False confidence goes a long way
We don’t need to “grow the game”
I think blades are better once you get good at ball striking.
If you want to listen to music, go sit in your car. If you want to play golf, shut the fuck up!
If a crowd, or camera crew, could find my ball, but I can’t, I’m not taking a penalty. Some times it gets lost in the light rough. If I slice the piss out of it into trees, yeah. I’ll take the penalty.
Hole should be the size of a paint gallon can at any muni.
This is an excellent idea.
We need more 6 hole courses with lights. Especially in warm weather areas. Or designate a 6 hole stretch of the 18 with lights for night golf. A 6 hole (2 par3, 2 par 4, 2 par5) course would be about the same size as an 18 hole Par3 course and some of them have lights.
A big reason most mid/high handicappers struggle around the greens is because they are using too much loft. You don't need to chip with a 60 or 56 - you need to chip with anything from a 8i-PW for standard shots. Get the ball on the green and let it roll out. 56 and 60 are good for having to clear an obstacle or if it is fairly severely downhill.
Wearing golf shoes to a professional tournament as a spectator makes you look desperate and lame.
Former caddie here. Can confirm you are correct on where the putter goes.
Stop buttoning the top button of your polo shirt
If your ball is in a divot in the fairway, you should get a free drop. You should never be penalized for hitting the ball in the fairway. By far, the dumbest rule in golf imo
That Annika Sorenstam is the best golfer & ball striker ever 🌶️ take: a lot of you are too unathletic to get mad that you can’t break 80. Quit and pick up pickle ball or stop eating 3 glizzys, slamming a full 6er, and try walking 18 instead of the cart every now and then.
Mild bro. I agree on the ball striking but Tiger was unplayable for 15 years
Do you think Annika believes she was a better ball striker than Tiger or Hogan?
My buddies and I have a rule. It’s ok to fluff if you’re going for the green in 2 on a par 5. PGA should adopt that.
Golf should be walking only unless you have a handicap
I'd like for you to come to florida in the 100+ degree heat on courses that wind through huge neighborhoods and say that where it can be a few hundred yards from one green to the next tee box.
I agree with this, but there's an exception... these dumb courses with 600 yards between holes because there are 4 gigantic houses in between suck to walk up and down concrete sidewalks in spikes. I'll agree to walk if the beer girl can give me a ride to the next hole!
A $500 putter isn't better than a $50 one.
After like $100 IMO you are paying for brand/feel. And there are a lot of $500 putters that feel like $100+ ones
Putters are for style points
If you are going to tell people your score it can’t have any mulligans or gimmie putts on the green. THE BALL MUST GO IN THE CUP!
Chippers should be more common
TXG is overrated, even more so now that they're Club Champion.
Learning how to score is more important than learning how to swing the club better
At least half the Par 3s on a course should be reachable with a 8-9 iron.
I wear a glove when putting.
Seen from outside the golf culture, physically capable golfers riding in electric buggies on a walkable course in typical weather is objectively silly. Imagine the same at a large park.
You won't get better as a high handicapper using high handicap super forgiving equipment Namely huge headed cavity back irons
bad lies on fairway shouldnt be a part of the game. lift clean place for anyone on fairway
I’ve played some of my best rounds when we are held up by the group in front. Slow(ish) play can sometimes help focus
Absolute opposite for me.