If you could change ONE rule, what would it be?

[Golfingdad]

Thanks, I didn't do it.  Somebody helped me out on that.  Kind of like "gave me a putt".

It happens, I think, if you don't pick your own avatar after being a member for a few days.  It's a lot better for everybody else to identify you as something instead of just a silhouette.

If you don't like it, you can certainly change it ... but I'm with @Lihu , it's kinda cool.  I hope you keep it.

[Lastpick]

Gmac is one of my favorites.  When he won the US Open at Pebble Beach, I still remember the excitement of his father.

[Lihu]

Gmac is one of my favorites.  When he won the US Open at Pebble Beach, I still remember the excitement of his father.

You might like this even more, this is probably why he is smiling (the Guinness).

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/graeme-mcdowell-feherty/

The one rule I would change is probably the unplayable one. Make it stricter. It would be more fun that way. Might attract more people. I mean who wants to watch people kicking a ball out to a better lie? I would rather watch my playing partners contorting themselves to extricate that ball from the toughest situations.

It would make golf more about the fun of playing by the rules and not just score.

[Abu3baid]

[SPOILER=OT] You might like this even more, this is probably why he is smiling (the Guinness). [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/108615/] [/URL] [URL=http://www.golfchannel.com/media/graeme-mcdowell-feherty/]http://www.golfchannel.com/media/graeme-mcdowell-feherty/[/URL] [/SPOILER] The one rule I would change is probably the unplayable one. Make it stricter. It would be more fun that way. Might attract more people. I mean who wants to watch people kicking a ball out to a better lie? I would rather watch my playing partners contorting themselves to extricate that ball from the toughest situations. It would make golf more about the fun of playing by the rules and not just score.

I can't tell if you are joking or not, but they are already taking a stroke aren't they? Are you possibly saying that maybe they should take 2 or 3 strokes? You must be the first to ask for stricter rules and making the game harder for it to be more fun! Maybe I read your post wrong though it is 3 45 am now!

[Lihu]

I can't tell if you are joking or not, but they are already taking a stroke aren't they? Are you possibly saying that maybe they should take 2 or 3 strokes? You must be the first to ask for stricter rules and making the game harder for it to be more fun! Maybe I read your post wrong though it is 3 45 am now!

No joke. Golf has lost some of its whimsical nature by focusing too much on score. This leads many people to cheat, and it's no fun watching people cheating.

If we keep the same rules and even get rid of the "unplayable" rule, golf can be more of a "fun" sport. People won't focus more on score, and instead of having fun. About a month ago, I enjoyed watching one of my playing partners hitting out of a few inches of water rather than take a drop. He also had more fun doing it.

Look, they still have a drop for OB and lateral hazards, I'm just getting rid of the arbitrary "unplayable" declarations, and GUR and foot wedges and such.

Unless there's a good reason to take a drop, it shouldn't be encouraged.

[DrvFrShow]

Look, I'm not standing in water to hit my ball. End of story.

[rogolf]

Look, I'm not standing in water to hit my ball. End of story.

Not sure I understand your issue?  You do have choices to avoid standing in water - if it's casual water, there's free relief.  If it's in a water hazard, then there would be a one stroke penalty.

[Golfingdad]

No joke. Golf has lost some of its whimsical nature by focusing too much on score. This leads many people to cheat, and it's no fun watching people cheating.

If we keep the same rules and even get rid of the "unplayable" rule, golf can be more of a "fun" sport. People won't focus more on score, and instead of having fun. About a month ago, I enjoyed watching one of my playing partners hitting out of a few inches of water rather than take a drop. He also had more fun doing it.

Look, they still have a drop for OB and lateral hazards, I'm just getting rid of the arbitrary "unplayable" declarations, and GUR and foot wedges and such.

Unless there's a good reason to take a drop, it shouldn't be encouraged.

You've lost me here.  First off, they don't "have a drop" for OB.  And what exactly is in the rules regarding "foot wedges?"

