I Broke 100 . . .Maybe

[mdl]

Yeah if you're surprised about a ball that's OB at a public course, not in a tourney, I would not feel bad at all about just playing it stroke and distance and dropping. Yeah, if you think there's a good chance you're OB when you hit your shot, take a provisional.

Don't listen to the angry folks here who seem to think the real way to play by the rules as anything but a sub-5 handicapper is to hit a provisional every time you don't land it on the green or fairway, cause only terrible rule-breaking losers would ever assume that ball into the trees is findable, only to have it turn out it went further sideways than you thought and went OB, then dare not walk back 250 yards to the group waiting on the tee to take your 3rd.

You know if that player were in the group behind you they'd LOVE it that you took two drives and two second shots on most holes, then shuttled back and forth from one side of the hole to the other when you either could or could not find the first shot

[madcityscott]

I have friends who had no idea that OB wasn't treated like a lateral hazard. Golf is so strange--people play without knowing the rules.

That being said, if I find out that my ball went OB and I didn't know it, I'll treat it as a lateral hazard without guilt.

[Shorty]

I think you're good and wouldn't sweat it. Plus, you shot 97, not like you were at 99.

You can't make up rules to suit yourself. What if the next shot went OB too?

You just say you probably would have broken 100 if you hadn't stuffed up the 18th. Leave it at that. This way, when you reach goals honestly, you'll have a greater (and deserved) sense of achievement.

[uppi]

In a casual round, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that in my opinion. Just have two types of best scores: causual round and tournament round. People might call me a cheater, but when im playing a casual round, if I hit a ball and then go over there and cant find it in the rough, etc. i just drop one and play it from there. I take a penalty for dropping it, but I dont take distance, especially when its busy out there. When I go into a hazard, im not taking my driver out and measuring three club lengths and droping from nearest point in, I just go up to where I think my ball when in and drop one. Also if im right behind a tree, I pull it out and hit it. Why risk breaking my club in a casual round trying to hit it? If its under a tree or something like that I will take and unplayable, but if I can actually swing at it, but doing so might be harmful to my clubs, I move it. I will also fluff my ball up (if im in my own fairway) and I dont worry about rules like grounding my club, etc. However if I hit one OB I do retee/hit a provisional. However when it comes to my league matches/tournaments I am very honest and play by all the rules. I had a 9 on a hole during my tuesday night league beause I tried to punch out of the trees and my ball hit one and came back at me, hitting my golf bag, a two stroke penalty.

[B-Con]

You can't make up rules to suit yourself. What if the next shot went OB too?

He'd still have scored 99. He'd need 3 OB shots in order to go over 100, all else the same.

[Shorty]

He'd still have scored 99. He'd need 3 OB shots in order to go over 100, all else the same.

The point is moot.

He didn't play the hole out. Therefore, no final score.

[Zeph]

Why have one casual record and one tournament record? It's cooler to play by the rules all the time and treat any round as if it was a tournament. That way you keep your focus and may actually break 100, following the rules. It may be cool to say you broke 100, but to what satisfaction, knowing you didn't play by the rules? A ball dropped from OB, a missed putt, I'll take a gimmie and drop the ball. Playing by the rules, always, also make you better at the rules, makes you more aware, you may hit that provisional if you are unsure.

[B-Con]

The point is moot.

You're implied point was that by re-hitting he may still not have beat 100 because he might make the same mistake. I was pointing out that even if he made the same mistake yet again he'd have likely beat 100. I was merely pointing out that he had decent odds of beating 100

had he played by the exact rules.

[Greg]

You gave yourself a penalty and still got a score good enough to break 100, its just a casual round, sounds good to me. Going back and teeing off again many times just isnt an option if there are people playing behind you, dont want to hold everyone up, we're not playing on tour here, just trying to follow the rules as best as we know how and keep the game moving, pro players take so long to make every shot, many times it takes them 5-6 hours to play 18 holes. In a twosome, in a cart, we can many times play 18 in less than 4 hours. I may not be a great player but I usually can play pretty quickly as long as I hit the ball where I can find it, that wastes more time than anything and frustrates myself and the people behind me or hitting ob or in a hazzard, just try to guess where it went and drop and hit and take the penalty stroke, there's no rules official going to disqualify me for not being exact. We're out here playing for fun and I feel unless you intentially try to cheat you're fine.

[Shorty]

You gave yourself a penalty and still got a score good enough to break 100, its just a casual round, sounds good to me. Going back and teeing off again many times just isnt an option if there are people playing behind you, dont want to hold everyone up, we're not playing on tour here, just trying to follow the rules as best as we know how and keep the game moving, pro players take so long to make every shot, many times it takes them 5-6 hours to play 18 holes. In a twosome, in a cart, we can many times play 18 in less than 4 hours. I may not be a great player but I usually can play pretty quickly as long as I hit the ball where I can find it, that wastes more time than anything and frustrates myself and the people behind me or hitting ob or in a hazzard, just try to guess where it went and drop and hit and take the penalty stroke, there's no rules official going to disqualify me for not being exact. We're out here playing for fun and I feel unless you intentially try to cheat you're fine.

