Playing the ball down,...

[Borf]

I never improve my lies. I always play it as is, I improve when I play different lies. It gives me variety in the shots I have to play and also makes it interesting.

Don't fight it, it hurts more when you fight it!

[Chief Broom]

I do play lost ball correctly now, but it never fails, I'll bomb one into the real high grass and I know it's lost so i play one from the tee and oen of my buddies will hit one off the fairway and we get up there and can't find it and they drop and take the distance and I get screwed,...

That would suck. All I can say is that if you are playing for money you'd need to specify what is and is not acceptable prior to playing, and if someone breaks those mutually agreed upon rules then either they lose that particular hole or all bets are off.

[Fourputt]

I'm just curious how you got into the game,... How'd you learn and all that.

I didn't learn to play a country club either... still don't play at one. But I never even considered anything but playing the ball as it lies. It's such a basic principle of the game of golf that it doesn't seem to me to be something that should need to be taught. My first memories of the game involve hearing my uncle talking about that long before I ever held a golf club.

You just don't touch the ball after you hit your tee shot until it's in the hole. Naturally there are situations under the rules where that must be modified, but the Rules of Golf are written in such a way as to hold the player to that basic principle as closely as possible.

[Fourputt]

That would suck. All I can say is that if you are playing for money you'd need to specify what is and is not acceptable prior to playing, and if someone breaks those mutually agreed upon rules then either they lose that particular hole or all bets are off.

You know the easy way to solve the problem?? You just say "We'll play by the Rules of Golf." With the people I play with, that doesn't even have to be said. We don't play any other way. If money is involved, then I won't play any other way, period.

[Chief Broom]

You know the easy way to solve the problem?? You just say "We'll play by the Rules of Golf." With the people I play with, that doesn't even have to be said. We don't play any other way. If money is involved, then I won't play any other way, period.

I'm not opposed to the notion of "sorta-golf". Golf is a tough game, especially for a newcomer. If I'm paired up with someone who is obviously struggling and they hit a terrible tee shot I'll tell them it's all right by me if they take a mulligan. If they decline I understand, I don't take mulligans, but if that takes some of the pressure off of them and adds to their enjoyment of a round it doesn't bother me. If that same person wants to improve their lie (or even tee it up in the fairway) that's fine by me too. My only problem would be if they were unduly holding up my round, and if that was the case and there was room in front of us I might tell them that I was going to play on through (but that would have to be a pretty extreme case, I don't think I've ever actually done that). I'm not a stickler for the rules, but then again I don't ever play for money, so whether or not someone I'm playing with follows them has no impact on me.

[Zeph]

Of course people can play as they like as long as they don't measure how they play by par and don't use handicap. Don't compare themselves to people who play the game as it should be. What good does taking a mulligan? It's like telling your teacher you did read those pages last night (which you did not), the only person you are fooling is yourself.

If people wanna play golf just for fun and don't use hcp and scores like the rest of us, fine, but I don't wanna play with them.

[zeg]

I sorta-learned playing with my dad and friends at the little par 3 in town. None of us knew how to play, but we had fun. I didn't play seriously at all until after undergrad. Never been to a country club, well except maybe once to a pool party, don't recall. Definitely never golfed one.

So that's not the difference. I guess I was just always aware enough of the basic rule that you play it as it lies unless you know you get relief for some special reason.

[Baraethon]

I usually play semi golf - for most of the time I've played, I've totally ignored a lot of the rules. For instance, taking a re hit most every time I hit a shot.

Definitely trying to eliminate that, though occasionally if I totally blow a shot (i.e. top it, hook it into the woods, etc.) I'll re hit.

Of course, if it's busy, I take just the occasional fluff and thats it.

[Zeph]

I'm curious as to how you can have a handicap if you don't play by the rules which determine your handicap.
You say you shot 94, but if that is with 40 mulligans, what is the point of keeping score and telling us?