Playing by the rules

[IceDave]

Hi, this is the first thread I've started here, but here goes.

I was playing 2 days ago and had the honors on the tee (hope I'm putting this right) on a difficult par 4. Hit a bad drive and missed the green in the approach. One of the players in the group had a decent drive but missed it out right in to a kind of rough full of lava rock and moss (penalty likely stuff). I was walking by when he reached his ball and he just picked it up with his wedge moved it around until the lie was "just right" and hit is approach and collected his "par". I on the other hand missed my up-and-down and got bogey.

On the next tee I just walked to the tee as though I had the honor. But he interrupts and says he got par. I ask him if he didn't take a penalty stroke since he moved the ball in the rough? Then comes an awkward situation where I say ok and back down and he commences to chop his tee shot like 20 yards into heavy rough (clearly pissed that I had brought the subject up).

Now my question is should you just keep your mouth shut when somebody playing with you is bending the rules and wants to reap the benefits (like having honors on the tee) or should you speak up?

[scottevans77]

If you're playing against them in a tournament situation or for money, then definitely speak up. Otherwise, they're only cheating themselves and to me honors on the tee doesn't really mean all that much.

[IceDave]

Yeah you're probably right, I should though have mentioned that this had occured earlier in the round but I'm just so naive that I thought the guy was moving rock with his club but he was clearly moving the ball around. After so and so many holes I tend to steam a little bit up by the "injustice". Probably should just keep my mouth shut though and grab a beer at the clubhouse afterwards.

[ApocG10]

Depends. Someone I dont know, who just worked into our game, I wouldnt say anything.

A close friend? I'd make fun of him relentlessly.

[misty_mountainhop]

If you're playing against them in a tournament situation or for money, then definitely speak up. Otherwise, they're only cheating themselves and to me honors on the tee doesn't really mean all that much.

You're right about the honour not meaning a great deal but you should still speak up. If they don't know they can't do that (yeah, right!) then the least they get is information that'll help them play the game right in future.

Yeah you're probably right, I should though have mentioned that this had occured earlier in the round but I'm just so naive that I thought the guy was moving rock with his club but he was clearly moving the ball around. After so and so many holes I tend to steam a little bit up by the "injustice". Probably should just keep my mouth shut though and grab a beer at the clubhouse afterwards.

He can have the honour but I'd still let him know he had just incurred a penalty (maybe more than one) and this isn't something that's allowed under normal circumstances. If you're messing around then it might not matter; I have tee'd a ball up in rough in practice situations but I have

never claimed that I'd still made par or whatever.

[lumpuckeroo]

I'm with ApocG10, a friend would never of heard the end of it, a stranger can just live with, of course I would never do business with him.....

My 76 year old dad plays on a very rough 9 hole track, they only water the greens, so they play 'winter rules' all year long. It has become such a habit, he rolls the ball no matter what course he is playing. My brother and I give him grief when we are on a nicer course, it's not like we are playing for money or anything like that.

[KAC6]

If you're playing against them in a tournament situation or for money, then definitely speak up. Otherwise, they're only cheating themselves and to me honors on the tee doesn't really mean all that much.

I agree with this.

Competitive play or if it involves money I would say speak up. The honors of teeing up first doesn't mean anything...other than being the first to tee off. If someone has to cheat to play a game for fun then they have bigger issues then cheating at golf.

[CarlSpackler]

When my friend is rolling his ball around in the rough, I grab a tee out of my pocket and toss by his ball and ask if that will help his situation. :) Granted, we play togather frequently and love to rib each other. His nickname is Shank-O-Potamus BTW.

[colin007]

did you know the guy?

[Carolinahooker]

I think in golf there is a lot of holier than thou behavior. I play by every rule but don't really care what rules anyone else plays by. This is a tough game, if someone is not of the skill level to hit those golf shots without moving the ball what do I care?

When I play with strangers I always feel weird asking what they shot on a hole to see if I should hit. I mean when they are hacking around the last thing they want to do is say they got an eight on the last hole.

