Playing multiple balls and posting to handicap?

[jshots]

What do you guys think of this. I play alone a lot, and so I often times will play my first ball on each hole for score... and sometimes will drop extra balls here and there just for practice, or because I'm waiting on groups ahead of me. But I ALWAYS play the first ball through the entire hole and only write down that score so I have something I can post for handicap purposes.

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this? What do you guys think? Obviously it's not really following the rules, but it would suck to play alone and get stuck behind someone and only play 1 ball all day.

[Rulesman]

Well you are of course practising during the round. It can't but help your score.

[thescarecrow]

Originally Posted by jshots

What do you guys think of this. I play alone a lot, and so I often times will play my first ball on each hole for score... and sometimes will drop extra balls here and there just for practice, or because I'm waiting on groups ahead of me. But I ALWAYS play the first ball through the entire hole and only write down that score so I have something I can post for handicap purposes.

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this? What do you guys think? Obviously it's not really following the rules, but it would suck to play alone and get stuck behind someone and only play 1 ball all day.

Your handicap is inflated...........That's what i think.

[BostonBrew]

Yeah, I have to concur. It seems innocent enough. You're just making the best use of your time. I play 2 balls all the time, especially if the course is empty and I'm playing alone. But I don't post the score.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by jshots

What do you guys think of this. I play alone a lot, and so I often times will play my first ball on each hole for score... and sometimes will drop extra balls here and there just for practice, or because I'm waiting on groups ahead of me. But I ALWAYS play the first ball through the entire hole and only write down that score so I have something I can post for handicap purposes.

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this? What do you guys think? Obviously it's not really following the rules, but it would suck to play alone and get stuck behind someone and only play 1 ball all day.

I really don't see it as a big deal at all.  When I am playing slow courses and there is a back up on a tee box, I'll usually chip around from tee marker to tee marker to kill the time.  Who cares?

Now, if you always took the lowest of the scores, then you'd be a vanity capper, and if you took the highest, a sandbagger but if you are always recording the first score, so what?  Seems OK to me.

Originally Posted by thescarecrow

Your handicap is inflated...........That's what i think.

How?

[thescarecrow]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

I really don't see it as a big deal at all.  When I am playing slow courses and there is a back up on a tee box, I'll usually chip around from tee marker to tee marker to kill the time.  Who cares?

Now, if you always took the lowest of the scores, then you'd be a vanity capper, and if you took the highest, a sandbagger  but if you are always recording the first score, so what?  Seems OK to me.

How?

Where do you want to start, you cannot practice on the course if you are posting a handicap rule 7.1..........big no no.......A player I was playing with got pinged for lobbing a ball back to the driving range, you may however, chip around the tee area.

[Rulesman]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

When I am playing slow courses and there is a back up on a tee box, I'll usually chip around from tee marker to tee marker to kill the time.  Who cares?

That of course is permitted by rule 7-2.

Under the same rule, practising during the play of a hole is not.

Of course, the USGA says such scores must not be posted.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by thescarecrow

Where do you want to start, you cannot practice on the course if you are posting a handicap rule 7.1..........big no no.......A player I was playing with got pinged for lobbing a ball back to the driving range, you may however, chip around the tee area.

Let me guess you turned him in for such a severe violation?

I have to agree with G.D. on this one.

[thescarecrow]

Originally Posted by cipher

Let me guess you turned him in for such a severe violation?

I have to agree with G.D. on this one.

you can agree with who you want, however you cannot practice while you are playing, you cannot apply only the rules you agree with.

[Zeph]

By the rules of golf, you are not allowed to do this. There is no way around it. Either play by the rules and post it to your handicap, or don't and do whatever you want.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by thescarecrow

you can agree with who you want, however you cannot practice while you are playing, you cannot apply only the rules you agree with.

Fair enough, however if that is the only way that someone breaks the rules, I guess it personally does not bug me.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by thescarecrow

Where do you want to start, you cannot practice on the course if you are posting a handicap rule 7.1..........big no no.......A player I was playing with got pinged for lobbing a ball back to the driving range, you may however, chip around the tee area.

I still don't understand how his handicap is inflated though?

Originally Posted by Rulesman

That of course is permitted by rule 7-2.

Under the same rule, practising during the play of a hole is not.

Of course, the USGA says such scores must not be posted.

