What rule, or rules, do you ignore?

[Lihu]

45 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

Marking your ball is not a rule requirement unless it is interfering or assisting the play of another player.  I can count on one hand the number of players I've met in 40 years who were bothered by a "big white ball" unless it was close to their ball or their line of putt, in which case I would have automatically marked it.  

I don't mark and lift except to quickly clean and replace unless I am near someone's line.  I usually only worry about cleaning my ball if it really is necessary to remove chunks of debris.  Marking, lifting, cleaning, replacing all take time.  Doing it 2 or 3 times on every green adds up to a lot of time.  On those relatively rare occasions when I see a player just walk to his ball, read, putt and continue until he's finished, I feel like giving him a standing ovation.

Not that much time, actually. It's like two seconds for me. Then I usually read my path very quickly. OTOH, maybe it's the reading too quickly that's giving me between 33-38 putts per round

[No Mulligans]

I take gimme's inside 1 foot.  At a foot or more I putt though. Definitely not "inside the leathers", I've missed plenty of those and therefore for me they are not gimme's.

[Shindig]

3 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Leaving the flagstick in while i play, not marking the ball on the green, the usual stuff people do to speed themselves along. Golf isn't a court of law, so if you're not playing in a tournament you should just be enjoying the game IMO. A lot of golfs rules are tone-deaf and penal just for the sake of being penal. If you just play the ball as it lies you're ok 90% of the time. 

I don't see how following the rules you mention makes the game less enjoyable.  I realize going back to the tee after an O.B. or lost ball isn't fun, so I understand if you don't follow that in a casual round.  But pulling the flagstick interferes with your fun?

I played 18 yesterday, and I believe I played by all the rules (including going back to the tee for a lost ball), and I don't think I marked my ball on the green once. 

Then again, I also don't see the rules as being penal for the sake of being penal.  Have you read the Tufts book about the principles of RoG?

[Groucho Valentine]

9 minutes ago, Shindig said:

I don't see how following the rules you mention makes the game less enjoyable.  I realize going back to the tee after an O.B. or lost ball isn't fun, so I understand if you don't follow that in a casual round.  But pulling the flagstick interferes with your fun?

I played 18 yesterday, and I believe I played by all the rules (including going back to the tee for a lost ball), and I don't think I marked my ball on the green once. 

Then again, I also don't see the rules as being penal for the sake of being penal.  Have you read the Tufts book about the principles of RoG?

Never heard of it. But if I'm going to read a book about golf, the very last thing its going to be is a book about rule principles.... Give me a break, lol. Everyone is different. Some people take pride in knowing every single rule with their dash numbers. That just isn't me. Nor do i care to. It isn't necessary. 

A lot of people personalize the rules of golf and enlarge them into a holy grail. That pretentiousness often distracts from playing golf. The game simply should be play the ball as it lies, hit it, chase it and put it in the hole. Its disheartening to see somebody get pissed off because they accidentally skimmed the top of a bunker with their club or something. Thats pointless. Or seeing some clown trying to penalize a playing partner for some obscure infraction. 

[iacas]

4 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

A lot of golfs rules are tone-deaf and penal just for the sake of being penal. If you just play the ball as it lies you're ok 90% of the time. 

It's off topic for this thread, but you should start a new thread on these rules you feel are "penal just for the sake of being penal." Because I can't think of any of them.

Not when you consider the potential advantage to be gained, and the penalty has to account for that.

12 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

A lot of people personalize the rules of golf and enlarge them into a holy grail. That pretentiousness often distracts from playing golf. The game simply should be play the ball as it lies, hit it, chase it and put it in the hole. Its disheartening to see somebody get pissed off because they accidentally skimmed the top of a bunker with their club or something. Thats pointless. Or seeing some clown trying to penalize a playing partner for some obscure infraction. 

I've never met those people.

I have met people - and am one of the people - who play by the rules when playing in a competition (or a wager). The rest of the time, do whatever you want, so long as it's not interfering with me.

And again, start a new topic if you want to talk about all these "penal for the sake of being so" rules.

[Groucho Valentine]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

It's off topic for this thread, but you should start a new thread on these rules you feel are "penal just for the sake of being penal." Because I can't think of any of them.

Not when you consider the potential advantage to be gained, and the penalty has to account for that.

I've never met those people.

I have met people - and am one of the people - who play by the rules when playing in a competition (or a wager). The rest of the time, do whatever you want, so long as it's not interfering with me.

And again, start a new topic if you want to talk about all these "penal for the sake of being so" rules.

Ive met plenty of these folks. There everywhere. Like avenging angels of the St Bobby Jones. Competition is something different. Its important to play by the rules then. But other times - whatever. Just enjoy. 

