I tried to call a penalty today...

[sean_miller]

It's already been proven that the pro gave the wrong decision so that argument fails.

My experience is that people who blatantly cheat on the little stuff - right in your face - are testing you. They're taking advantage of your good nature, and likely cheat like hell when you're not looking.

[PhilsRHman]

What happened to golf being a gentleman's game, the only one in which we call penalties on ourselves? This discussion is a demonstration of how far we've come and how pathetic people are to be looking for every loophole in order NOT to follow the rules of golf. Sad.

[mc0388]

If someone was on the phone in-between holes arguing with a pro about a rule infraction. That wouldn't throw off your game?

[iacas]

If someone was on the phone in-between holes arguing with a pro about a rule infraction. That wouldn't throw off your game?

No, it wouldn't. And frankly, if I had broken the rules, who am I to argue about someone "throwing off" my game trying to get a resolution?

So many sad things in this thread. The guy not knowing the rules to begin with. The pro not knowing the rules. The people ragging on the guy for trying to play golf by the rules. So sad.

[tulefog]

...I don't know about you, but I'm an ultra competitive person and if I'm in any competition with you, I don't care what, I'm not letting you get away with breaking the rules*.

This was my point precisely in my earlier post. If the opponent simply did not know the rules (which I suspect he did not given that he regularly grounded his club in a hazard) why not give him the benefit of the doubt, inform him of the rule and enforce it from that point forward? I mean, I would suspect the reason you give your 4 year old son a break in Candyland is because he is inexperienced and simply does not know any better.

Personally I would rather win a round because I played better golf than my opponent. It would be a hollow victory indeed if I won simply because I caught my lesser-experienced opponent breaking a rule he did not even know about.

[iacas]

Personally I would rather win a round because I played better golf than my opponent. It would be a hollow victory indeed if I won simply because I caught my lesser-experienced opponent breaking a rule he did not even know about.

Says a guy with a listed handicap index of 23. No offense intended there... most golfers who have higher handicaps seem to be a lot more cavalier about the rules. The OP's is listed as 0.6. You probably don't play in a lot of tournaments that don't border on the hit-and-giggle variety.

The game is played under rules. Though I can be sympathetic to rules-breakers in other areas of life, and really couldn't care less what someone else is doing in a casual round, a tournament is a tournament, and the guy chose to play, which means it's his responsibility to know and follow the rules. And heck, as a little bit of a rules snob, there might be some satisfaction to beating someone who didn't know the rules because of a rules infraction. Then they can go home and think to themselves "I would have won if only I had known the rules..." Now, I'm not saying I'd get any satisfaction from that. It's never happened to me. The few times penalties have come up (beyond the normal OB, hazard type stuff) anyone I've played with has handled it perfectly normally. None even stick out in my mind... so maybe it's never even happened to me at all. The only incident I can remember involved me telling someone BEFORE they committed a penalty so they wouldn't. It shook them and they played the last few holes angrily because he was miffed about being proven wrong, but I didn't care and had actually saved him two strokes.

[Jay-Bird]

One of my good friends called a penalty on himself before his last shot on the 18th green in our state am qualifier. He stood over the putt, grounded his putter, and paused for a second - then the ball moved forward slightly and settled. Nobody saw it move but him. I was caddying for him, and watching intently and didn't see it. After the ball moved he said "My ball just moved - that's a stroke penalty, right? I grounded my putter."

And he would've gotten away with it if it weren't for the damn rule book.

[Cussin hacker]

I think for the most part people just disagree with the fact that a phone call was made, not that J-B called the penalty. Calling the penalty was correct in my view. He has taken to much heat though. It's just a matter of opinion on the phone call and really not that big of a deal.

Hope ya win the next one J-B without having to deal with your....SO CALLED PRO!!!

[iacas]

I think for the most part people just disagree with the fact that a phone call was made, not that J-B called the penalty. Calling the penalty was correct in my view. He has taken to much heat though. It's just a matter of opinion on the phone call and really not that big of a deal.

Lesson to be learned: carry a rules book and know where to look to show your cheating opponent what rule he's broken.

[TakeDeadAim]

There is something utterly confusing about your post:

The fact that you are playing a semi-final and that you would call the clubhouse in the middle of the match to get a ruling on a clear infraction of the rules, leads me to believe you are competitive. You want to win the match.

But then, why do you let your opponent slide on other obvious violations, such as grounding clubs in hazards and such...

Very conflictive reactions...

If you are just playing for fun with some pals, well I can see that you may let them off the hook on their mistakes... but if you are competitive enough to make a phone call for a ruling...

wtf?

[Jay-Bird]

There is something utterly confusing about your post:

Asked and answered...

His hazard club groundings were on #7 - we pushed. And on the playoff hole (I made bogey, he made bogey and won with his stroke).

[Clambake]

Lesson to be learned: carry a rules book and know where to look to show your cheating opponent what rule he's broken.

There's another thread running called "What's in your bag (other than clubs)?". Just for kicks I did a quick scan through many of the posts and out of 80 posts only 4 people carry a rule book. Nearly everything else you can think of, but no rules. Either everyone is amazing well schooled in the rules (yeah, right!), or to 95% of golfers they aren't of much importance.....

[Parker0065]

If the opponent simply did not know the rules (which I suspect he did not given that he regularly grounded his club in a hazard) why not give him the benefit of the doubt, inform him of the rule and enforce it from that point forward? I mean, I would suspect the reason you give your 4 year old son a break in Candyland is because he is inexperienced and simply does not know any better.

If a grown man with all his faculties needs to be treated like a 4 year old child because he has no idea about the rules shouldn't be playing in golf tournaments. Your example is perfectly fine for a casual round with someone who does not know the rules. If I'm playing in a tournament with someone who breaks the rules they will be called for the penalty and that person can learn a lesson the hard way by loss of hole or strokes. Playing competitively also means you are expected to play by the rules. LOL,,,I've never stood on the first tee of a tournamnet and someone say "Gee are we playing by the rules today?",,,it's already a given! If you don't want to play by the rules thats fine but you have no business playing in tournaments!

[Jay-Bird]

Update.

The guy that "beat" me ended up winning it all.

yay!