Playing multiple balls and posting to handicap?

[dataris17]

I suppose technically its not allowed, but were not professionals here. Are you using your handicap for anything other than tracking your own personal game? Seems harmless to me. If you're really worried about having a perfectly accurate handicap maybe dont though.

[clutchshot]

Got it.  I thought you meant inflated, as in higher, which was perplexing.  This makes more sense. :beer: I still fail to see how that would really affect somebody's handicap very much, if at all.  He's counting the first ball.  If he hits a "practice drive" after his real drive that is counting ... he still isn't going to hit another drive that counts for at least 10-15 minutes and 3-4 shots.  The real drive is just as much practice for the next drive as the practice drive.  So, he hit two.  Big deal.

I'm with you on this one... Hitting 2nd shots isn't going to help much... I already know how I'm hitting cuz I already warned up on the range. I see pros putt again after they already sank it, guess they are getting extra practice too... An extra shot here and there doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things. So you lower your handicap? How does this help? Then you will get killed when you play against actual low handicappers!

[trackster]

Originally Posted by Zeph

If you break one rule, why not break them all while you are at it? Some foot wedges here and illegal drops there.

The handicap is incorrect, regardless of whether it's too high or too low.

Yes because someone who speeds will probably go around robbing banks and committing murder.  Just like some laws are for lack of a better term "more acceptable" to break, some golf rules fall into this category.

I see no problem with playing some extra shots here and there to pass time.  There are a lot of rules I would call "tournament " rules.  They should be followed to the T during toruneys, but when playing casual rounds they are acceptable.  I am not talking about foot wedges or playing balls from out of bounds but things like the no practice rule or having to play the same brand ball on a hole.

[jshots]

I really started to think about it because I shot my lowest 9 hole round ever the other day, and I've noticed that I generally score lower when I'm playing alone. I decided not to post it because I was literally hitting 2/3 extra balls every hole in order to not catch up to the threesome ahead of me, to get some practice on my longer irons and driver. I'm not going to stop posting the scores on rounds where I hit just a couple extra throughout the round.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, it's perfectly legal to practice on/near the green of the previous hole you just played?

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by Chas

Exactly.  I've started playing 2 or 3 balls per hole on a local Executive (par 60) course in the quiet mid-afternoon, mostly to improve my unfortunate chipping and putting.  Now that my driving has improved the short game is killing me.   I don't even write down my first-ball scores for the reason well explained above.  Playing multiple balls gives you a much quicker feel for how the course is playing, and how YOU are playing, on that particular day, allowing for much better adjustment.

Not that my chipping or putting seems to reflect that advantage in my particular case ....

You can play out the hole with your one ball and THEN practice chipping and putting on the hole you just completed and you will be fine under Rule 7-2.  You cannot practice chipping or putting during the play of a hole, but 7-2 allows chipping or putting between holes on the green of the hole last played or any practice green.

[minitour]

I do sort of the same thing.  Unless it's a competitive round, I'm not keeping a score.  I hit extra shots, extra chips.  I don't think I've played a "casual" round of golf in the past 10 years.  One of the benefits of playing infrequently and at sleepy courses.

No, I don't submit those scores.  They don't count.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by trackster

Yes because someone who speeds will probably go around robbing banks and committing murder.  Just like some laws are for lack of a better term "more acceptable" to break, some golf rules fall into this category.

I see no problem with playing some extra shots here and there to pass time.  There are a lot of rules I would call "tournament " rules.  They should be followed to the T during toruneys, but when playing casual rounds they are acceptable.  I am not talking about foot wedges or playing balls from out of bounds but things like the no practice rule or having to play the same brand ball on a hole.

If the extra practice shots are during the play of a hole then it's a pretty big rule to break imo.   As others stated nothing wrong with playing the first ball all the way through and then if having to waste time dropping a few balls to practice chipping and putting.

As for "more acceptable" rules to break, that's up to each person to determine what they feel comfortable with.  I play with some guys that are totally by the rules, have other guys that make rules up as they go.

For example, one guy I played with this week hit his ball in the rough, but the course was crowded and we had 3 ball pushing us (we were pushing a 4 ball) so the guy gave up looking for his ball after a minute, dropped a ball where he thought it landed and continued playing.  When I asked for scores on the hole, he told me his score and said he didn't include any penalty for a lost ball because he didn't take the 5 minutes he was allotted by the rules to look for it.   Was that an acceptable rule to break?  I didn't think so, I wouldn't score it that way, but I wrote his score down as he told me (wasn't a tournament) and he put it in for his handicap.

[thescarecrow]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

If the extra practice shots are during the play of a hole then it's a pretty big rule to break imo.   As others stated nothing wrong with playing the first ball all the way through and then if having to waste time dropping a few balls to practice chipping and putting.

As for "more acceptable" rules to break, that's up to each person to determine what they feel comfortable with.  I play with some guys that are totally by the rules, have other guys that make rules up as they go.

For example, one guy I played with this week hit his ball in the rough, but the course was crowded and we had 3 ball pushing us (we were pushing a 4 ball) so the guy gave up looking for his ball after a minute, dropped a ball where he thought it landed and continued playing.  When I asked for scores on the hole, he told me his score and said he didn't include any penalty for a lost ball because he didn't take the 5 minutes he was allotted by the rules to look for it.   Was that an acceptable rule to break?  I didn't think so, I wouldn't score it that way, but I wrote his score down as he told me (wasn't a tournament) and he put it in for his handicap.

This is crazy...............You can cheat all you want around a golf course, nobody cares, however never, ever, say you have an official handicap.

[MacDutch]

To the OP:

What happens to your scores when playing with others and only playing a single ball? If your scores are somewhat the same, I do'nt see the problem. When your scores playing alone and with multiple balls are better, thats because it is easier.

