How honest are you with scoring???

[MajorSlice]

When we started out, we hardly counted anything negative.  Then we gave ourselves 2 mulligans per 18.  Now we count everyhting, .  Cheating your score is only cheating yourself.  It feels better when you get a good score.

[moparman426]

Originally Posted by Timothy Voyles

Perhaps you go back and read my posts again? I never mentioned anything about not wanting to hold anyone up... It simply doesn't bother me being in the hole nor does it affect me taking the time it takes for me to identify a line I am comfortable putting. If anything it's pure laziness, which has no effect on anyone else.

Get a life from be the forum rule police? lol wow....

You're right, I completely singled you out here, by not mentioning any names.  So sue me.  And really, "forum rule police"?  When did I say anything about anyone breaking any "FORUM RULES".  lol, wow....get a life, indeed.

Originally Posted by moparman426

For the poster that said he didn't want to hold up the course as a single, get a life.....

Yes, i said this and obviously my train of thought was elsewhere.  For that, I apologize.

[Chas]

I played with a guy for the first time earlier this week and we had an enjoyable round. We'll probably play again. But I did notice that he used his foot wedge often, which surprised me because I rarely see that done (even as a walk-on single, almost always playing with strangers). I recommend never, ever improving your lie even if your partner does it (or playing mulligans for that matter). Of course I usually won't see it happen unless I'm sharing a cart. Playing the ball as it lies is a fundamental part of the game and besides, hitting a halfway decent shot out of a divot (or with a restricted backswing, etc etc) is so very satisfying, as well as boosting confidence. If you bungle the shot .... well it's just another learning experience. No big deal. But I understand that there are many ways that this great game can be played for recreation, and many different motives. So seeing foot wedges used doesn't bother me at all, as long as the score, if one is kept, isn't being taken seriously. Another guy in the group picked his ball up a couple of times - very sensible in the circumstances I thought (we were falling behind a bit). Sometimes a scrambled par from a rotten lie or whatever is much more satisfying than a GIR birdie. Funny game golf.

[Timothy Voyles]

Originally Posted by moparman426

You're right, I completely singled you out here, by not mentioning any names.  So sue me.  And really, "forum rule police"?  When did I say anything about anyone breaking any "FORUM RULES".  lol, wow....get a life, indeed.

ugh joke fail due to text here... trying to not take it all serious, but wanted to be clear yet turned it all to muck...

not rules of the forum, rules of the game via forum, more clear this way?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by moparman426

If you take a stroke from the putting surface and put the ball in the cup, with the flag stick still in place, it's a penalty.

That wasn't mentioned before.

[GolfGhost]

I have been playing for 7 weeks and I count every stroke.  Admittedly, in my first few rounds I took a liberty or two.  But you cant go OB and not count it.

[Tomboys]

To OP--

We're all pretty hardcore golfers on this site, so when it comes to abiding by the rules of golf, "you're either pregnant or not".  There are no mitigating cicumstances.  Understandably, you may have played under some "revised' rules before because you may not have known what the correct rules were.  However, once you've learned what the correct rules are, then you should abide by them.  If you choose not to, which is fine by me, then you forfeit the right to complain about "cheaters".  Also, don't bother to quote a handicap index or even a score because they have no merit.

I play with a bud that moves the ball all the time and "magically" finds all his wayward shots.  He tends to shoot on average about 5 strokes better than me per round.  However, I play according to the rules and I've had to hit balls off roots, cartpaths, heck, even left-handed (I'm a righty).  I've got the gouges in my irons to prove it.  But, to me, hitting a good recovery shot out of those dodgy lies is part of the allure that makes this game rewarding.  For others, it's all about the score, regardless of how that score is "calculated".  To each his own.  I will say that I grew weary of my bud boasting about how good he was and how he was better than me a while ago, so I played a round under "his" rules.  I thrashed him by 8 strokes.  Afterwards, he said, "You know, we should really play by the proper rules."  LOL.  No sh*t, Sherlock...

