Playing a Round of Golf Solo

[rehmwa]

  On 5/19/2016 at 5:30 PM, DaveP043 said:

Did you get a free bowl of soup with that hat? 

BTW, you could call it Flog, golf backwards.

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Gambling is illegal at Bushwood sir, and I never slice

[DaveP043]

  On 5/19/2016 at 5:46 PM, Groucho Valentine said:

The rule is not even remotely important and does nothing but legislate player behavior. USGA overstepped with that one. It deserves to ignored, IMO. 

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I think we've been back and forth over this enough, and the positions are clear.  Some of us choose to play and post by the rules to the best of our ability, even the rules we don't like.  Others choose to cheat.

[Lihu]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:04 PM, DaveP043 said:

I think we've been back and forth over this enough, and the positions are clear.  Some of us choose to play and post by the rules to the best of our ability, even the ones we don't like.  Others choose to cheat.

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Just break the rules.

[DaveP043]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:07 PM, Lihu said:

Just break the rules.

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If you're playing for fun, with no consequences, break all the rules you like, I have no problem at all with that.  When you're breaking the rules that govern fair competition in the future, competition with players who are actually following those same rules, you're cheating. 

[rehmwa]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:10 PM, DaveP043 said:

If you're playing for fun, with no consequences, break all the rules you like, I have no problem at all with that.  When you're breaking the rules that govern fair competition in the future, competition with players who are actually following those same rules, you're cheating. 

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Interesting - the cheat would NOT be during the fun or solo rounds.  It would only be during the future competition where the results of the round were used for entry or staging or eligibility.......  So the cheat isn't actually hitting that 2nd ball or taking a drop instead of going back.  The cheat would actually only occur later in terms of the persons criteria for eligibility.....

[Groucho Valentine]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:10 PM, DaveP043 said:

If you're playing for fun, with no consequences, break all the rules you like, I have no problem at all with that.  When you're breaking the rules that govern fair competition in the future, competition with players who are actually following those same rules, you're cheating. 

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This stance makes no sense in regards to what you're defending. Im not a cheat because i post accurate rounds when the USGA says i cant. Im a rebel fighting for decency and the american way. 

[rehmwa]

For the children

[14ledo81]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:27 PM, Groucho Valentine said:

This stance makes no sense in regards to what you're defending. Im not a cheat because i post accurate rounds when the USGA says i cant. Im a rebel fighting for decency and the american way. 

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This is good stuff here....

[Lihu]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:10 PM, DaveP043 said:

If you're playing for fun, with no consequences, break all the rules you like, I have no problem at all with that.  When you're breaking the rules that govern fair competition in the future, competition with players who are actually following those same rules, you're cheating. 

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I totally misworded my post, I didn't mean for anyone to break the rules. 

I meant that he's not advocating cheating, but just advocating breaking that rule. There's a difference.

[DaveP043]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:22 PM, rehmwa said:

Interesting - the cheat would NOT be during the fun or solo rounds.  It would only be during the future competition where the results of the round were used for entry or staging or eligibility.......  So the cheat isn't actually hitting that 2nd ball or taking a drop instead of going back.  The cheat would actually only occur later in terms of the persons criteria for eligibility.....

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I guess I'd say the action, the breaking of the rules, is the cheating, and that occurs when you post an "unacceptable" round for handicap purposes..  Because handicap posting rule-breaking doesn't affect the competition on that  particular day, the consequences are delayed, only showing up when the handicap is used in some form of competition.

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:27 PM, Groucho Valentine said:

This stance makes no sense in regards to what you're defending. Im not a cheat because i post accurate rounds when the USGA says i cant. Im a rebel fighting for decency and the american way. 

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You're knowingly breaking the handicap posting rules.  If intentional rule-breaking isn't cheating, what is it?  If you're truly fighting for a cause, do it in the open, tell your handicap committee that you refuse to follow the rules, and see how that goes.  As long as you're hiding it from peer review, you're not fighting for anything, you're just breaking rules.

[mcanadiens]

Rules are rules. Following them is one thing and liking is another. I always reserve my right to bitch.  Here's a point against the rule ...

Let's suppose for the sake of argument that I finally start making some progress with my game. Between now and my club championship I may play 25-30 rounds and will only be able to post 5 or 6 of them. That may lead to my HI being artificially high for the big event. I'll blow their doors off, win a sleeve of Top Rocks (or whatever it is) and be accused of sandbagging.

... On the other hand, I'm liking the idea of not scoring my rounds. It sounds liberating.

 

 

 

[coachjimsc]

If you are playing a round by yourself and you make a hole in one, what happens?

It is not recognized unless it is witnessed correct?

http://golftips.golfsmith.com/official-hole-one-rules-1846.html

So my question is what is making a par, birdie, bogey etc. playing by yourself any different?

[DaveP043]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:55 PM, mcanadiens said:

Rules are rules. Following them is one thing and liking is another. I always reserve my right to bitch.  Here's a point against the rule ...

Let's suppose for the sake of argument that I finally start making some progress with my game. Between now and my club championship I may play 25-30 rounds and will only be able to post 5 or 6 of them. That may lead to my HI being artificially high for the big event. I'll blow their doors off, win a sleeve of Top Rocks (or whatever it is) and be accused of sandbagging.

