Is it better to play fast or play by the rules?

[trackster]

Alright, I feel like this thread has been in the making after reading many of "problems" of golf discussed on this forum.  For most people we can play plenty fast and within the rules, but most of the complaints are about people who would probably have no interest in joining a golf forum in the first place.  For the average golfer do you think it is more important to play the rules to a T or play at an acceptable pace.

I personally think that speed is more important.  Most golfers won't end up playing major tournaments so the fact that the play perfectly by the rules doesn't really matter.  However, if we start to lose the rules, the game as we know it may start to deteriorate.  Anyone else care to weigh in on the subject.

[Roblar]

Depends on the rule.

If I think I might not find a ball after a shot (usually off the tee), I'll hit a provisional, but sometimes, you just get to where you think your ball is, and it's gone.  In that case, I don't do the 'stroke AND distance' thing and walk back and hit another. I just give myself a penalty and take a drop (and the distance).

[France46]

Originally Posted by Roblar

Depends on the rule.

If I think I might not find a ball after a shot (usually off the tee), I'll hit a provisional, but sometimes, you just get to where you think your ball is, and it's gone.  In that case, I don't do the 'stroke AND distance' thing and walk back and hit another. I just give myself a penalty and take a drop (and the distance).

this^^  The other day, after making a 7 when my tee ball embedded in the rough on 1, I couldn't find the tee ball I skied towards the middle of the fairway on 2.  I just went ahead and dropped another ball and played as if I was hitting 4.

It depends on the course, but sometimes I will hit a "provisional" if I am not sure if my ball is in a yellow water hazard and it would mean having to walk back around the hazard if I didn't find it.

Curious about what others do about short putts?  I like to hole out but some players I play with think it is pretty strange if I mark a 1 footer because I would be standing in their line if I finish.

[tristanhilton85]

The two aren't exclusive. I do both... play fast and by the rules.

[France46]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

The two aren't exclusive. I do both... play fast and by the rules.

Your overall speed of play might be fast, but there have to be times where the rules slow you down like an unexpected lost ball.

[tristanhilton85]

Originally Posted by France46

Your overall speed of play might be fast, but there have to be times where the rules slow you down like an unexpected lost ball.

Kind of rare to have an unexpected lost ball... if there is even a chance that I think it won't be found, I play a provisional... I honestly can't remember the last time I had to go back to where my last ball was played because the ball was all of a sudden lost.

People act like it's one or the other and it simply isn't. Both can be done and you don't even need to be that good of a golfer to do it... you just have to have a little common sense.

I'll agree that slow play is a problem but people playing by the rules isn't even in the top ten reasons why the game is slow. If you really want to speed the game up there are a number of things you can do before saying that the rules should be bent. I'd even say that the majority of slow players aren't playing by the rules as it is.

[France46]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

Kind of rare to have an unexpected lost ball... if there is even a chance that I think it won't be found, I play a provisional... I honestly can't remember the last time I had to go back to where my last ball was played because the ball was all of a sudden lost.

It looks like you play in the Desert, so maybe that is different, but it has been a very wet spring here in France.

Off the top of my head I can think of 6 causes of unexpected lost balls- wet turf, animal holes, blind fairways with uneven bounces, moderate rough where the ball sits down, leaves, and players from another hole playing or picking up your ball.  I tend to average about 4 provisional balls a round, but if I hit one every time there was the slightest chance a ball wouldn't be found, there might be some courses where I might hit 10.

After having a ball embed on 1 and disappear in the fairway on 2 how often would you hit a provisional after that?  And how long do you look for a provisional when you find your original (like I did on #10 that day)?

[flintcreek6412]

Recreational golfers can play by whatever rules they want as long as they keep their pace of play appropriate.  I could care less what rules they bend as long as it's not a tournament or being submitted for HC.  But I do think it's important at some time that they actually know what the rules are so they might realistically know how they really score.  It's pretty obvious when a guy claims to be a 3 but when you play with him it's obvious he's really a 10 without mulligans, stroke and distance and all putts in the cup.  Sometimes they are heartbroken to learn the real rules and other times they will be angry and deny the rules to stroke their ego and claim good scores.