I agree with you, but why quote a score when you haven't had one? If it's a casual round, great. I just disagree with people saying that they have scored x when in fact they haven't. I agree that you'd be crazy in a social round to go back and hold up play. Two weeks ago in a competition round I was going pretty well and lost a ball with my second shot on the 18th. Didn't go back and replay it. Could have, but the double bogey or trilple would have stuffed me anyway. The round was wiped. I didn't say that I had any score at all. It was a NCR (no card returned). That's golf.

[Greg]

Like for instance, a course me and a friend of mine play regularly has a par 5 of about 500 yards with water hazzard in the worst place possible, pretty much exactly where my normal 2nd shot would land so every time I've played it ive had to lay up. I recently played it and couldnt find my lay up shot which i assumed i hit too far and went in the water so guessed where it might have went in and took my penalty, I think i ended up getting an 8 on the hole. Maybe sometime ill hit a monster drive and actually have a chance to hit it over but not yet, I just cant get 500 yards out of 2 shots and you pretty much have to carry it most of the way there to get it over the water on the 2nd shot, if you hit it over you'll basically be on the green or even with it if you miss. My friend hits the ball a lot farther, usually hanging around 280-300 yards, probably about a 15 hdp, could be even better if he played more, usually once a week is all he can go with work and 2 young kids at home and one on the way. But even he has to hit a great tee shot to go for it, many times he'll try to kill it and hit it in the trees on that hole and has to punch out and lay up.

[Zeph]

It wasn't the tee shot either, was the second on a par 4. Also said he was too lazy to go back and hit another one.

Greg: That's a hazard, and another story. If you are hitting against a hazard, don't find the ball, knowing it must have gone in the hazard, you can play by the rules.

2. If it is known or virtually certain that the original ball that has not been found has been moved by an outside agency (Rule 18-1) or is in a water hazard (Rule 26-1), the player must proceed under the applicable Rule.

We got the same situation at my home course. Shot off the tee is into a blind fairway with a lateral water hazard with lots of trees. If you hit in that direction, the ball could be on the fairway or in the hazard. It's impossible to tell from where you hit. If we don't find the ball, the rule above is used.

[Greg]

It wasn't the tee shot either, was the second on a par 4. Also said he was too lazy to go back and hit another one.

"Rule 26-1

b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped." Thats exactly what i did, actually stepping back a few yards so to drop the ball before the fairway runs out and is a little flatter, which i guess according to this rule, is fine.

[LaPuzza]

Wow. Thanks to everyone for the comments. I don't know many serious golfers IRL, so it's nice to get so many different opinions.

This does open up another question though. I see that a lot of people would have done what I did, or do similar things that break the rules. What percentage of the time do you, personally, play an entire round 100% according to the rules? Also, what do you do with your scores when you play a "casual" round and don't follow the rules: Do you post a score on GHIN like I did, or do you just toss the card?

[Zeph]

Always play by the rules, never post a GHIN score during a practice round where I hit many balls and don't care about score or just fool around with friends.

[pittpanther]

What percentage of the time do you, personally, play an entire round 100% according to the rules?

What percentage? 0%

Every round I have ever played I have lost at least one ball. I don't know I have lost it until I look for it for a while. In these instances, I have NEVER gone back and re-hit. And unless I am in a tournament, I never will.

Also, what do you do with your scores when you play a "casual" round and don't follow the rules: Do you post a score on GHIN like I did, or do you just toss the card?

I keep the card for a few days as a reminder of what I did well, and what I did poorly, then I toss it. Don't know what GHIN is, and don't really care. I don't play golf to compete against, or to bet against, people that are significantly better or significantly worse than me. If I don't think I can beat you straight up, then I won't bother betting.

The concept of me playing Tiger Woods and "beating" him because he gave me 35 strokes, makes no sense at all. He's better than me, and no handicap system is going to change that.

[kris]

Also, what do you do with your scores when you play a "casual" round and don't follow the rules: Do you post a score on GHIN like I did, or do you just toss the card?

in my opinion there's really no point in completely tossing out your round because of one incident when playing a casual round. it's casual for a reason and if you drop for OB instead of rehitting, I really couldn't care less. it's impractical to rehit when trying to keep up with others anyway so really, what's the point in pretending the entire round didn't happen because of one or two incidents.

now if it's tournament play, it's a different story. but casual is casual, in the end it's supposed to be fun.

[2bGood]

ESC has nothing to do with how many strokes you can take on an individual hole, nor on your score for the full round. It

I agree, this is a pet peave of mine. I golf with one guy who will always not put out holes etc as his "handicap will not allow him to take a score higher then x" drives me crazy when we get to the end of the round he anoune he shot 81 today (ya but you didn't finish 4 holes pal) I need to get into a money game one of these days so I can force to count all his shots.