Lastly, what kind of crowd do you play in that the unplayable lie rule gets abused to the point that you think it needs revising?  I can't remember the last time I, or any person I've played with, took advantage of the unplayable lie rule?  (And, on top of that, "took advantage" is weird to say because it includes a penalty stroke!)

Look, I'm not standing in water to hit my ball. End of story.

Not sure I understand your issue?  You do have choices to avoid standing in water - if it's casual water, there's free relief.  If it's in a water hazard, then there would be a one stroke penalty.

She didn't quote him, but I'm pretty sure it was just a rebuttal to one of the odd rule change proposals in the previous post.

[MS256]

This thread by it's nature is usually a little off of the deep end but tonight the water seems extra deep.

Is it a full moon or something?

[Lihu]

This thread by it's nature is usually a little off of the deep end but tonight the water seems extra deep.

Is it a full moon or something?

Apparently so.

You've lost me here.  First off, they don't "have a drop" for OB.  And what exactly is in the rules regarding "foot wedges?"

Lastly, what kind of crowd do you play in that the unplayable lie rule gets abused to the point that you think it needs revising?  I can't remember the last time I, or any person I've played with, took advantage of the unplayable lie rule?  (And, on top of that, "took advantage" is weird to say because it includes a penalty stroke!)

She didn't quote him, but I'm pretty sure it was just a rebuttal to one of the odd rule change proposals in the previous post.

Whatever happened to golf being more fun and whimsical?

[Golfingdad]

Apparently so. Whatever happened to golf being more fun and whimsical?

I don't know about whimsy, but I've never had more fun playing golf than I do now.

[Lihu]

I don't know about whimsy, but I've never had more fun playing golf than I do now.

I admit that I do too, and I would never would have predicted that I would shoot in the 80s.

If there is only some rule change that could make golf more popular. . .

[DrvFrShow]

How about: Courses must offer "Red" tees.

We have a course around these parts that removed the red tees. You can see where they used to be, but the markers are gone now.... And you don't see many women playing the course. Whose brilliant idea was this?

Another one: Flag colors - change the blue flag to yellow. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to see the blue flag against a background of pine trees? Especially when it is in the shade? Or on a cloudy day? I can find the others just fine, but I can imagine red is pretty difficult for the colorblind. If we accommodate the colorblind there is no way around using blue, so how about we use a nice bright blue, orange, and white flags instead of the darker red, white, and dark blue flags? Hmmm? Wouldn't they be easier for everyone to see? And that would speed up play, too!

I checked and these colors would be suitable for all types of colorblindness.

How about someone come up with a word that rhymes with orange?

[iacas]

How about: Courses must offer "Red" tees.

We have a course around these parts that removed the red tees. You can see where they used to be, but the markers are gone now.... And you don't see many women playing the course. Whose brilliant idea was this?

Another one: Flag colors - change the blue flag to yellow. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to see the blue flag against a background of pine trees? Especially when it is in the shade? Or on a cloudy day? I can find the others just fine, but I can imagine red is pretty difficult for the colorblind. If we accommodate the colorblind there is no way around using blue, so how about we use a nice bright blue, orange, and white flags instead of the darker red, white, and dark blue flags? Hmmm? Wouldn't they be easier for everyone to see? And that would speed up play, too!

I checked and these colors would be suitable for all types of colorblindness.

These aren't really Rules of Golf.

Let's stick to the topic where possible, please. Thank you.

[turtleback]

Prior to purchasing my first range finder, I hit my drives about 275.  My post range finder distance is about 250 and we are about 3000' in altitude.  Some how, technology cost me 25 yards of perceived distance.  The ranger finder has its optimal benefits IMO from 100 yards in.

Reality sucks, neh?  I had a similar experience years ago the first time I ever played at a course that had GPSs in their carts.  I was a lot longer until I acquired the ability to measure how long I was.