[Lost-Ball]

ok so i played my second round of 18 today and these are the results. 41 on the front nine with one O.B.(water hazard), just pars and bogeys. back nine was a disastor. 52 had no pars on the back nine and had 2 O.B.(tee shots). 1 triple bogey,5 double bogeys, 3 bogeys on the back. thats not my normal playing and u cant say oh cuz now your scoring correctly you see how u really play. no i just played like crap on the back nine. simple as that. i was 2 chipping and 3 putting and overly drawing my iron shots into the greens. probley only had 3 GIRs on the back nine. just was tired, ready to go and rushing i guess. so a whopping 93 today.

[Lost-Ball]

oh yea, course info... playing from the white tees -- 68.5/113     6116 total yards.

[LovinItAll]

To answer the original question: - I count everything, no mulligans, and it's not entirely unusual for someone in our group to make another putt out a 4 incher. I have no problem with that. -- BUT -- Man, play however you want to play aside from doing anything to slow others (sounds like you're aware of that). We used to play with an old guy that dug a heel tee on every shot he took from the fairway. Someone called him out on it and he said, "I wouldn't have fun if I didn't do that." And that's the main thing: Have fun! Everyone that says that it's not really golf if you aren't playing by the rules is right, but hey, maybe you don't want to play that game. Nothing wrong with that.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by moparman426

If you take a stroke from the putting surface and put the ball in the cup, with the flag stick still in place, it's a penalty.  Does not apply to shots taken from outside the putting surface, such as chips, etc...  Why wouldn't a person pull it for that reason alone?

I could not care less what the poster does, but when someone represents something as a RULE and it is wrong then it behooves people who know what the actual rule is to speak up.  If you take a stroke on the putting green and the flagstick is left in and you don't hit the stick nor does the ball go into the hole then there is NO penalty.  But someone is going to listen to wrong person, think that is the rule, and then make a fool out of themselves telling their playing partners the "rule" or even worse indoctrinate some new golfer with the "rule".  This is exactly how so many ridiculous mistaken rules come into being.  That is why I made he correction.

People who want to pontificate about rules ought to be sure they know what the rules actually are.  There is no rule against putting with the pin in.

As to why someone might not pull the pin?  They could be too far away, say 60 feet, to be able to clearly see the hole and if accompanied would have had the pin tended (which right there proves that the whole leaving the pin in a penalty is nonsense since most people tending the pin keep it in the hole until after the putt is struck).  But since they are playing alone and cannot have it tended they decide that it is more important to be able to see where the hole is than the small risk of hitting the pin or holing the 60 footer?

But that is all irrelevant to the issue of what the RULE is and what it isn't.

[Teamanglerx]

Lost ball, that 93 is probaly your true score.  Having to count OB's, all your putts, and play from unfavorable lies adds up.

[Lost-Ball]

Lost ball, that 93 is probaly your true score.  Having to count OB's, all your putts, and play from unfavorable lies adds up.

Haha um no. Go back and read the earlier comments. The only thing I wouldn't count is O.B. shots which I MIGHT have 2-4 times in one round. Some rounds I have no O.B. balls at all. Everything else I count and play as is

[B-Con]

