Most Broken Rule in Golf

[MGP]

It sounds like one I play in west Michigan. It's only a 60 par, but from the tips, 6 of the par threes are over 200 and 3 more are 180+. All the par 4's except one are tough tests with serious elevation changes, tight fairways and tiered greens. It's one of my absolute favorites and I will be there this weekend. The best part is that it's only $25 to ride 18.

Cool. What part of West Michigan? I grew up just north of Muskegon, right on the lake.

The little exec course here is walk only. It's part of a really excellent practice facility and best of all it's only about 5 minutes from my house. Smiley's Golf Complex

[Fourputt]

Lift, clean, drop. It's cut to fairway height or lower, so you're allowed relief.

By the literal Rules of Golf, that isn't an option if your ball is still within the teeing area of the hole being played, as that area is excluded in the definition of "through the green". But the decision 25-2/8 covers it by using the equity clause, allowing relief because it IS a closely mowed area and it is not in a hazard. The Rules of Golf do not contemplate a shot so bad that it would leave you embedded in the teeing ground.

[Jeepthrills]

Cool. What part of West Michigan? I grew up just north of Muskegon, right on the lake.

It sounds like we colud have been about the same place in different states. It's called Bennona Shores. It's just 10 minutes from Silver Lake. My in-laws have a place there.

[MGP]

It sounds like we colud have been about the same place in different states. It's called Bennona Shores. It's just 10 minutes from Silver Lake. My in-laws have a place there.

It really is a small world! I've played Benonna Shores before but it's been at least 10 years. I've been to Silver Lake many many times too. I remember when I was a kid going on the dune rides there. I miss that part of the country a lot, especially in the summer time. It's a beautiful part of the country.

[Jeepthrills]

The course is better than ever. They keep it in great shape and the people there are awesome. They always take care of us. We put our names on the witing list for membership last year. It will likely be a couple years, but wehn we get it, all we would have to do is play about 10 rounds a year to have it pay for itself.

[teebuck911]

probably when a golfer tees the ball up a head of the tee blocks or play out of turn, even though it does not matter unless you are playing match play it is very annoying,

[dayll]

I pushed a drive into the rough between fairways and heading to the ball and saw a guy bend over and pick up a ball and keep right on walking.Never found my ball and a few minutes later I walked out onto his green where he and 3 others were putting and suggested he had picked up my ball. He denied it and since I knew what pocket he put it in I asked him politely to empty a particular pocket. He refused then complied. Got my ball back, shamed the idiot! dayll

[Thrdroc]

I pushed a drive into the rough between fairways and heading to the ball and saw a guy bend over and pick up a ball and keep right on walking.Never found my ball and a few minutes later I walked out onto his green where he and 3 others were putting and suggested he had picked up my ball. He denied it and since I knew what pocket he put it in I asked him politely to empty a particular pocket. He refused then complied. Got my ball back, shamed the idiot! dayll

Thats not really a rule but more of an inconsiderate thing to do. I always look around to see if it could be someone elses ball before i pick it up.

[Warfish]

My Brother (my playing partner) and I break one rule, since we are beginners still learning th every basics. The Lost Ball.

Almost always this is on a drive only. In such cases, if we slice the ball horridly, and it goes OB and cannot be located, we drop and do NOT take a Penalty. Frankly, we feel we're not good enough to hold ourselves to that kind of penalty just yet. One day? Sure. Just not yet.

However, if there is a Watar Hazard we blast into, even if off to one side, we DO take the Penalty and re-hit or drop as appropriate.

Beyond that we do not knowing break any rules (we dont even do the other newbie rule-break, moving or improving ones lie). Only the "Sliced it into the Unfindable Woods to the Right" House rule.

[lamebums]

Only the "Sliced it into the Unfindable Woods to the Right" House rule.

When I blast a ball into the woods, it's usually so far in that I'm not even going to try and find it. You should shoot a round with me and my buddies sometime - I think we would all complement each other nicely

[iacas]

Almost always this is on a drive only. In such cases, if we slice the ball horridly, and it goes OB and cannot be located, we drop and do NOT take a Penalty. Frankly, we feel we're not good enough to hold ourselves to that kind of penalty just yet. One day? Sure. Just not yet.

How can you really tell if you've improved if you don't keep an accurate score? The difference between 58 with five lost ball penalties and a 48 with no lost ball penalties is a big deal and shows a lot of improvement. Improvement you're going to miss seeing with your current plan.