I'm guilty of the same thing, except I hit the second ball in the exact same place.  Took out my 7 iron and hit my third tee shot on a par 5 with much better results.  I think I had a 12 on the hole.  GHIN only allowed me to report an 8. Must play by the rules.

You report an 8 for posting purposes, but if you are playing a competition or match the 12 is what counts as your score.

I always can tell whether my ball actually went out of bounds, or if I will find it if I hit it into a place it might be lost, by the quality of the provisional.  If I hit a great provisional it invariably seems to insure that I will find my ball and it will be in bounds.  But even though I then have to abandon a splendid provisional I'm happy to save the 2 strokes.

This wouldn't be a rule change it would be a course layout change:

I'd change most if not all O.B. into lateral hazards and adjust the course rating and slope accordingly... at least for everyday (non tournament play).

That WOULD be a rule change because the rules specifically prohibit doing what you suggest about making OBs into laterals.

Lastly, what kind of crowd do you play in that the unplayable lie rule gets abused to the point that you think it needs revising?  I can't remember the last time I, or any person I've played with, took advantage of the unplayable lie rule?  (And, on top of that, "took advantage" is weird to say because it includes a penalty stroke!)

I'm with you there.  Assuming we are talking about real unplayable lies with the penalty stroke, not foot wedges, etc.

My own experience is that players are more likely to be ignorant of the unplayable lie rules and the relief options than they are to abuse the rule (they frequently are unaware of both the stroke and distance option and the straight back option - they seem only to know the 2 club-length option).  And in any case I do not see how that rule can be abused, since declaration of an unplayable is at the complete discretion of the player and the relief options are well defined.  I can see how someone can break the rule, but abuse it?  Doesn't make sense to me.

[DrvFrShow]

My own experience is that players are more likely to be ignorant of the unplayable lie rules and the relief options than they are to abuse the rule (they frequently are unaware of both the stroke and distance option and the straight back option - they seem only to know the 2 club-length option).  And in any case I do not see how that rule can be abused, since declaration of an unplayable is at the complete discretion of the player and the relief options are well defined.  I can see how someone can break the rule, but abuse it?  Doesn't make sense to me.

I think he's talking about people like me. You know, you're behind a tree right near the green, have no shot at the green, and the only way you have to get to the green is to hit a knockout back out to the middle of a very narrow approach fairway that runs the risk if you flub it of going into the very long rough on the other side into a mess of other trees? OR you could simply call your ball "unplayable" under the rules, take a one stroke penalty, mark your two club lengths, drop the ball, and hit a chip shot to go up and down for your bogey.

Did a couple of people scream when I did this. It is in the rules that only the player can call their ball unplayable, and I did take my one stroke penalty.

[Lihu]

In my experience, more than 50% of the bogey golfers liberally use "GUR" and foot wedges to kick their balls out of divots and avoid hitting off dirt. They justify the movement in line with the "unplayable" rule***, even though they don't usually take an extra stroke.

If this rule did not exist, they would not have this "crutch" to back them up when they pull out the old foot wedge as if they are still "partially" following the rules.

My feeling is that "unplayable" should be obviously so. {Of course this is only my opinion, but the thread does ask for it.}

***Even worse is "Winter rules". http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Handicap-System-Manual/Rule-07/

[Ernest Jones]

In my experience, more than 50% of the bogey golfers liberally use "GUR" and foot wedges to kick their balls out of divots and avoid hitting off dirt. They justify the movement in line with the "unplayable" rule***, even though they don't usually take an extra stroke.

If this rule did not exist, they would not have this "crutch" to back them up when they pull out the old foot wedge as if they are still "partially" following the rules.

My feeling is that "unplayable" should be obviously so. {Of course this is only my opinion, but the thread does ask for it.}

***Even worse is "Winter rules". http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Handicap-System-Manual/Rule-07/

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, unplayable doesn't need to be obvious to anyone other than the player declaring it so provided they take the associated penalty. My understanding is that I can declare a perfect lie "unplayable" if I so desire.