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Playing a Round of Golf Solo


boil3rmak3r
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1 hour ago, iacas said:

I spelled it out in my example. I don't know what more you need. Rules change. Rules define what is "golf" and what is not golf.

It's a change to the rule we're discussing here: whether he gets to post his score or not.

And the USGA doesn't "try to govern competitive events." They DO govern competitive events. They are THE authority in the U.S.

Really?

The Game of Golf consists of playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.

If you do something else, you're not playing golf. The game is defined by the rules. If I take a golf ball, and throw the ball from the tee into the hole, is that playing golf? No. The game is defined by the rules of that game. What stops Chutes and Ladders from being Monopoly? The rules. The rules govern the game board, the order of play, the penalties, how you win, etc.

Yes, you do. Handicaps are to be created by playing golf under the Rules of Golf.

You're just being silly now, so that's all the energy I care to dispense with this for now.

You dodged the question about what physically changed in the round played last year to this year. Nothing changed in the physical playing of the game and we both know it. What did change is the rules set forth by the USGA. That does not change the fact that he physically played the round the same. It does change if he is allowed to post the round he physically just played to the USGA handicapping system.

You changed it from a discussion of a rule to what constitutes playing golf.

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9 minutes ago, Grumpter said:

You dodged the question about what physically changed in the round played last year to this year.

No I didn't. I reject the question. Things don't have to physically change. If the rules change in such a way that something that was a two-stroke penalty becomes a one-stroke penalty, what has physically changed?

Beyond that, we're straying too far from the topic at hand. The topic is playing rounds solo.

9 minutes ago, Grumpter said:

What did change is the rules set forth by the USGA. That does not change the fact that he physically played the round the same. It does change if he is allowed to post the round he physically just played to the USGA handicapping system.

The discussion is about posting rounds for your handicap, so the rules for handicapping govern this aspect of golf.

Nothing physically had to change. It's a straw man.

9 minutes ago, Grumpter said:

You changed it from a discussion of a rule to what constitutes playing golf.

No, I didn't. I allowed for a brief side discussion, but I'll emphasize "brief" and "side" now. I don't care what definitions you find: every game is defined by the rules of the game. To play different rules may colloquially be called "playing golf" (even a scramble), but it's not golf.

But again…

:offtopic:

Back to the topic, please.

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I play evening golf as a single at times if the course permits.  I always pair-up when I hit traffic, so it just depends on what's out there.  Whether I am playing solo, with a regular group, or pair with strangers, this has no effect on playing by the rules.  When I play golf, I play REAL golf.......not mulligan golf..LOL

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I mentioned this to the pro at my course and his reaction to it was that how are they supposed to know and to go ahead and post the rounds. I am not sure what I am going to do. I will see if it affects the attitude of my round.

 

"My ball is on top of a rock in the hazard, do I get some sort of relief?"

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1 minute ago, Valleygolfer said:

I mentioned this to the pro at my course and his reaction to it was that how are they supposed to know and to go ahead and post the rounds. I am not sure what I am going to do. I will see if it affects the attitude of my round.

 

Not sure that I'd have much respect for a pro who advocated cheating.  That's like a cop saying that if you are the only car you can see on the road, it's okay to ignore traffic laws.  Both put into question the integrity of the authority figure.

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Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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5 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

his reaction to it was that how are they supposed to know and to go ahead and post the rounds.

That's a really odd response from a course pro.  It would be no less accurate than if you asked him if it was OK to break any number of rules.  How are they supposed to know?  They're not?  OK, then I guess its OK.

Don't get that at all.

EDIT:  @Fourputt beat me to the punch.

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It is a bit ironic that after the USGA pounded on all of us to post virtually every score for years and saw a real problem with people not posting, that today they are telling us "never mind" with respect to solo rounds. I totally understand some of the possible motivations behind the restrictions on solo posting and as a good Swiss/German-American, I follow Rules without question [well most of the time  ;) ] so this change is easy to accommodate into my golfing life.

