What happened to etiquette in golf?

[MackJL06]

*note the sarcasm on the 4w comment....*

on to my personal experience(s) here...my home course has a par 5 that you hit downhill to a blind fairway...cross a creek and then hit up to an elevated green. this is one of those holes that has a button to push at the teebox so that when you cross a cartpath you hit another button to signal the players on the tee that they are safe to hit.

well i was paired with two other guys to start my round...really fun guys...good players...but very very drunk ( beer every 2 strokes plus 1 beer for the loser of a hole...this was hole 6). we all hit our tee shots and were sitting pretty looking to hit the green in 2 from the fairway. i took off down the fairway first and "assumed" (dangerous word) that the guys would hit the button to alert the players behind us not to hit.

i had my bag set up about 5 feet to my side as i was taking my practice swing. addressed the ball and heard the loud THHWWWWAK of a ball hitting the bottom of my bag! i looked around and realized the group behind us (who were not visible due to the fairway being out of view from the tee). i used all of my maturity to step on the ball...pound it in the fairway...all the good stuff. we were driving across the bridge to go up to the green and i looked at the guys i was playing with and said..."you guys hit the button back there right?" ...they immediately started cracking up saying they didnt and thought it was hilarious. at this point i turned around and see the 4some behind us driving over the hill looking for their balls. i put my head down and walk towards them asking who hit the big ball down the middle...turned out it was the 25yr old 6'5 260 muscle man....im a big kid...23 at 6' 3'' and 250 but he made me look small...and im kind of a little girl when it comes to fights. so i showed him where i pounded his ball in the fairway and he started to get verrrrrrry irritated and i had to explain to him i thought the group ahead of me hit the warning button and to take a look at their drunk a$$'s in front of us... he laughed and understood and we shook hands.

as i dug his ball out of the fairway i realized how stupid that was because i was also hurting the course, but i did my best to repair the mark i left. one of those spur of the moment things where it just scared the crap out of me and i acted on immature instinct.

also, on the etiquette front...

-repair your damn ball marks people.

-if you are the closest to the pin when everyone is on the green, pull the pin

-if you are the first in, put the pin in

-if the cart path is on the right side of the fairway..and its cartpath only...and your ball is on the left side...bring multiple clubs

-dont play scramble style golf on sunday afternoons

-reserve story time for when i am not swinging

-the cart girl wants your money...not YOU...so be friendly but dont make everyone else WAIT because you think youre gonna get some

-be mindful of faster players behind you...and mindful of your own playing time.

-turn off your cell phone!...this also means dont put it on vibrate then leave it in a cup-holder...equally annoying

im sure there are more... but this is what i can remember from being paired with a guy a couple days ago....

[Kujo]

Love that cart girl comment, so true and people still just try try try.  Hahaha

[FLOG4]

Funky Fred---A single has no standing on most courses.  They are not in the business of attracting Onesomes.  If you wanna be in front of people who will not allow you thru....Join the people behind you, Nobody there, then the group in front is playing relatively fast. Option 2- Go around them. Why is it you feel they owe you the right to play thru and disrupt their game. Go around skip a hole, you are the one in a hurry.  They have every right to totally ignore you.  You have no rights as a group of ONE.  And hitting into them is just plain DUMB.  I'd pick up your ball tee it up and smack it back.  I would let you thru or ask you to join within 2 holes.  As I play single a fair amount to start, I know the deal. But a single is at the mercy of virtually everyone, so you need to be even more polite than normal.

[DaSportsGuy]

Originally Posted by FLOG4

Funky Fred---A single has no standing on most courses.  They are not in the business of attracting Onesomes.  If you wanna be in front of people who will not allow you thru....Join the people behind you, Nobody there, then the group in front is playing relatively fast. Option 2- Go around them. Why is it you feel they owe you the right to play thru and disrupt their game. Go around skip a hole, you are the one in a hurry.  They have every right to totally ignore you.  You have no rights as a group of ONE.  And hitting into them is just plain DUMB.  I'd pick up your ball tee it up and smack it back.  I would let you thru or ask you to join within 2 holes.  As I play single a fair amount to start, I know the deal. But a single is at the mercy of virtually everyone, so you need to be even more polite than normal.

Agreed!

Last year when I was playing with a buddy of mine. This single is behind us and he is just breathing right down our necks the first couple holes. We catch up with a foursome on the 4th hole, we're waiting, he's also on the tee waiting. We play the hole. We're waiting on #5. He finishes #4 comes up to the tee box pulls out his driver as they begin to get out of drivable distance and as we're getting out of the cart he's teeing up his ball. I was like wtf. I asked him if he wanted to play with us and he just says "No, I'll just play through". I didn't feel like making a scene out of it so I was just like OK whatever and he played the rest of the round behind the foursome with us right behind him the whole time. He didn't even ask to play through or play with us or anything he just tee'd up his ball and whaled away. If he could've gone anywhere after letting him play through I would have gladly asked him if he wanted to but my god he couldn't go anywhere.