If I'm playing with a 4 some of mediocre golfers I will encourage guys to take a drop to keep things moving.  Who cares if they shoot 97 or 98.  Its mostly about having fun.  No point trying to hack it out of thick grass for 5 strokes, take a drop even if it's not within 2 clubs....again, who really cares.

There are dozens of sports where people participate at a recreational level but don't follow the strict rules of the sport.

[France46]

To be clear, I think slow play is usually caused by many other things besides the rules like players not being ready when it is their turn to play, being inefficient, lacking skill, strictly playing honors off the tee, taking a long time to analyze wind/breaks/etc, long pre-shot routines, etc.

However, if more golfers followed all the rules without improving on any of the above, then I think there would be even slower play.  Just imagine if every guy shooting 90+ followed all the rules and holed every putt on every hole!

[MS256]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

Kind of rare to have an unexpected lost ball.

Must not be any blind fairways and high rough where you play. On some of the dunes courses you can hit what you think is a perfect shot and hit a provisional just to be certain and never find either one of them. Plenty of times the shot would be fine if you only knew where it was but you are not even sure which dune it might have cleared or not cleared, or whether it ran through the fairway into the rough on the other side of the dogleg.

It's the biggest handicap that we deal with that the pros get help on (with spotters). If it weren't for the guys marking the balls in the rough the pace of play at Merion would have come to a screeching halt.

[iacas]

Yes.

TRUE or TRUE evaluates to TRUE.

So both.

This is not an xor question.

[tomvk77]

Well first off all i'm a guy who hits a professional ball pretty fast,

i'll give the advice always. Hit a pro so you can speed up.

Only bad thing is, if you hit the prof well, you don't take that much time searching

for the first one.

So i'm more a by the rules kinda guy. But however if it happens, only when on a non Q round i would except

but the next shot will be the 4th

[MacDutch]

Where do you buy this kind of balls?

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by iacas

Yes.

TRUE or TRUE evaluates to TRUE.

So both.

This is not an xor question.

This was going to be my answer as well.  Also depends on definition of fast.  I have no desire to race through a round for the sake of finishing quicker.  I don't have an issue with a 4 ball round taking 4 - 4.5 hours if everyone is moving and there's not a backup at the tee boxes.

I play by the rules and make sure my group keeps up with the group in front of us, that's my definition of fast.

[David in FL]

The two aren't exclusive. I do both... play fast and by the rules.

This. Anyone who says anything else is just making an excuse for either not playing by the rules or for their own slow play. Having said that, I couldn't care less if the guy in front of me plays by the rules . I only care that he keeps pace with the group ahead of him.....

[RickK]

I'm all for playing fast but one of the things which adds time to rounds is putting out everything.  I don't really like to play with guys who knock your ball back to you when you are left with a putt longer than the length of the "putter grip"...grip...not the entire putter.  Personally, I prefer to putt everything out.  Yes, I know it takes a bit longer but when people give you 2foot, 3foot putts all day everyday and then you play in tournaments...you have to putt those out.  Just think it is a bad habit to get into.

[TJBam]

This question reminds me of one of those AT&T; commercials.  I see OP sitting with a bunch of kids in a semi-circle.  "Is it better to play golf FAST or by the rules?"

Every kid says LIGHTNING FAST!!! And OP rolls his eyes.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by TJBam

This question reminds me of one of those AT&T; commercials.  I see OP sitting with a bunch of kids in a semi-circle.  "Is it better to play golf FAST or by the rules?"

Every kid says LIGHTNING FAST!!! And OP rolls his eyes.

I LOL'd, I can see the new commercials now.  You should play golf like you've got a cheetah tied to your back!