I won't call a person who always follows the Rules of Golf and posts every score, solo or not, a "cheater." 

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Brian Kuehn

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The way I look at it, you need to learn a lot of rules already. So, why learn a whole bunch of other rules by practicing a different way?

It seems like a lot more work to remember, and in one of @Dave2512's situation at a tournament where he had to tell many golfers how to take a penalty and/or drop. Depending upon what is asked (per rule 8,8-1,8-2) it might not even be permitted because he was a fellow competitor by the description. That's just piling up bad golf with more bad golf by not playing by the rules.

Also, you learn more golf by getting into trouble, and practice getting out of it.

There's no real benefit to not playing by the rules.

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29 minutes ago, Lihu said:

The way I look at it, you need to learn a lot of rules already. So, why learn a whole bunch of other rules by practicing a different way?

It seems like a lot more work to remember, and in one of @Dave2512's situation at a tournament where he had to tell many golfers how to take a penalty and/or drop. Depending upon what is asked (per rule 8,8-1,8-2) it might not even be permitted because he was a fellow competitor by the description. That's just piling up bad golf with more bad golf by not playing by the rules.

Also, you learn more golf by getting into trouble, and practice getting out of it.

There's no real benefit to not playing by the rules.

I would disagree with your bolded statement.  If you already know all the rules, playing alone gives ample opportunities to practice.  Hitting shots on the golf course is a lot different than hitting into a driving range or pitching into a practice green. 

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1 hour ago, boil3rmak3r said:

I would disagree with your bolded statement.  If you already know all the rules, playing alone gives ample opportunities to practice.  Hitting shots on the golf course is a lot different than hitting into a driving range or pitching into a practice green. 

I agree that a practice round that is declared so is perfect for trying out different approach strategies and such, but if you start off playing a standard round without intending it to be a practice round I see no benefit other than padding your handicap with 2 stroke penalties.

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I practice on the course all the time. These threads have a way of creeping into life because last night the cart kid was manning the pro shop because someone was sick or something. Everyone knows I am a super fast, no nonsense player so to avoid me running over entire sides of people they often recommend a side. So he said consider the back because there was a ladies playing clinic somewhere on the front and it would be slow and by the time I finished the back the front would be wide open.

I took his word and headed for the back and immediately ran into a group putting out on 10 green. They are dragging ass but manage to get off 11 before I get right behind them but I finish 11 quick and the lady in the group hasn't reached the reds by the time I get to 12 blues. The wave me up. Which is freaking silly because I can see groups ahead but seeing how wobbly their play is I take the chance. I run up on the group ahead in seconds. Rather than continue that nonsense for a side I skipped finishing 12 and jumped past the groups ahead using ranger trails to get to 15 tee.

I intended to play a regular round but just managed just 5 holes a side in random order. I knew early I wouldn't be able to accomplish what I came for so I started messing around, two balls and practice shots. What sucked was it was a good day. I was hitting the ball well any hole I actually finished was an easy par. I had to bail, had to jump around or stay far enough behind the snails I wouldn't be asked to play through. I would have spent hours sitting around.

Dave :-)

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Late to the party on this but it is an interesting topic.

To the OP, yes, I have knowingly broken the rules both when playing alone and with others. I don't do this for the purpose of vanity capping, more to speed up the pace of play. But when it comes to rules, there should be very few gray areas.

Ironically, there were more rules broken during a recent competition where the course determined a drop zone be closer to the hole than the hazard. I didn't post the round because of that. 

The worse part about all of this is that I finally found an online site that determines a HI. I've been tracking it all year (26.9 right now), but because I play the vast majority of golf as a solo, that number isn't legitimate.

Regardless of the USGA's rule on posting scores, playing by the rules of golf and how they affect my score is still important to me.  

Oh well, maybe someday I'll be a real golfer.

