Most Broken Rule in Golf

[aceadair]

This is probably not the most broken rule but you see a lot of golfers breaking hazard rules.... i.e. grounding your club or raking the sand with your feet befroe the shot. A lot of people dont even know they are in a hazard and that can lead to several broken rules.

[norcalgolf]

I have seen guys use a high spin ball on short holes and a distance ball on long holes. We let the ladies in our league use "water" balls when they hit on #3. It's a forced carry of about 75 yards over a pond. The funny thing is, they use these old nasty balls that probably don't fly as far or as straight. So they end up in the pond anyway.

There is nothing against the rules with respect to using a different ball on each hole. What you can not do is change the ball you are using on a particular hole. Say use a different ball for putting. Many (if not all) of the professional tours, and most national and regional associations run tournaments will have a one ball rule in place for the tournament, but when you are out with your friends you can change the type of ball you are using once you have holed out (meaning when you play the next hole).

[norcalgolf]

From my experiences I would say the following in no particular order:

1) advice
2) gimmies (not putting out)
3) mulligans
4) o.b./lost ball (oh I will just drop up there) - well that would be a serious breach of the rules - playing from the wrong spot - and unless corrected requires a DQ.
5) grounding of a club in a hazard or bunker
6) standing behind someone on their line to watch their putt
7) improper drops - not location, just the manner in which people drop.
8) wrong locations for drops
9) not taking relief properly from cart paths and IMOs
10) taking relief from an O.B. fence

I am guilty of the advice one when playing casual rounds. Especially with my higher handicap friends. Tournament rounds I am very careful about advice and do not give or ask.

The other one during casual rounds is anything that will damage my club. If my ball is resting against a rock or something else that might damage my club and I do have a shot (ie if I wasn't worried about damaging my club I would be able to hit the shot, I will move my ball). I won't move it if I don't have a shot (say it is between two rocks and there is no way to get a swing on it). Tournament rounds, I will take an unplayable in this circumstance if we are playing the ball down (no life/clean/place in effect).

The other one I will also do during a casual round is if I am going to max on the hole with respect to ESC, (say it is a par 4, and I put 3 balls O.B., I will just drop one in the fairway and play out, or just pick up). My score for the hole for handicap is going to be ESC. Tournament rounds I will play it out (I had 4 lost balls on one hole. That was a nightmare, shot a 13).

Just for reference 60-75% of my rounds are what I consider tournament rounds (club tournaments, etc).

[GoingfortheGreen]

From my experiences I would say the following in no particular order:

I didn't realize this was against the rules....??

[iacas]

I didn't realize this was against the rules....??

It's not. It's only illegal if it's your partner. You can stand behind the line (though standing on the through line is considered bad form, unless you're really far away) all you want. The player can ask you to move, but you can move straight back.

It's a wonder more PGA Tour pros don't stand on the line - and well back - when they have similar putts.

[Jeepthrills]

Um....you DO know you're supposed to count EVERY round you play towards your handicap, right?

I do. However, as I said before, this course is not rated and therefore it is impossible to count towards handicap.

[norcalgolf]

It's not. It's only illegal if it's your partner. You can stand behind the line (though standing on the through line is considered bad form, unless you're really far away) all you want. The player can ask you to move, but you can move straight back.

Sorry I should have been more clear in this respect.

You are correct, partner nor caddie can stand on your line when you putt. This is noted in rule 14-2. The other is an etiquette item mentioned in the rules: Players should not stand close to or directly behind the ball, or directly behind the hole, when a player is about to play. So there is no penalty but it is against what the rules suggest as proper etiquette. This is probably why you don't see the pros watching from behind other people when the putt. Though they will often walk over behind the person once they have putted and watch the line.

[MGP]

I do. However, as I said before, this course is not rated and therefore it is impossible to count towards handicap.

That isn't true, at least for official USGA handicaps. You can submit any score, even from an unrated course and the handicap chairman (or committee) from your USGA sanctioning body will assign a course rating based on yardage.

It's been many years, but I've done it before. When the handicap sheets came out those rounds were indeed counted in the calculation. You can go to www.popeofslope.com (Dean Knuth's site) and I think he explains it there. It's a great site and explains almost all there is to know about handicapping.