OK, I see that, but I don't see where it says that he can't or shouldn't post his scores.  Rule 7-2 also says he be assessed a 2-stroke penalty in stroke play.  Section 5 in the handicap manual says that you should post all scores, with a few exceptions.  There is no exception that I see referring to this scenario.  That leads me to believe that he is technically required to take a 2 stroke penalty on every hole AND then required to post his score.  If he was following the rules to the letter, as I read them, then his handicap would be somewhere in the vicinity of 35 or 40.  That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Your handicap is supposed to be an accurate representation of your potential so you can fairly compete against others.  If he's hitting extra balls on the course while he's playing, at worst, his handicap is going to be a hair lower than it should be because he's getting in a little extra practice.  So what?  He's not hurting anybody except himself there, and I doubt by more than a tiny fraction.**

**Yes, I know he's also hurting the guys who get stuck with him in team competitions too.

[Zeph]

If you break one rule, why not break them all while you are at it? Some foot wedges here and illegal drops there. The handicap is incorrect, regardless of whether it's too high or too low.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Quote:

Originally Posted by thescarecrow

Where do you want to start, you cannot practice on the course if you are posting a handicap rule 7.1..........big no no.......A player I was playing with got pinged for lobbing a ball back to the driving range, you may however, chip around the tee area.

I still don't understand how his handicap is inflated though?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rulesman

That of course is permitted by rule 7-2.

Under the same rule, practising during the play of a hole is not.

Of course, the USGA says such scores must not be posted.

OK, I see that, but I don't see where it says that he can't or shouldn't post his scores.  Rule 7-2 also says he be assessed a 2-stroke penalty in stroke play.  Section 5 in the handicap manual says that you should post all scores, with a few exceptions.  There is no exception that I see referring to this scenario.  That leads me to believe that he is technically required to take a 2 stroke penalty on every hole AND then required to post his score.  If he was following the rules to the letter, as I read them, then his handicap would be somewhere in the vicinity of 35 or 40.  That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Your handicap is supposed to be an accurate representation of your potential so you can fairly compete against others.  If he's hitting extra balls on the course while he's playing, at worst, his handicap is going to be a hair lower than it should be because he's getting in a little extra practice.  So what?  He's not hurting anybody except himself there, and I doubt by more than a tiny fraction.**

**Yes, I know he's also hurting the guys who get stuck with him in team competitions too.

The handicap manual allows for a certain number of holes to be played other than by the rules, or even to be unfinished, but not the entire round.  There are specific guidelines for scoring on those holes.  In the end he can do as he likes, but he is practicing during the round, and he is probably setting a vanity handicap in the process.  Within limits, practice is allowed between the play of holes, but during the play of a hole it is not.  That's the rule.  Follow it or not, it doesn't really matter to me.

[thescarecrow]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

I really don't see it as a big deal at all.  When I am playing slow courses and there is a back up on a tee box, I'll usually chip around from tee marker to tee marker to kill the time.  Who cares?

Now, if you always took the lowest of the scores, then you'd be a vanity capper, and if you took the highest, a sandbagger  but if you are always recording the first score, so what?  Seems OK to me.

How?

Inflated as in stroking one's ego.............m

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by thescarecrow

Inflated as in stroking one's ego.............m

Got it.  I thought you meant inflated, as in higher, which was perplexing.  This makes more sense.

I still fail to see how that would really affect somebody's handicap very much, if at all.  He's counting the first ball.  If he hits a "practice drive" after his real drive that is counting ... he still isn't going to hit another drive that counts for at least 10-15 minutes and 3-4 shots.  The real drive is just as much practice for the next drive as the practice drive.  So, he hit two.  Big deal.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Quote:

Originally Posted by thescarecrow

Inflated as in stroking one's ego.............m

Got it.  I thought you meant inflated, as in higher, which was perplexing.  This makes more sense.

I still fail to see how that would really affect somebody's handicap very much, if at all.  He's counting the first ball.  If he hits a "practice drive" after his real drive that is counting ... he still isn't going to hit another drive that counts for at least 10-15 minutes and 3-4 shots.  The real drive is just as much practice for the next drive as the practice drive.  So, he hit two.  Big deal.

If he's playing a second or third ball for every shot, he gets to analyze and fix what isn't working, giving him just that much better a chance if he has a similar shot on the next hole.  That is why such practice isn't allowed for a round which counts for anything.  Getting multiple chances to figure out what's not quite right can't help but lead to a better scoring potential.

[Chas]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

If he's playing a second or third ball for every shot, he gets to analyze and fix what isn't working, giving him just that much better a chance if he has a similar shot on the next hole.  That is why such practice isn't allowed for a round which counts for anything.  Getting multiple chances to figure out what's not quite right can't help but lead to a better scoring potential.

Exactly.  I've started playing 2 or 3 balls per hole on a local Executive (par 60) course in the quiet mid-afternoon, mostly to improve my unfortunate chipping and putting.  Now that my driving has improved the short game is killing me.   I don't even write down my first-ball scores for the reason well explained above.  Playing multiple balls gives you a much quicker feel for how the course is playing, and how YOU are playing, on that particular day, allowing for much better adjustment.

Not that my chipping or putting seems to reflect that advantage in my particular case ....