And when you post this queustion in the rules section, you get the proper answer to play by the rules. Which is: its a no go for two reasons: can't post a score without a marker, and not allowed to practise on the course. During a tourney its a dq.

[Valleygolfer]

I have decided to do this because I don't get out enough anymore but I decided to only post my weekend 18 for now. I can play 2 balls like I am playing 18 on 9 during the week, continue to try to score well. The only part that stinks is that I am not consistently in the same area so I may be walking back and forth a lot. Quite a few of the night guys do this on my track since it is pretty empty after 5 pm.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by MacDutch

To the OP:

What happens to your scores when playing with others and only playing a single ball? If your scores are somewhat the same, I do'nt see the problem. When your scores playing alone and with multiple balls are better, thats because it is easier.

And when you post this queustion in the rules section, you get the proper answer to play by the rules. Which is: its a no go for two reasons: can't post a score without a marker, and not allowed to practise on the course. During a tourney its a dq.

In the US you are no longer required to have a marker.  They take your scores on faith and assume that your club has an active handicap committee for oversight.  Back in 1988 when I first started to carry an official handicap the score did require an attesting signature, but it could be anyone.  I think that they removed the requirement mostly because it was too easy to get a stranger to sign, or a buddy who didn't have any scruples with helping a sandbagger.  I knew guys who just forged a signature different from their own.  It didn't have to be readable.  So having the score witnessed was never any guarantee of accuracy.  I even returned a few cards with the signature of someone who hadn't even played with me, but the scores were legitimate.  If I played as a single with a group of strangers, they weren't always willing to sign my card for some unknown reason.

Now days all we have to do in my men's club is just enter the score in the GHIN computer.  We don't even submit the card.  We do have a good handicap committee which constantly reviews returned casual scores and compares them to tournament scores.  If too large a discrepancy shows, then action is taken.

[Dave2512]

Originally Posted by jshots

I really started to think about it because I shot my lowest 9 hole round ever the other day, and I've noticed that I generally score lower when I'm playing alone. I decided not to post it because I was literally hitting 2/3 extra balls every hole in order to not catch up to the threesome ahead of me, to get some practice on my longer irons and driver. I'm not going to stop posting the scores on rounds where I hit just a couple extra throughout the round.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, it's perfectly legal to practice on/near the green of the previous hole you just played?

Makes sense. I don't do much practice on the course, I will occasionally putt and chip after holing out. In almost every instance it's because I blew one or the other. The shots get better the more I take. I can see how hitting multiple shots could lead to a lower score. There's a reason people take mulligans, usually don't make the same mistake twice.

[clutchshot]

I have decided to do this because I don't get out enough anymore but I decided to only post my weekend 18 for now. I can play 2 balls like I am playing 18 on 9 during the week, continue to try to score well. The only part that stinks is that I am not consistently in the same area so I may be walking back and forth a lot. Quite a few of the night guys do this on my track since it is pretty empty after 5 pm.

I do this sometimes by myself.... Usually ball #2 wins, but not always.

[Golfingdad]

Makes sense. I don't do much practice on the course, I will occasionally putt and chip after holing out. In almost every instance it's because I blew one or the other. The shots get better the more I take. I can see how hitting multiple shots could lead to a lower score. There's a reason people take mulligans, usually don't make the same mistake twice.

People who take mulligans are giving themselves a "do over" and disregarding the first shot. OP is talking about practice shots after the one that counts. Big difference.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave2512

Makes sense. I don't do much practice on the course, I will occasionally putt and chip after holing out. In almost every instance it's because I blew one or the other. The shots get better the more I take. I can see how hitting multiple shots could lead to a lower score. There's a reason people take mulligans, usually don't make the same mistake twice.

People who take mulligans are giving themselves a "do over" and disregarding the first shot. OP is talking about practice shots after the one that counts. Big difference.

There is s cumulative effect though.  I you screw up a mid iron on the first hole and take one or 2 extra balls, then that mid iron on the 2 or 3rd hole has the potential to be a lot better than it would be without the practice.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

There is s cumulative effect though.  I you screw up a mid iron on the first hole and take one or 2 extra balls, then that mid iron on the 2 or 3rd hole has the potential to be a lot better than it would be without the practice.

I understand that.  I just tend to think that in the long run, its going to be fairly minimal, and it's all in the direction of a vanity cap, so no big deal.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt

There is s cumulative effect though.  I you screw up a mid iron on the first hole and take one or 2 extra balls, then that mid iron on the 2 or 3rd hole has the potential to be a lot better than it would be without the practice.

I understand that.  I just tend to think that in the long run, its going to be fairly minimal, and it's all in the direction of a vanity cap, so no big deal.

The point is that it's a rules question in the rules forum, so the answer should be based on the rules, not on personal opinion.

[Dave2512]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

People who take mulligans are giving themselves a "do over" and disregarding the first shot. OP is talking about practice shots after the one that counts. Big difference.

I didn't say the OP is taking mulligans and I understand the difference. I only mentioned it to point out that with repetition mistakes tend to be minimized, which was the content of the rest of my post. I agree with Fourputt about the cumlative effect and I thought my post made that clear, especially if the practice shots are taken after a bad shot.

We really don't know what the OP is doing other than tossing down balls here and there, he hasn't provided any details. But he did admit that he shot his lowest 9 hole score while he was doing it. It certainly couldn't hurt. Like I said before when I do practice after holing out it's almost always after making a mistake. Even though it's allowed I tend not to make that mistake again that day if faced with a similar situation. If I could do the same thing after hacking one out of the rough and missing a green it would definitely benefit me later.