Playing a Round of Golf Solo

[newtogolf]

  On 5/20/2016 at 3:37 PM, Elmer said:

I think you missed my point.
How is using an honest score played alone worth less than a 
dishonest score verified by people who don't care about your score? 

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The USGA has now made it a rule that you are not allowed to post solo rounds for handicap purposes.  It doesn't matter whether you're honest or not.  When I go off into the rough alone, the USGA and my playing partners have to trust me that I will play the ball where it lies and not improve my lie.  You seem to be a very honest person, but in the opinion of the R&A and USGA they want a witness to posted scores.  It could there there are a fair number of dishonest golfers or they are just trying to ensure the integrity of the handicap is maintained at the highest level. The government felt the need to outlaw theft even though you might not ever steal anything, are you offended that a law needed to be created that would never apply to you?  

It's a rule that is intended to be respected as all the other rules.  Some think it's stupid that you don't get free relief from a divot in the fairway.  Our personal opinion doesn't matter unless you wish to solicit the USGA to change a rule, as golfers that carry an official handicap we either play by the rules or we don't.  

[boogielicious]

  On 5/20/2016 at 5:32 PM, Golfingdad said:

Good post and I agree ... except that I don't think those are "unlike bowling."  Those are the exact two things I got out of my bowling handicap/average as well. 

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Luckily my 9th grade high single came during my bowling league play! I still have the trophy! It happened the day after I got my first pair of glasses! 

[Dave2512]

Maybe someone would be willing to track single rounds and compare it to witnessed rounds over a couple a months. My guess is there is minimal handicap difference.

[newtogolf]

  On 5/20/2016 at 6:13 PM, Dave2512 said:

Maybe someone would be willing to track single rounds and compare it to witnessed rounds over a couple a months. My guess is there is minimal handicap difference.

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I'm not sure what tracking single rounds over witnessed rounds proves?  There is no reason someone can't maintain a personal handicap on a website to track their progress and an official USGA one for tournament play.  

[Dave2512]

  On 5/20/2016 at 6:26 PM, newtogolf said:

I'm not sure what tracking single rounds over witnessed rounds proves?  There is no reason someone can't maintain a personal handicap on a website to track their progress and an official USGA one for tournament play.  

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The resistance seems to be that not being able to post solo rounds somehow skews handicap as a progress tracker. Unless people have argued about it for several pages just because they don't like it. I see it as a non-issue certainly not something to rebel against because I don't think it makes any difference. From post one in this thread I didn't understand how or why people play different versions of golf based on having company or not. USGA doesn't want me to post those rounds so I won't.

[newtogolf]

  On 5/20/2016 at 6:32 PM, Dave2512 said:

The resistance seems to be that not being able to post solo rounds somehow skews handicap as a progress tracker. Unless people have argued about it for several pages just because they don't like it. I see it as a non-issue certainly not something to rebel against because I don't think it makes any difference. From post one in this thread I didn't understand how or why people play different versions of golf based on having company or not. USGA doesn't want me to post those rounds so I won't.

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Right, so they should post all their rounds to their personal handicap tracking app or website and only those they play with a partner to the USGA site.  This way their official handicap will be kept in accordance with USGA rules and they can still track their progress using their personal handicap.  

I think the issue is being blown out of proportion.  

[Golfingdad]

  On 5/20/2016 at 6:09 PM, boogielicious said:

Luckily my 9th grade high single came during my bowling league play! I still have the trophy! It happened the day after I got my first pair of glasses! 

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Is seeing really that important???

 

[Dave2512]

  On 5/20/2016 at 6:44 PM, newtogolf said:

Right, so they should post all their rounds to their personal handicap tracking app or website and only those they play with a partner to the USGA site.  This way their official handicap will be kept in accordance with USGA rules and they can still track their progress using their personal handicap.  

I think the issue is being blown out of proportion.  

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Yes which is what I suggested people do if for no other to see that the difference is minimal. I certainly wouldn't continue my fight (if I had one) if I knew there was no consequence.

[iacas]

  On 5/20/2016 at 5:53 PM, Grumpter said:

Yes, he is. Tell me what has physically changed from the way he PLAYED the game last year to this year?

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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.

Is a guy playing golf if he plays the stymie, plays that you can leave the flagstick in and hit it when putting, etc.? No. Those are rules that were changed some time ago. If you play by those rules, you're not playing golf in 2016. You're playing a game that closely resembles golf. The rules define the game.