BTW, it's stroke AND distance, not just a stroke penalty for both OB and lost balls.

[illmadden]

Yeah, I think people confuse OB and water hazards. With OB shots, you have to take a stroke and hit from where you initially hit the shot that went into the OB. For example, if you hit your shot off the tee box and it goes out of bounds...that's one stroke for the shot and one stroke for the penalty. So you should be hitting 3 FROM the tee box. With water hazards, you take a stroke but drop in the area it entered the hazard. No closer to the pin.

During a round this past weekend, I hit my shot off the tee box. It clearly went OB so I hit again from the box. The guy after me hit his shot, which also went out of bounds. I asked him if he was going to hit again and he said "nah, I'm just going to drop and take a stroke."

And I agree with iacas. A friend of mine said he didn't count strokes for OB's and hazards because we weren't that good. But how can you not count them when it's part of the rules??? That's like saying since we're just average basketball players, 3-pointers will be from the foul line. - edit

[Ogg]

Agreed - one of my best friends would always do this - hit it OB and then go drop up where it went OB and take the stroke there. I brought it up to him but he always said that he didn't want to hold up the pace of play. Ironically, he never got better. He remained a 24 handicap for years. He called me one time after a business trip to tell me that he broke 90. Of course after some questioning, he had a few mulligans and some gimmees that he indicated were not all that close.

The worst part was that he knew the rules and he knew he was breaking them.

[laconic517]

Lift, clean, drop. It's cut to fairway height or lower, so you're allowed relief.

embedded balls get relief all the time unless its in a hazardn(maybe waste area too, im not saying either way on that one because its frankly never happened to me since we dont have many waste bunkers here) edit: although now that I think about it, it isnt a hazard so you should get relief.

[rusek]

embedded balls get relief all the time unless its in a hazardn(maybe waste area too, im not saying either way on that one because its frankly never happened to me since we dont have many waste bunkers here)

WRONG.

25-2 Embedded Ball A ball embedded in its own pitch-mark in the ground in any closely mown area through the green may be lifted, cleaned and dropped, without penalty, as near as possible to the spot where it lay but not nearer the hole. The ball when dropped must first strike a part of the course through the green.“Closely mown area” means any area of the course, including paths through the rough, cut to fairway height or less. An embedded ball may only be lifted and dropped when embedd if its in the fairway, fringe, green, or any other closely mowed area. This does not include the rough.

[JKilgore44]

And I agree with iacas. A friend of mine said he didn't count strokes for OB's and hazards because we weren't that good. But how can you not count them when it's part of the rules??? That's like saying since we're just average basketball players, 3-pointers will be from the foul line.

Well said my friend, well said

Honestly though, the most common rule I see broken during casual rounds is the improvement of lies. In high school, we were always allowed to lift, clean, and place (except at the state tournament of course). So that's a habit that has carried over in my game. I always want a perfect lie and no dirt on my ball, so I guess I'm guilty of that. Another rule is the lost ball rule. If my playing partners or I lose a ball IN OPEN SIGHT (not in trees or water, etc etc), then we allow each other to drop and continue from the general vacinity of where the ball "disappeared". Because we usually walk when we play, and always help each other (discussing shots and distances to the pin) we sometimes lose balls. So to compensate, we decide if it was a legitimate lost ball or if it was lost because of our absent-mindedness.

[Thrdroc]

Another rule is the lost ball rule. If my playing partners or I lose a ball IN OPEN SIGHT (not in trees or water, etc etc), then we allow each other to drop and continue from the general vacinity of where the ball "disappeared". Because we usually walk when we play, and always help each other (discussing shots and distances to the pin) we sometimes lose balls. So to compensate, we decide if it was a legitimate lost ball or if it was lost because of our absent-mindedness.

The phenomenon of loosing a ball is usually attributed to inconsiderate golfers coming up the next hole. People seem to think that just because this ball that shouldn't be in their fairway or rough is fair game to pick up. This is common in my rounds with friends. We are all long hitters and as most know, a long hitter for an amateur usually means playing out of opposite fairways and roughs.

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

WRONG.

Unless of course an area in the rough is marked as ground under repair. Good courses will do this. Also, to me this rule is another one as playing outside the rules. Again, I play in New Freakin Hampshire and in April/May the ball will embed all over the place.