Jon

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(edited)
6 hours ago, Dave2512 said:

I practice on the course all the time. These threads have a way of creeping into life because last night the cart kid was manning the pro shop because someone was sick or something. Everyone knows I am a super fast, no nonsense player so to avoid me running over entire sides of people they often recommend a side. So he said consider the back because there was a ladies playing clinic somewhere on the front and it would be slow and by the time I finished the back the front would be wide open.

I took his word and headed for the back and immediately ran into a group putting out on 10 green. They are dragging ass but manage to get off 11 before I get right behind them but I finish 11 quick and the lady in the group hasn't reached the reds by the time I get to 12 blues. The wave me up. Which is freaking silly because I can see groups ahead but seeing how wobbly their play is I take the chance. I run up on the group ahead in seconds. Rather than continue that nonsense for a side I skipped finishing 12 and jumped past the groups ahead using ranger trails to get to 15 tee.

I intended to play a regular round but just managed just 5 holes a side in random order. I knew early I wouldn't be able to accomplish what I came for so I started messing around, two balls and practice shots. What sucked was it was a good day. I was hitting the ball well any hole I actually finished was an easy par. I had to bail, had to jump around or stay far enough behind the snails I wouldn't be asked to play through. I would have spent hours sitting around.

It's funny, Dave, you told me early on in this thread that I had issues with my life because I couldn't practice during solo rounds.  You now admit that you can't commit to the rules either.  If you get slowed down, it's a "practice" round.  I'd bet a million bucks if you got slowed down on hole 16, you turn it into a "practice" round when you are having a bad round, but play it out when you are shooting a career round.

This rule just eliminates vanity cappers.  I wish it wasn't in force, as I had only posted scores with others before.  I want more vanity cappers.

Edited by boil3rmak3r
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1 hour ago, boil3rmak3r said:

 It's funny, Dave, you told me early on in this thread that I had issues with my life because I couldn't practice during solo rounds.  You now admit that you can't commit to the rules either.  If you get slowed down, it's a "practice" round.  I'd bet a million bucks if you got slowed down on hole 16, you turn it into a "practice" round when you are having a bad round, but play it out when you are shooting a career round.

This rule just eliminates vanity cappers.  I wish it wasn't in force, as I had only posted scores with others before.  I want more vanity cappers.

Sorry but no your OP has a temptation element not a bad luck timing thing. It means playing ROG  is out of reach due to time constraints or unintended forces. You suggested being alone means you lack control to ADHERE to rules based on you. When I intend to play golf that is my goal I don't modify it if mood suits, a roadblock or something has to present, that was my example and It's not the same thing.

Dave :-)

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(edited)
17 hours ago, Dave2512 said:

Sorry but no your OP has a temptation element not a bad luck timing thing. It means playing ROG  is out of reach due to time constraints or unintended forces. You suggested being alone means you lack control to ADHERE to rules based on you. When I intend to play golf that is my goal I don't modify it if mood suits, a roadblock or something has to present, that was my example and It's not the same thing.

I could be wrong (and I'm sure the rules gurus on this thread will correct me if I am), but you are'nt supposed to start a  round intending for it to count and decide later it's null and void.  I understand you want to play fast, but you have to be realistic as a single.  It sounds like you quite often abandon a round you intended to be official because the pace of play was not up to your standards.  

I hope the rules guys can confirm or debunk this, but I think what you do isagainst the ROG...

Edited by boil3rmak3r
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4 minutes ago, boil3rmak3r said:

 It sounds like you quite often abandon a round you intended to be official because the pace of play was not up to your standards.  

He was playing alone, so there was no chance for the round to be official. 

- John

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2 hours ago, boil3rmak3r said:

I understand that.

Beyond that, yes, you're supposed to stick with the format you decided upon first. If you're playing a practice round, don't make it a real round because you birdie two of the first four holes. If you're screwing up, don't turn it into a practice round.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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Note: This thread is 2745 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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