The Rules re: handicapping aren't exactly the same, but they're still the rules governing how golfers post scores. On December 31, you could post a solo round. On January 1, it was against the rules to do so.

  On 5/20/2016 at 5:53 PM, Grumpter said:

There was a change to the rules set forth by one organization that tries to govern competitive events but that is a change to the rules not the way he played the game last year or this year. 

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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.

  On 5/20/2016 at 5:53 PM, Grumpter said:

Nowhere in the definition of Golf do I see mention of the USGA or that you have to play by the rules set forth by the USGA.

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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.

  On 5/20/2016 at 5:53 PM, Grumpter said:

They do not own Golf and as much as they would like everyone to conform to their rules you do not have to in order to play golf. You don't even have to conform to their rules in order to generate a handicap under their system. There can be ramifications for not following the rules if you play in a tournament under their rules but in my experience they won't care unless it gives you an advantage. You can vanity cap to your hearts content.

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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.

[Dave2512]

Honestly having someone to play with all the time would be a great thing. Golf alone is a necessary evil for me but I'm not crazy about it. I spend more timing chatting with course employees than I'd like.

[CarlSpackler]

Rules / Decisions of golf are what they are whether you like them or not. Just because you don't agree with a speed limit or location of a stop sign does not permit you to do what you want. With that being said, I did not renew my golf association membership this year since a lot of the rounds I have posted were played solo, and I didn't see much value in spending the money to post 10-15 rounds.

[No Mulligans]

Seems to be just an argument of semantics regarding the word "golf".

It is common usage of the word "golf" to say, "I played golf this morning and was 10 over, didn't post a score as I played solo."

That usage seems fine to me.  We don't have a word in the English language that works any better in that sentence than the word "golf".

I don't understand the big hangup on this.  

[newtogolf]

  On 5/20/2016 at 7:02 PM, No Mulligans said:

Seems to be just an argument of semantics on what is golf and what isn't.

Going out and taking a practice round, it is common usage to call that golf... as in, "I played golf this morning, didn't post a score as I played solo.  It was just a practice round."

That usage seems fine to me.  We don't have a word in the English language that works any better in that sentence than the word "golf".

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Games are defined by their rules, if you don't play a game by the rules you're not playing the game, it's a variation or derivative of the game. What word you use to describe the activity is different than if the game was played in accordance with the rules and the score can be posted as an official result of that game.  

 

[No Mulligans]

  On 5/20/2016 at 7:11 PM, newtogolf said:

Games are defined by their rules, if you don't play a game by the rules you're not playing the game, it's a variation or derivative of the game. What word you use to describe the activity is different than if the game was played in accordance with the rules and the score can be posted as an official result of that game.  

 

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You didn't offer an alternative word that is commonly used.  How does one go about expressing that simple sentence (without sounding silly and pedantic).

This is a silly semantics argument and as such I'm done discussing it.

[Lihu]

  On 5/20/2016 at 5:53 PM, Grumpter said:

Nowhere in the definition of Golf do I see mention of the USGA or that you have to play by the rules set forth by the USGA.

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Wiki definition of the ROG:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_of_golf

Old one: USGA

New one R&A and USGA

The difference is that they look to be merging the ROG?

 

 

[DaveP043]

The actual Rules of Golf were merged a few years back, now there's no difference between the R&A rules and the USGA rules.  There are, however, major differences between the various handicap systems worldwide, but these all will hopefully be unified in the next several years.  I started a thread in the Rules section to discuss the current differences in handicap systems.

 

[Lihu]

  On 5/20/2016 at 7:22 PM, DaveP043 said:

The actual Rules of Golf were merged a few years back, now there's no difference between the R&A rules and the USGA rules.  There are, however, major differences between the various handicap systems worldwide, but these all will hopefully be unified in the next several years.  I started a thread in the Rules section to discuss the current differences in handicap systems.

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I'll check that one out.

[newtogolf]

  On 5/20/2016 at 7:15 PM, No Mulligans said:

You didn't offer an alternative word that is commonly used.  How does one go about expressing that simple sentence (without sounding silly and pedantic).

This is a silly semantics argument and as such I'm done discussing it.

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You can still call it golf when you're talking to friends but you can't post scores if you didn't follow the rules.