[Jeepthrills]

That isn't true, at least for official USGA handicaps. You can submit any score, even from an unrated course and the handicap chairman (or committee) from your USGA sanctioning body will assign a course rating based on yardage.

Neither the USGA or GAM (Golf Association of Michigan) acknowledge this course. According to the people in the Pro Shop it is not rated and never has been. If there is a way I can do it I will. However, there is no option for entering a score on a course that based on the USGA's own database does not exist. I have every score that I have shot there the last three seasons.

[Philfest]

I was concerned as to whether or not I would find any perfectly obedient and rule abiding golfers on this site or not, but I'm glad to see they're all right here...

Those of you that aren't putting for thousands and teeing up for millions, please come clean....!

[lamebums]

I'm going to be pretty stubborn about this one, but playing the ball as it lies is the most broken rule. Kicking it out from under a tree, fluffing up your lie, improving it, getting it out of a divot hole, whatever. I'm guilty of this sometimes myself too... as an extension of this, people use "winter rules" too much.

[darthfader]

Hey everyone.... great thread! I actually had an embedded ball on the tee box once... (don't ask) I wonder what that ruling would've been.

Here's one of my favorites, and one that hasn't been mentioned...

"If a ball, when not in play, falls off a tee or is knocked off a tee by the player in addressing it , it may be re-teed without penalty . However, if a stroke is made at the ball in these circumstances, whether the ball is moving or not, the stroke counts but there is no penalty."

I can't count the number of times I've seen someone accidently waggle the ball off the tee, and pronounce "That's ONE" to the whole group. No, its not. Tee it back up and let it fly! :)

Its not the MOST broken rule, just thought it was worth mentioning.

[Jeepthrills]

That isn't true, at least for official USGA handicaps. You can submit any score, even from an unrated course and the handicap chairman (or committee) from your USGA sanctioning body will assign a course rating based on yardage.

I did some more digging on this and found that the USGA has what they call a short course handicap. It is for courses that are under 3000 yards for 18 holes. It is designed to allow equitable play on this type of course. This handicap is not to be combined with your true handicap.

Unfortunately this still doesn't help me as the course I play is 2000 yards for 9 holes. I am still waiting on responses to the e-mails I sent to GAM and the USGA about this topic.

[MGP]

That's good to know. I play a little unrated par 60 executive course here from time to time and I have put in my scores and they were included in the handicap. It plays right at about 3200 yds though, so now I know why they include the scores in my regular handicap.

It's tough little course in it's own way though, almost all the greens are very tiny, firm, elevated and crowned. What it lacks in distance it certainly makes up for in "stroke eating" abilty on and around the greens. It's a great place to practice your scoring game!

[iacas]

Hey everyone.... great thread! I actually had an embedded ball on the tee box once... (don't ask) I wonder what that ruling would've been.

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

I can't count the number of times I've seen someone accidently waggle the ball off the tee, and pronounce "That's ONE" to the whole group. No, its not. Tee it back up and let it fly! :)

I think it's usually said as a joke. At least, I hope so, and the few times I've heard it or said it it's been a joke.

[lamebums]

I actually had an embedded ball on the tee box once... (don't ask) I wonder what that ruling would've been.

I'm going to guess, and then ask...

My guess: You topped the hell out of it, sending the ball straight into the ground. My question: Was this it? If not, what happened?

[Jeepthrills]

That's good to know. I play a little unrated par 60 executive course here from time to time and I have put in my scores and they were included in the handicap. It plays right at about 3200 yds though, so now I know why they include the scores in my regular handicap.

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.

[ezmoney5150]

I would say it's the lost ball. We put in a local rule on our league that allows the person to drop a ball, with a 1 shot penalty, in the vicinity of where it went "missing." The letter of the law requires that the player return to the spot where the last shot was played and hit from as close as possible to that point with a one shot penalty.

I see alot of people play the lost ball that way. The one I see alot is o/b. I see alot of people play it like a lateral water hazard. Some people ask me why I re tee when I hit it out of bounds. It's the rules.