How do You Handle Potential Rules Violations During Play?

[MiuraMan]

1) Home club casual competition

2) Home club Championship

3) Away competitions (i.e. State/Regional Golf Assoc. comp; Inter-club comp; Organized Amateur tour comps)

In Chamblee's "rambling rant" the other night he stated that a lot of the touring pros do not want to get embroiled in any rules violations during a round; because of the mental effect on your own game (karma). Implying they tend to look the other way.

I can relate to that; I can recall a Casual Club competition, individual stroke play, where I felt compelled to "protect the field" and correct a player in my foursome. He lost his drive in the weeds and proceeded to drop a ball in the nearest fairway with a stroke penalty (this was before the local rule provision in 2019). Now this was common practice in many play groups at the club; but this weekly event was run by the Pro shop and is conducted under USGA rules. So I tell him he needed to re-tee. He did not appear happy. He hits his next tee shot into the same area; but with three pairs of eyes in the area we are able to spot and find the second ball. He hacks it out into the fairway now lying 4; I can tell he isn't happy. So he hits his next shot short of the green lying 5; he then chili-dips a chip shot lying 6; he then declare he will take a 7 triple bogey and pick up; at this point I am all in and state he needs to play on until he holes out. He then chips it past the hole 5 feet and is lying 7. another member of the foursome pipes up that the putt is good for an 8. I silently relent. However that whole experience had a negative effect on my play the rest of the round as I kept mulling it over in my head.

Fast forward a couple of years and I am playing in an inter-club match play. My partner, from my club and I are playing away against a twosome from the home club. Three matches, a fourball match and two individual matches. This is during COVID so there were no rakes in the traps and in spite of that the Club pro announces that we will be playing strict USGA rules; play it as it lies, even if in a footprint in the bunker. So second hole my opponent is 12 feet off the edge of the green putting for par and I am 5 feet away putting for par. My opponent hits the pin and caroms off the flag. At this point my partner pipes up that at our home club we play that if the ball hits the flag stick we count it as in; and asks if they play the same here. The opposing team looks at each other and say yea sure if that's how you want to play it and then they all look at me - not wanting this to affect my "karma", I give in. Needless to say that hole resulted in me halving the front nine for my individual match and we also halved the front nine of the "fourball" match. So his bone-headed comment cost 1 point out of the 9 possible.

I have many more stories throughout my competitive playing career on having to choose when to step up and call a violation and when not to.

[iacas]

I call them on it.

If they want to be pissy about it, that's their issue. I don't let that affect my play.

Learn to compartmentalize, folks.

[DaveP043]

If something is really clear cut, I have enforced a rule, but its only happened a couple of times.  Once, walking off a tee after hitting his shot on a par-3, a friend said "Let me give you some advice, take an extra club, the wind is really blowing".  What could I do?  I told him that's a penalty, you can't give advice.  The third player started to suggest it wasn't advice, but when someone starts his sentence with "Let me give you some advice...." its pretty clear.  He accepted the penalty, and we remained friends.

Another time, inter-club match play, I noticed one opponent stand on the line behind his partner as he putted.  In that case, I waited until we started the next hole to tell him he couldn't do that.  I made sure to show him the rule (at the time I carried the Rulebook in my bag) so he understood I wasn't making it up.  I planned the timing so that there was no penalty, assuming that he really didn't know he was breaking a rule.  These matches are intended to be both friendly AND competitive, I did my best to keep both goals in mind.

Beyond that, I have no problem identifying the allowed course(s) of action, and in particular trying to make sure to say something before an infraction occurs.  If anyone has a problem with that, its their problem, not mine.

[saevel25]

It's the golfers responsibility to protect the field by calling out penalties. There is a reason why there is a rule against collusion to not agree to the rule of golf. 

If the other person gets upset about it, just don't let it bother you. You did your part correctly.