[funkyfred72]

Originally Posted by FLOG4

Funky Fred---A single has no standing on most courses.  They are not in the business of attracting Onesomes.  If you wanna be in front of people who will not allow you thru....Join the people behind you, Nobody there, then the group in front is playing relatively fast. Option 2- Go around them. Why is it you feel they owe you the right to play thru and disrupt their game. Go around skip a hole, you are the one in a hurry.  They have every right to totally ignore you.  You have no rights as a group of ONE.  And hitting into them is just plain DUMB.  I'd pick up your ball tee it up and smack it back.  I would let you thru or ask you to join within 2 holes.  As I play single a fair amount to start, I know the deal. But a single is at the mercy of virtually everyone, so you need to be even more polite than normal.

If they are not in the business to attract onesomes then they should not take tee times for them.  A course I used to play would not take tee times for onesomes.  I would just call the course to see if I could get on.  I took a look at the scorecard today and it says nothing about singles having to rights or whatever you speak of.  But is does say "LET FASTER PLAYERS PLAY THROUGH."

A for disrupting their play.....HA!  They were all lucky of they broke 120.

If you or someone smacks my ball back I am ready.  I keep my practice balls in my bag so if mine comes back at me I have about 50 balls that can be directed right back.

[funkyfred72]

Originally Posted by MackJL06

as i dug his ball out of the fairway i realized how stupid that was because i was also hurting the course, but i did my best to repair the mark i left. one of those spur of the moment things where it just scared the crap out of me and i acted on immature instinct.

Or did you figure it was stupid when you saw the guy and realized he could do to you what you did to his ball?

[newtogolf]

I think you're missing the point here fred.  You're ball won't get smacked back at you if you didn't hit into them to begin with.

Originally Posted by funkyfred72

If you or someone smacks my ball back I am ready.  I keep my practice balls in my bag so if mine comes back at me I have about 50 balls that can be directed right back.

[permarkc]

I did not realise that. I appreciate the clarification. I did drop the ball aproximately in the same position, so I guess technically I charged myself a stroke that I shouldnt have. I have had a few guys roll a ball on the green on shorter par 4's, over 300 , and when they got to me, they apologised and I commended them on a terrific shot.

One other time, 2 of us in a foursome hit a 314 yd par 4 and we both made the green. There was a 4 some on it putting. One guy stayed and chastised us for hitting into them, we were apologetic, and once he realised we had hit from the tee box, he also told us great shots...

I almost always walk, and you would be amazed at how many people think a walker is going to slow a group. I play with 2 or 3 other guys that all ride and they very seldom wait for me.

[funkyfred72]

I know.  I'm just having some fun.  I know it was not good for me to hit into them.  It says right on the scorecard to let faster players through.  So if I ask to go through and they say no and the marshall and people in the clubhouse don't care, all bets are off.  Yes I could have gone around them.  I payed my money just like they did.  Slow play disrupts more than letting 1 guy go through.  Hell, I probably could have tee off right after they left the tee box in their carts and still not even disrupted their play at all.  It would have taken them 3 or 4 hits to get to where my drive would be.

Originally Posted by newtogolf

I think you're missing the point here fred.  You're ball won't get smacked back at you if you didn't hit into them to begin with.

[sacm3bill]

Originally Posted by FLOG4

Option 2- Go around them. Why is it you feel they owe you the right to play thru and disrupt their game. Go around skip a hole, you are the one in a hurry...

Many courses discourage this. What usually happens is the single ends up getting sandwiched between the foursome he passed and another foursome for the rest of the round, causing the group(s) he passed to wait on him every hole. I only jump if I'm sure it's not going to inconvenience anyone I'm jumping past (and I'll always ask if it's ok with them first). If I do end up holding any groups up, I'll try to jump again to get out of their way.

Originally Posted by funkyfred72

If they are not in the business to attract onesomes then they should not take tee times for them.  A course I used to play would not take tee times for onesomes.

It's the rare course that does. I don't know of any around here that do.

[FLOG4]

It's quite obvious why Funk Fred plays as a single.  You obviously have no concern with other players, only your Funk self.  So the scorecard says allow faster players thru....But you aren't players....You are player. As a single, you should be able to play in 2 1/2 hours. A normal 4 some takes say 4 hours....So you will play thru 1 1/2 hours of teetimes to stay at the pace a single should keep.  It's obvious everyone should just step aside and let big bad Funk play thru.....Just havin some FUN...If the course is so wide open, and you play so fast.  Go around, and in a short while you could swing back play that hole and then proceed forward.  As a single/twosome  I have played as many as 36 holes in 18 by circling back and replaying, playing two balls, and going to areas that are empty vs being held up.   And to engage in hostile behavior will eventually lead to a group kickin your arse.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by permarkc

