Double par?

**Flipmode** · August 3, 2008

Is it proper etiquette to pick your ball up after you reach double par? I was out yesterday with a buddy of mine and he proceeded to shoot a 12 on a par 5. I advised him that he should have picked up his after his 10th shot. Do you pick your ball up after double par or do you just keep playing until you get the ball in the cup?

**Fraser** · August 3, 2008

Fortunately this isn't a decision I have to think about too often!

I think picking up after six on a par 3 isn't on. If you hit the ball OB or in water then you're shooting 'bogey' or picking up....

**JaY_B** · August 3, 2008

Not sure, under the British Handicapping system (CONGU) they round ever high score down to a nett double bogey anyway, so if you have a 9 on a par for you may as well write down 6, atleast that is my understanding of it.

**sabram** · August 3, 2008

I don't think there is a bright line cutoff for when it is appropriate to pick up, but certainly in a casual round, if someone is shooting a bunch of double pars or more it is good etiquette for them to pick up. On ocasion if I am playing with inexperienced golfers, if they are not yet on the green in one less than double par I suggest that they place there ball on the green and putt out. This way they can get some putting practice and feel like they have finished the hole. A lot of it depends on how backed up the course is and whether our group is falling behind the group ahead of us. I think the main thing is to keep up with the group in front of you. If we are falling behind I am more likely to suggest picking up or at least placing a ball on the green.

**kafka01** · August 3, 2008

For me it depends - if we have something friendly/practice round going on, i normally finish it without slowing down the pace to much.

When i play stableford tournaments i normally pick the ball up as soon as i dont get any points anymore since there is no sense at all keeping playing - and thats pretty much the same i expect from my flight partners...

**dave s** · August 4, 2008

Let's see ... I had a 'typical' round last week during league play. 4 pars, 3 bogies, a double and a DISASTER!!! Let's just say that I more than double-parred that hole, finished out but did not hold up my group or the group behind us.

In fact, it was probably most expeditious TEN you'd ever see! Recap:

Rolled t-ball into deep rough. Wedged out, but not far enough to do anything. Hooked a 7i into the woods. Layed out shot 4, hit 5 into the trap, six was bladed O.B., seven back in, 8 on and 2 putts for a 10.

We're asked to card what we shot in our league. My wife is the only person I play with who will actually pickup during a hole. I offer to have her put ball on the green and putt out, but she knows when it's over and waits to start the next hole while I finish out.

As always, to each his own. Pick up if that's YOUR rules!

dave

**Flipmode** · August 4, 2008

Its not that its my rules. When I started playing 4 years ago that was what I was told by my friends I play with. I posted this because I just want to know what proper etiquitte was. So basically what Im getting from the replys is if your not holding anyone up then just keep playing.

**Dent** · August 4, 2008

In a tournament round I had already fallen apart and was on a Par 3, hit one OB, then hit again into a bunker, and went back and forth from bunkers over the green. I really didn't feel like playing that hole and I asked what my options were.

The Maximum you can take in a tournament for us is a 10.

I took that.

GranvilleGolf · August 4, 2008

if i hit double par on a par5 i pick up nothing else
10 is as far as ill go

ebin · August 4, 2008

I usually pick up after double par as do my playing partners. It's punishment enough for the player when they get to double par so why make them suffer any more? The only exception is usually the 18th hole especially if things aren't backed up.

We've paid our money so we're gonna have a go at it on the last hole and trouble often ensues for someone looking to hit his 1 in a 1000 shot.

**Big_M** · August 4, 2008

I don't think there is a bright line cutoff for when it is appropriate to pick up, but certainly in a casual round, if someone is shooting a bunch of double pars or more it is good etiquette for them to pick up. On ocasion if I am playing with inexperienced golfers, if they are not yet on the green in one less than double par I suggest that they place there ball on the green and putt out. This way they can get some putting practice and feel like they have finished the hole.

BINGO... what he said.

**chingali** · August 4, 2008

If you aren't in my group nor are you in a group in front of me so it is basically impossible for you to hold me up, then I reckon you should have to grind it it out and hole your 7 footer for an 11. However, if you are in my group or are in a group in front of me, pick it up after 7 shots and get out of my way!

Seriously though, I much prefer it when we play stableford at our club or on open days at other clubs and people (including myself) pick up when we can't score a point. I'll even pick it up if I need to hole a wedge for a point, not going to happen very often and I'd rather get out of everyones way and keep things moving. To give you an example, when we play stableford at our club (which is 3 saturdays out of 4) a round is usually done and dusted in under 4 hours. Once a month we play stroke and rounds upwards of 5 hours are normal and 5.5 hours aren't too unusual either.

So yes, pick the bastard of a thing up when you are having a big score so we can all keep moving.

**JessN16** · August 4, 2008

Back when I was playing regularly, my group was playing one of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses in Alabama -- which if you haven't played them, have a difficulty rating similar to juggling chainsaws while drunk.

The course was packed tight, so no one was going anywhere anyway, but the group in front of us managed to put a little distance between themselves and the group ahead at least once that day. We watched this poor old guy, from his position beside the green on a long par four, proceed to chip the ball over the green no less than eight times. He would hit one over, walk across the green, then hit it back over, then walk across the green, then hit it back over yet again, etc. Then once he got on the green, he four-putted from about 20 feet. Assuming he was beside the green in two (which I would be inclined to doubt), that would have gotten him down in 14.

He seemed to return to normal on the next hole, but holy cats, about the third time I chipped over my next club selection would have been the ol' hand wedge.

Jess

**Maverick** · August 4, 2008

doesn't that Equitable Stroke thingy also adjust so no matter how bad you shot you still get the baseline minimum UNTIL your index changes..?

**alf174** · August 4, 2008

doesn't that Equitable Stroke thingy also adjust so no matter how bad you shot you still get the baseline minimum UNTIL your index changes..?

pretty close

COURSE HANDICAP = MAXIMUM SCORE POSTED ON ANY HOLE 18 Holes

9 or less = Double Bogey
10 - 19 = 7
20 - 29 = 8
30 - 39 = 9
40 or more = 10

9 Holes

4 or less = Double Bogey
5 - 9 = 7
10 - 14 = 8
15 - 19 = 9
20 or more = 10

**Alex B** · August 4, 2008

Rule 1-1:

The Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules .

(Emphasis added.)

I hole out. Had a 10 in a varsity match earlier this year. (I was playing #1 that day, too... embarrassing.)

**mellojoe** · August 4, 2008

If you are hitting 10, hole it or pick it up. That's the "casual rule" we play with out here.

**ITgolfHack** · August 4, 2008

I pick up at double par and so do the people I play with. The league that I sometimes sub on limits the highest score on any hole to double par, so that's why I started doing it that way.

Funny story: My sister and her husband went out to play golf. He plays once in awhile, she hardly ever plays. They were on a long par 5 and she was hitting 12+ and wasn't on the green yet. As they are driving the cart up to his ball, he tells her "next time we get to your ball, just pick it up". He gets out to hit his ball and she jumps into the drivers seat, drives back to the car, gets in and drives home stranding him there. That little tantrum was quite an improvement for her, when she was younger, she probably would have run him down with the cart first .

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