[IceDave]

did you know the guy?

No, didn't know him first time we've played together. That didn't bother me though to bring it up, guess since I've always taken my penalties and most of the people I play with do the same then I tend to take it probably seriously.

I think the first couple of tees rendered to a fake score are ok but when it goes on and on I raise my voice

[TheLauncher]

I play in a team best ball league and in our first round Wednesday I had to inform a player that he couldn't just take a drop and two strokes near where he had hit a ball OB. In a casual round, and I have played a few with this golfer, I wouldn't mind if he played it that way and I wouldn't contest his "score". In a competitive round if a golfer doesn't assess themselves the proper number of penalty strokes, I will be happy to do it for them.

However, I am the type of golfer who plays everything by the rules, evevn in a practice round on my own. I usually find it difficult to say nothing about a playing partner's transgression of the rules, even if it is in a casual, friendly round.

[billm408]

There's no rule that says you have to play by the rules. In a casual round, I'd never call somebody on a rule violation... especially a stranger.

In my regular group, our motto is "do whatever your conscience allows". Golf is a self policing game. In 20+ years, only once has someone cheated during a match and we made it clear that, he's welcome to play but he can't be in the bets anymore because we don't trust him.

[opie]

Long as no money involved and it's not a tournament the "foot wedge" doesn't bother me at all. I also don't expect folks to play a shot that might damage their clubs.

My only thing with my friends is don't play your footwedge all day then claim you beat me at the end of the round

[cougar978]

Long as no money involved and it's not a tournament the "foot wedge" doesn't bother me at all. I also don't expect folks to play a shot that might damage their clubs.

When we play for money (like $5-10 nassau), we have a 'local rule' that states you can treat an area that can either damage your clubs or cause injury as ground under repair within reason - also, if the course is wet and you're in a muddy/flooded bunker, you can treat that as ground under repair as well and drop the ball behind the bunker (furthest point from the hole), subject to approval of the entire group. As long as those stipulations are applied uniformly, it makes it a fair playing field.

However, if you're in a blitz or especially a tournament, you play it as you find it, and if you have to move the ball when you're not entitled to relief by the rules, you take an unplayable (one-stroke penalty or stroke/distance). We also enforce the stroke/distance rule on lost balls and OB - if you think you're lost or OB, you reload on the tee and hit a provisional.

[Fourputt]

To the OP: Don't get so uptight with someone you don't know and will likely never play with again. He's only hurting himself. I'd just ignore him as being not worth the hassle.

As far as playing by the rules... as far as I know, that's the only way to play golf . I see a lot of people playing games that look a lot like golf, but on closer inspection, they fail to stand up to the test. Don't want to damage a club? There's a rule for that... Rule 28 - Ball Unplayable. I'm always puzzled by players who think that it's ok to bend or ignore a rule if the situation creates a possibility of equipment damage. Why should you get a free pass for hitting the ball where you shouldn't? Play it as it lies or take the penalty.... simple choice.

My Wednesday morning group plays strictly by the rules, we count every stroke, but we manage to have a blast anyway, joking and kidding around. Amazingly, you don't have to be deadpan serious to play by the rules. You can actually have fun and still be playing real golf.

[CarlSpackler]

We do our best to play by the rules in our regular group. If we think we hit OB or where it might be lost, we play a provisional. If we loose a ball, we will take the longest walk in golf and let the group behind us play through if it is busy. If a ball is against a tree trunk or something that will damge the club, we go by the unplayable lie rule. We will practice lift clean and place from the fairway in adverse conditions, but I have seen this happen even in some tour events.

I don't consider myself a stuff stickler for the rules, but like to play to the spirit of the game, bad breaks and all. We accomplish this and still keep pace by playing ready golf.

[iacas]

There's no rule that says you have to play by the rules.

Well that's just silly talk.

Since you didn't know the guy, I wouldn't worry about his score or honors. Just play ready golf and ignore his scores or whatever.