Poll: What Type of Golfer are You?

NOTA. I know enough to not violate any rules and I don't find myself in a position where an obscure rule would be an issue. My experience is a basic understanding and observing the local rules are enough. I do encounter folks on the course that question everything, usually without cause. I don't like getting stuck with the guy that asks for a ruling every other hole.

I'm not a rules official but I do carry the Rules of Golf in my bag and on my iPhone so I can verify anything questionable.  If the course is backed up and we're unable to determine the appropriate ruling at the time, we will look it up later and make sure we know for the future. 

I voted:  "Know the basic rules, but will not always follow them in a non-competitive round (i.e. drop a ball near where you think you lost your original when you did not hit a provisional)"

I am planning on joining an amatuer tour later in the fall, so I am lately making a better effort at understanding the rules, only to find out I don't understand them that well at all. 

So I am probably more of a combination of that one and choice four.

In casual rounds, I freely admit that there are a few rules I ignore or apply incorrectly.  I never walk back to the tee if I lose a ball or find one OB and didn't already hit a provisional, and I also don't take proper drops.  I just "toss" the ball down on the ground.

Know the basic rules and try to follow them but sometimes make a mistake.  Im not THAT into knowing all the rules of the game but I try to follow them as much as possible.

Know the basic rules and always try to follow them.  I make mistakes in the rules but never intentionally and I learn from those mistakes.  It's part of the enjoyment I get from the game.

FWIW....not just in golf either.  Any sport/game that I play, I play by the rules of that particular sport/game to the best of my ability/knowledge. 

Know the basic rules and ALWAYS try to follow them as much as possible, but may make an occasional mistake or be uncertain as to a more obscure rule or decision.

I have never taken a rules course, nor have I read the rules cover to cover.  I do carry a rule book in my bag, for when I need it.  I try to follow the rules the best I can, and expand my knowledge base as I encounter new situations.  

I play everything "down". If I hit out of bounds not knowing there was out of bounds and it's a busy day on the course and not a competitive round I will drop and play it as a lateral instead of trudging back to the tee and disrupting the play on the course.. That is about the only rule I knowingly will break. Well, except for the 2 balls off the first tee if I haven't warmed up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willie Malay 

I play everything "down". If I hit out of bounds not knowing there was out of bounds and it's a busy day on the course and not a competitive round I will drop and play it as a lateral instead of trudging back to the tee and disrupting the play on the course.. That is about the only rule I knowingly will break. Well, except for the 2 balls off the first tee if I haven't warmed up.

I do this, except in the case where it would be discourteous to go back and hit another on a hole where a ball unexpectedly goes OB and I didn't hit a provisional (rare, but it happens) I'll drop where it went out of bounds but treat it, penalty-wise as if it is a provisional, rather than a lateral.  So I would be hitting my fourth shot, not my third.

I voted "Know the basic rules, but will not always follow them in a non-competitive round (i.e. drop a ball near where you think you lost your original when you did not hit a provisional)" but as I think about it more I am probably more closely aligned to "Know the basic rules and ALWAYS try to follow them as much as possible, but may make an occasional mistake or be uncertain as to a more obscure rule or decision."

The reality is that I always do my best to play by the rules.  From time to time I drop the ball where I thought it went OB (if I did not take a provisional) and the like, but that tends be at the hands of mob (foursome) rule and maintaining course speed.

I carry the Rules of Golf with me but if something that I don't know happens I'm not always going to find out the correct ruling until after the round in order maintain the pace of play.  If a penalty is in order I'll add it to my score.

I follow the rules most of the time.  The only rule I might break is dropping a ball along the line of flight if I didn't hit a provisonal.  This is more of a speed of play thing.  If I know its gone I hit a provisional.

I'm a Two, except I will drop if I can't find my tee shot. I will hit provisional if I know I lost it, but I'm not goin back to the tee and holdin everybody up cause I pulled a dumbo

I know the basic rules and follow them, even when playing by myself. If I run into a questionable situation and move my ball, I go ahead and mark a penalty stroke, then, before I log my score into GHIN online, I consult the USGA rules/decisions site. I've actually waited 2 days for an e-mail on a ruling from the USGA before logging my score in.

Playing the casual rounds that I do, I will kick a rules nazi out of my group. Although I do make an honest attempt to follow the rules, sometimes it is simply not practical in real life (and quite unregulated) situations.

Not to say I've ever kicked someone out of my group, hehe... because I have not. I suppose it really depends on who I'm playing with too.

A group of friends? As long as nobody has ever made a habit of bragging about winning while embellishing some shots a bit "its his game, if he wants a gimmie that's his perogative." But folks who fluff shots and otherwise don't follow the rules while bragging about victories don't sit well with me either.

So I say, "Honest attempt to follow the rules, but will yield when not practicable."  Of course, there are the occasional uncertainties, because I am not exactly well verse in the rules of golf. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEfree 

What did you answer?  Why are you in that category?

I answered #1 because I have attended USGA Rules Workshops and I've worked as a Colorado Golf Association Rules official for statewide competitions.  However I certainly don't profess to be able to live up to the rest of your conclusion that such experience makes me a rules robot or something.  That's why I carry a rule book in my bag, and why when working as an official at a competition I also carried the decisions book, and a radio to call for help if it got too crazy or if the player concerned wouldn't take my word on a ruling.  

As far as playing by the rules, that's not as difficult as you try to make it out to be, nor is it all that complex.  The rules mostly only become complicated after you screw up by applying one or more procedures incorrectly.  If you learn how to apply the applicable rule correctly when the relief situation arises, then you just take your relief or penalty drop in the right place and play on.  Don't touch or move your ball unless or until you are certain that you are doing what you really want to do, and that you are doing it correctly.  Play a provisional ball any time your shot heads toward a nasty area that may not be part of a water hazard.  

Any player who says that these few things are too complex to play by has never made a real attempt to learn them.  

So he has a dual handicap.... One without embellishments and one with.... So that's.... 25/10 ? hehehehe