Rules often broken by amateurs

[josef]

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my bad.. i meant the next

Fairway over.. sorry, i'm still learning..

[ChvyKc]

no one has mentioned etiquette. that is an often overlooked aspect of the game. when you are on the green, don't walk on your fellow player's line. whoever is away, ie, farthest from the hole hits first. that is, if you are not playing ready golf (more groups should play ready golf to speed things up). the person with the lowest score on the last hole has honors, or, they get to tee off first. they maintain honors until someone else records a lower score on a hole. again, if your group plays ready golf this doesn't apply. do your yardage and pick your club while you are waiting for your fellow players to hit. that way you are ready to go when it is your turn, ready golf not withstanding. don't talk, make noise, move around when someone else is playing, and don't yell on the course, unless it is fore. don't dawdle on the green when there are groups behind you. keep moving. fix ball marks on the greens and replace divots everywhere else. tend the flag for your fellow player, if needed, and if you are the first to hole out, have the flag ready to replace when the last player has holed out. get cheap balls so you don't have to spend too much time looking for a lost ball. early on, when you aren't posting scores, just drop another ball where you think your first ball disappeared. these are the things that make everybody's day on the course more enjoyable. when you are just beginning, you are probably not keeping score and not posting scores. knowing the rules is important and get to know what they are, and folks on the course can help you with those things if you are not sure what a particular penalty is, but it is never too early to be considerate of your fellow players. that is something you can do as soon as you step on the first tee for the first time.

Paragraphs please

Way to much to try to read. It started to hurt my eyes. So, it's perfectly fine to tee up again after driving out of bounds? I always thought that you had to hit it off the deck if you drove out of bounds.

[Warik]

I didn't realize that. I've been counting strokes where I accidentally touch the ball on a practice putt.

If the ball moves from its original location during a practice putt, it's a stroke.

I see people taking their practice SWINGS < 1 inch next to the ball. I'd be terrified to do that... you go a bit too inside-out or outside-in on the practice shot and you'll have a very ugly result. You shouldn't take practice strokes so close to the ball.

[SirMilton]

Mulligans, mulligans, mulligans! They have to be the worst abuse of golf rules.

I can forgive improving one's lie for most people on most golf courses as on smaller privte clubs and most municipal courses you can be in the middle of the fairway and have a terrible lie - bald, deep grass, muddy, unrepaired divots, etc. Moving a ball a foot or so to get the lie you should have is overlooked by just about everyone in casual golf. Now if you're not in the fairway or first cut, everyone expects you to play it as it lies.

My small town country club doesn't have a Starter, doesn't have any Marshalls and free drop areas are not marked daily (or ever!); you have to make adjustments. Most understand what liberties are OK, but if you are with someone who is accustomed to first class manitenance (and probably readily available caddies), then you need to reach an understanding of local "rules" before playing.

My biggest problem with newbies is their lack of knowledge of golf etiquette. I played with a newbie a couple of weeks ago and repeatedly had to ask him to pay attention when I was driving to help me see where the ball landed. I finally gave up asking, as he just didn't seem to get it.

[KIDDEREK]

My biggest problem with newbies is their lack of knowledge of golf etiquette. I played with a newbie a couple of weeks ago and repeatedly had to ask him to pay attention when I was driving to help me see where the ball landed. I finally gave up asking, as he just didn't seem to get it.

Is it poor etiquette to not help others locate their balls?

[sonicblue]

If the ball moves from its original location during a practice putt, it's a stroke.

To clarify:

1) If the ball is NOT in play yet (i.e., your ball is on the teeing area, doesn't have to actually be on a tee, just not put in play for that hole yet), and you accidentally move it, there is no penalty. You simply reset the ball and proceed. 2) If the ball is already in play, whether you're about to hit an approach shot in the fairway or about to putt on the green, and you accidentally move it, it is a penalty stroke. Note: it's not that it "counts as a stroke," because that would imply you just consider the accidental shot like any other shot, and play from the new location. The tap does not count, but you take a penalty stroke and move the ball back to its original location. That is, if my ball is in location A, I'm playing my third shot, and I accidentally tap the ball and move it to location B: WRONG WAY : Play my fourth shot from location B. (If anyone remembers, DLIII chose this incorrect option in the 1997 Players after nicking the ball with his practice stroke) RIGHT WAY: Play my fourth shot from location A. EDIT: do I have this right? This article seems to imply that the accidental stroke counts, you reset the ball, and ALSO assess one stroke.

[sonicblue]

Is it poor etiquette to not help others locate their balls?

It's poor etiquette not to be paying attention enough to at least be able to direct your playing partners to a general area where their ball went.

[SirMilton]

When I was on the high school golf team, we were taught stand behind the teeing area and watch each other player's tee shot. The person hitting the ball was taught to keep his head completely still until his shoulder turn forced the head to move, then he could look for the ball. However, in full sun, especially when facing the sun it is almost impossible to pick up a high drive, even with teenage eyes. I was told at that time that it was common etiquette to help with drives and blind shots, EXCEPT when playing with a caddie or in tournament stroke or match play. I always watch every shot my cart mate hits and I expect him (or her to do the same for me). A really essential time is like from a fairway bunker, which is often a blind shot and often gets the player a face full of sand.

Many people today rarely get to play with a caddie. A good caddie will ask on the first tee if you want him to go down course to spot your drive and will ask you where you plan to hit the ball. I always take that option as in my area the bermuda rough can be so thick a foot off the fairway that a ball cannot be found. Until you have used a caddie in this manner you cannot imagine how much time is saved.

[ChiChiIsMe]

Once quick questions:

That is the "fringe" and you have the option of in or out.

[Brandonink2001]

Out of Bounds/Lost Ball - penalty is stroke and distance. You must play the ball from as close as possible to where the last shot was played from. So if your tee shot is OB, then you retee and you are now hitting three.

Yes! I would also point your attention to knowing how to treat situations where you ball is in a lateral hazard vs. water hazard/playable vs. penalty/drop plus penalty vs. re-tee vs. penalty.

[Shindig]

my bad.. i meant the next

No problem. There's a course near me where hitting into the next course over is a feasible problem, since two courses are adjacent and have some holes near one another.

[Terrier]

Stroke and distance by far, IMHO. It's almost a given to just plop one down when you don't find it and take one penalty stroke.

Not declaring/verbally stating on the teebox "I'm going to hit a provisional" on the same type of above situation and then choosing the ball that's better is in the same ballpark...

[KIDDEREK]

Stroke and distance by far

Agreed, they take the stroke but not the distance.

[aceadair]

Etiquette, Etiquette, Etiquette!!!!!!! If you dont know that then you should not be playing in a big group.

One of the biggest rules that ametures break is in hazards. and the biggest one in a hazard is grounding your club. If you are in a hazard DONT PUT THE CLUB ON THE GROUND/SAND. Where this mistake is commonly made is in a hazard other than a trap. Like a hazard line near a lake but you were lucky enough that it dident go in, but you ground your club like you are in the fairway. NO! DONT DO THAT!