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I think the situation you describe is one of the unintended consequences of the handicap posting rules change, handicaps will change much more slowly for a player like you than it did when solo rounds were allowed.  That's a good thing for you when your play is improving, not such a good thing if you're going in the other direction.  I'd hope the USGA considered that possibility before making the change, but I certainly don't have an inside line to know for sure.

[Elmer]

  On 5/19/2016 at 5:14 PM, Jeremie Boop said:

Are you saying that the score doesn't matter or the handicap? Either way, you are actually correct, it only matters if competing which is why not being able to post for a handicap for people like you and I who don't compete isn't important. Thusly, the rule shouldn't be a problem. As I previously mentioned, I too was upset with the change at first, but the more I thought about how little it mattered for someone like me who doesn't take part in tournaments the more I realized that I had nothing to be upset about.

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If I go out and play a round by myself and consistently put a score that leads to a handicap of -2, but I am really a 16.
Who am I hurting but me?
When I go compete and I am a train wreck I have only hurt myself. 
So why does the Rules committee and PGA care if I turn in scores that don't reflect my true handicap.
 

  On 5/19/2016 at 5:46 PM, Groucho Valentine said:

I played in a no holds barred thing a few times with a group of people. Get it in the hole at any cost. The only rules where you had to use a club at least once per hole and if you picked up your ball and try to run with it, you had to be two hand touched in order to be stopped. If you got caught you're out for good. A enterprising fellow from he first time we did it hit his drive and ran his ball into the hole before he could be stopped. Got an ace on a 375 yard hole. It was a bucket of fun. 

The rule is not even remotely important and does nothing but legislate player behavior. USGA overstepped with that one. It deserves to ignored, IMO. 

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I played an 18 hole match against a bunch of guys in a foursome. $20 and looser buys beer.
The rules were simple we played golf as is. However the  golfers could do anything to distract the other, except physically touch each other.
There was screaming and yelling, throwing cups into ones line of vision.
Probably the most fun I have ever had on the course!

[Groucho Valentine]

  On 5/19/2016 at 7:45 PM, Elmer said:

If I go out and play a round by myself and consistently put a score that leads to a handicap of -2, but I am really a 16.
Who am I hurting but me?
When I go compete and I am a train wreck I have only hurt myself. 
So why does the Rules committee and PGA care if I turn in scores that don't reflect my true handicap.
 

I played an 18 hole match against a bunch of guys in a foursome. $20 and looser buys beer.
The rules were simple we played golf as is. However the  golfers could do anything to distract the other, except physically touch each other.
There was screaming and yelling, throwing cups into ones line of vision.
Probably the most fun I have ever had on the course!

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Oh yeah. I play with a foursome that rolls like that too. I find farting to be a particularly useful tactic. In a weird way, it helped me a lot in tournament play. Pretty much nothing distracts me now..lol

[Lihu]

  On 5/19/2016 at 6:57 PM, coachjimsc said:

If you are playing a round by yourself and you make a hole in one, what happens?

It is not recognized unless it is witnessed correct?

http://golftips.golfsmith.com/official-hole-one-rules-1846.html

So my question is what is making a par, birdie, bogey etc. playing by yourself any different?

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This happened to one of my occasional playing partners. He shot a hole in one, but was not tracking his score. He was playing by the ROG, but just decided to play without keeping his score for some reason. We ended up taking all our "notes" and assembled a reasonably accurate scorecard for him and attested his hole in one.

Not sure if he ever got it recognized officially or not?

The difference is in this new rule you don't have to attest to anything regarding the score in question.

[Grumpter]

  On 5/19/2016 at 5:43 PM, DaveP043 said:

Here's the thing, many of us choose to post our scores in accordance with the rules of the USGA Handicap system.  To me, its a slap in the face when some random individual decides that his personal opinions are more important than the rules that the rest of us live by.  If you repeatedly and intentionally violate those rules, your handicap should be withdrawn.  If that means you can't play in your brother-in-law's member guest because you don't have a handicap, or don't have proof of handicap to play the Old Course in St. Andrews, its your own choice.  Its simple, really.  If you want a USGA Handicap Index, you follow the rules.

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I completely disagree that it is a slap in the face. In my experience many of the violations help the player feel better about themselves or only help 'improve' their score during their non-competition rounds. If they want to post those scores that only makes them easier to beat in a competition where they have to follow the rules. Sandbaggers should have their handicaps withdrawn not those that mostly only hurt themselves. You honestly do not have to follow the rules to have an index but I still try to.

[Hoganman1]

I actually enjoy playing alone at times. Just the grass and the birds. I'm a walker so it's a great escape from all the noise and it's good exercise. I guess I do understand the USGA's new rule. There are plenty of sandbaggers (my apologies) and ego handicaps out there. I don't play  many tournaments anymore and my groups almost always play our matches straight up as we're all in that 8 to 12 range so the 'caps don't really matter that much. I guess I disagree with Mark Twain. Golf is not "a good walk spoiled" for me whether I'm with my group or by myself.