Playing golf with few strokes is hard. Playing golf consistently with few strokes is really hard. The former is akin to having a good hole. It's actually reasonably difficult to move the ball 350 yards an into a 4.25" cup in just 4 strokes. The latter is what a golf score is about, how consistently you played golf. Keeping the ball in play and hitting a good shot or two is a nice way to play golf. But golf scores aren't about playing decently some of the time, it's about not playing badly ever. Taking a few mulligans or not counting a few OB shots may not seem like a big deal, but for the way golf is set up it's a [i]huge[/i] difference. There is a big difference in consistency between the guy who never hits OB and the guy who hits OB 3 times per round. Those penalties are measuring something perfectly legitimate to measure, the fact that it costs you a stroke or two is [i]not unfair[/i]. If you play OB with no penalty dropping from where it went out, you're essentially not counting 2.5 shots per instance. The first shot is a penalty stroke, the second shot is the original one you should have counted. Now you should be back on the tee hitting three but you're standing down the hole dropping another. That should be your third shot, but I'll guess that it's probably a bad angle off in the rough and not as ideal as another drive would be and so it's only "worth" half a shot. So if you miss 2 to 4 OB shots per round, that's probably roughly 5 to 10 strokes worse you would have actually shot. We don't know for sure, but that's what I'd estimate, since you asked. I couldn't break 90 for the longest time. I straightened out my driver a bit and stopped hitting my irons fat as often, so I stopped losing so many balls in hazards and OB. My score dropped 3 or 4 strokes on average with very little actual improvement. Penalties really do add up. I emphasize that I personally don't care how others play, but if you're concerned with how accurate your score is compared to the real thing, it's a big difference. [quote name="Timothy Voyles" url="/t/59887/how-honest-are-you-with-scoring#post_733946"]I personally won't hit off rocks or cart paths if that's where I end up. I do however count a stroke for a drop (not sure if it's the proper way or not, could be relief in some situations?).[/quote] First, you can always take a penalty stroke and drop within two clublengths not nearer the hole. That's legal. But second, why do that? I totally understand not wanting to ding up a nice club just for one shot, but in such situations I just use a smaller, controlled, make-shift shot to get out of trouble A choked down 1/4 swing hybrid can be easily controlled to not hit the ground, and it's easy to still move the ball 80 or so yards that way. Heck, use your putter and move it 10 or so yards. It's got to be way better than taking an entire stroke to move it a few feet. :-)

[bwdial]

Originally Posted by showtime583

The ONLY liberty I'll take is the "breakfast ball" on the first tee IF I haven't had a chance to hit the range. Realize this isn't by the books (and I'll probably get slammed for it), but I probably end up using it once every 6 or 7 rounds if I really shit the bed or hit it OB on the first tee.....if the ball is halfway reasonable I'll play it...

I did that the other day.  Of course I had just driven from Georgia to Portland, Maine to play golf with a friend, so when I hit my three wood off the heel, my buddy - and the guys waiting for their other two on the tee - told me I had to take another one.

[Roblar]

I guess I cheat more than I thought:

--I never take out a flagstick when I'm playing alone, and I don't give myself any penalties for that.

--I add a penalty stroke, but I never return to the tee box to hit a lost ball (so, I take the stroke and keep the distance...).  I'll often hit a provisional ball just in case though.

What's the flagstick rationale anyway? It might stop a fast-moving ball?  Is it supposed to help establish a line?  ???

[iPutt]

Quite frankly, if I'm playing with someone in a non-competitive round, I could care less what rules they play by. Take 20 extra strokes, move your ball wherever you want. Hell, even if it's a friend that may brag to me about beating me, I don't care, I know what you were actually doing.

That being said, I shot my personal best 80 last week by playing by every single rule in the book. One defining hole for me is when I hit a bad tee shot on the par 5 13th, declared my next ball as a provisional, couldn't find the first ball so I played my 4th shot from the fairway with the provisional ball, and then went on to drive the green in two and two-putt for a bogey. It felt so satisfying to know that my score was 100% legitimate. Was I pissed that a lost ball cost me my first 70's round? Hell yea I was. But I know that the potential is there and I'm just gonna go out and keep working.

[slodsm]

I count them all, some days I wish I wouldn't but the only way to see improvement is to see exactly where I stand right now.

When I'm on my home course on 9 with a tee shot over water I really wish I didn't count everything. Hole 1, almost a sure thing I will hit the W#$%@T creek on my second shot and hole 9, I will go in the water 9 out of 10 times.

Oh well, one of these years and 20000000 balls from now, I'll clear them both.