I find a lot of etiquette lacking on public courses. My partner and I was playing behind a 3 some..they were slow....we deal with it...on the 9th hole, after taking a phone call and wasting about 10 minutes, we get to the tee box. They are chipping onto the green on a short par 4...322 yds. I figure all is good. I tee up and connect with one of my best drives ever...of course...ball rolls to within 10 yards of the green....One of them walks by and looks down....I didnt see him hit it, but when I got there, my ball is gone, I walk ahead and ask...where did my ball go? One of them gets real loud about not hitting into them...once again...they were chipping to the green, and it was 322 to the front edge...lazered...I asked again, wheres my ball and he says its out in the long rough, he hit it as he walked by. Now, at 300+, there is no way it would have ever hit them in the air. So, instead of an easy up and down for birdie, I take a drop (couldnt find my ball), chip on and 2 putt for bogey. Now Im not real concerned about the score as we were playing for fun, but the guy wouldnt leave it alone...Came up to me with a club in his hand....Now...Im not real big, but fairly well built...and unfortunately have no fear, ( personality flaw!), I reiterate that I hit the best drive ever, its over 300 to the green...he comes on like hes going to swing with the club, I take my glasses off, look him straight in the eye and tell him, You do not want to go there! very calmly...I think it scared him that I was sooo calm and not scared.....he backed off...I told the pro shop...they didnt care...

There are buttheads everywhere...not just the golf course.....

I was on the other end of a similar situation.  On a short sharp dogleg right my group was on the green putting when a ball came rolling up onto the green from the group behind us who were teeing off.  We briefly debated putting it into the hole as a joke (but we didn't), and then when the guy came up all apologetic we just stood there and applauded.  None of us was in any danger.  And then we encouraged him to make the eagle putt.

Being a jerk is just too much of a waste of time and energy.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by Clambake

If one assumes that a golf course has tee times set 10 minutes apart and they send foursomes out from 7am-4pm, on any given day they've sent about 216 golfers out on the course, and there are about 110 golfers on the course at any given time (if a 4 1/2 hour round).

According to the Wechsler IQ statistics, 2.275% of the general population have an IQ of less than 70.     Per standard psychiatric definitions, an IQ of 50-69 is defined as a moron, 20-49 is defined as an imbecile, and below 20 is defined as an idiot (clinical definitions, not just figures of speech).

So just going by the statistics, there are about 5 morons, imbeciles, and idiots who play the course that day, and about 2-3 of them will be on the course at any given time.   The odds of running into one are unfortunately pretty good.

And if you don't run into a moron does that mean the moron is you?  (no offense intended - just playing off the old poker addage that if you can't figure out who the fish is in the game it must be  you).

[funkyfred72]

Sweet.  Getting all literal with playER and playERS.  Did I say anywhere that I expected to play a round in 2 1/2 hours?  There is a big difference between waiting a minute or 2 to hit shots and waiting 5-7 minutes for each drive and approach.

I should clarify about saying I was just having fun.  I meant I was just "having fun" on the thread, not the course.

Did you even read everything that happened?  I ASKED to play through and they refused.  The marshall didn't care.  That was the first act of poor etiquette, on THEIR part.  Yeah, better let big bad funk play through (can you sense the sarcasm?).

Originally Posted by FLOG4

It's quite obvious why Funk Fred plays as a single.  You obviously have no concern with other players, only your Funk self.  So the scorecard says allow faster players thru....But you aren't players....You are player. As a single, you should be able to play in 2 1/2 hours. A normal 4 some takes say 4 hours....So you will play thru 1 1/2 hours of teetimes to stay at the pace a single should keep.  It's obvious everyone should just step aside and let big bad Funk play thru.....Just havin some FUN...If the course is so wide open, and you play so fast.  Go around, and in a short while you could swing back play that hole and then proceed forward.  As a single/twosome  I have played as many as 36 holes in 18 by circling back and replaying, playing two balls, and going to areas that are empty vs being held up.   And to engage in hostile behavior will eventually lead to a group kickin your arse.

[funkyfred72]

Well if you are from Sacramento as it says below your name.....accrding to GolfNow.com I could get 258 tee times as a single between August 10th and 13th in the Sacramento area at various golf courses.

Originally Posted by sacm3bill

It's the rare course that does. I don't know of any around here that do.

[carpediem4300]

i played last night and was behind a two ball all the way round i could of played through but there was a competition infront of them so was pretty pointless,

was slow play and i was eager to get round before dark but not alot i could do,

on the 11th a 351yard par 4 dog leg right i could see them on the green so thought i would drive off, this hole i always cut the corner over the tree's flirting with OOB which i think knocks around 60 yards off the hole, well man i flushed that bad boy, quite possibly the best drive ive ever hit, it it pitched a foot off the green and rolled through them, and just to the far edge of the green

Man my heart sank, i legged it up to the green and the guys pointed to where my ball was, and said "awesome drive bud",.............i just apologised profusely which they didnt accept because they saw no issue with it, they seemed quite happy to see such a good shot

i dont think others would be the same, atleast now i know to hold back on that hole just "incase" i flush it

[supoffset]

simple rule  i was taught not that long ago by a wise person(my wife).

When you run into three a$$holes in one day the third one is you, GO HOME!

[FLOG4]

Funk Fred you just don't get it...My post was just FUN....It was sarcasm directed straight at you. The basic rule of playing thru.....It only happens when the lead group makes the offer. If you as the following GROUP of one asks to play thru, that is the problem. That is where your arrogance depicts no observance of the common decency of golf etiquette.