[Papa Steve 55]

In a casual round, most white stakes take on a decidedly red hue. We change OB to hazards now and then.

[DrvFrShow]

I play by these:

* Approximate measuring instead of measuring with club lengths. (pure laziness) - apparently this isn't against the rules.

* Breakfast ball on the first tee especially if I haven't had a chance to warm up.

* Roots and embedded rocks are ground under repair - I'm not about to undergo shoulder surgery.

* I added poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac to dangerous conditions and lengthened the distance to as far away as I feel comfortable. I don't want to have to throw out my clothes and spend time in urgent care. The cost of a ball and a rule isn't worth the trouble and two club lengths aren't enough. Fortunately I haven't played a course infested with this stuff yet. 

* Rocks in front or behind my ball in a sand bunker are removable debris - I can't afford eye surgery.  

* < 2 foot = gimme putts. > 2 feet are not gimmes.

* If there's a situation where relief from on situation puts you into another situation where you get relief just go directly to the second solution to save time. It's a casual round, no one cares. Technically this isn't against the rules either as long as the ball ends up where it's supposed to.

* Unexpected lost ball - drop a ball onto the fairway at the same distance for a +2 stroke penalty instead of going back to the tee to re-hit. Same with unexpected out of bounds. Logic: if you're taking a phony S&D penalty anyway you might as well make your ball playable.

* Even though it is summer, there are drainage areas on the courses. Sometimes your ball lands in one and picks up mud. We clean it off. Same with goose or other animal feces no matter where it happens on the course.

* We play by a 10 is the max rule. If you reach 10, pick it up. That's your score for the hole. 

We have to enter a score on the card for the hole. I'm not a member of the USGA. I don't have an official handicap this year. 

[newtogolf]

10 minutes ago, DrvFrShow said:

I play by these:

* Approximate measuring instead of measuring with club lengths. (pure laziness) - apparently this isn't against the rules.

* Breakfast ball on the first tee especially if I haven't had a chance to warm up.

* Roots and embedded rocks are ground under repair - I'm not about to undergo shoulder surgery.

* I added poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac to dangerous conditions and lengthened the distance to as far away as I feel comfortable. I don't want to have to throw out my clothes and spend time in urgent care. The cost of a ball and a rule isn't worth the trouble and two club lengths aren't enough. Fortunately I haven't played a course infested with this stuff yet. 

* Rocks in front or behind my ball in a sand bunker are removable debris - I can't afford eye surgery.  

* < 2 foot = gimme putts. > 2 feet are not gimmes.

* If there's a situation where relief from on situation puts you into another situation where you get relief just go directly to the second solution to save time. It's a casual round, no one cares. Technically this isn't against the rules either as long as the ball ends up where it's supposed to.

* Unexpected lost ball - drop a ball onto the fairway at the same distance for a +2 stroke penalty instead of going back to the tee to re-hit. Same with unexpected out of bounds. Logic: if you're taking a phony S&D penalty anyway you might as well make your ball playable.

* Even though it is summer, there are drainage areas on the courses. Sometimes your ball lands in one and picks up mud. We clean it off. Same with goose or other animal feces no matter where it happens on the course.

* We play by a 10 is the max rule. If you reach 10, pick it up. That's your score for the hole. 

We have to enter a score on the card for the hole. I'm not a member of the USGA. I don't have an official handicap this year. 

If and when you did have an official handicap did you have any of these same exceptions?

[DrvFrShow]

1 minute ago, newtogolf said:

If and when you did have an official handicap did you have any of these same exceptions?

Last year and the year before in league and tournament play I played by the rules. In casual play, I used all of them except the 10 rule. It was the X8 rule.

It's all about having fun. I typically shoot in the low 90s regardless. These are "recreational golf" rules. It's a game that closely resembles golf. One that many people play but won't admit to playing on the internet.

[gregsandiego]

11 hours ago, Gator Hazard said:

I'm sure there are still several rules I break unwittingly but the ones I know are: not pulling stick when I play by myself. My drops are not always perfectly by the book. If I hit a drive I expect to find and I don't I just drop and play with penalty. I'm not good enough to worry about all of the intricate details yet and not hold people back. Also I am not submitting rounds for handicap purposes or playing for money  

A few weeks ago I played all my balls as should have but on 18 I hit it horribly and it stuck on the side lip of a wasteland type bunker. One of the two guys I was paired up with said "that's not a last hole style drive play another one" haha. So I did!

Sounds like the same people I play with. Most of us aren't good enough or serious enough to worry about all the rules. We are all keeping our own score. If you hit a 2nd drive because it's more fun that way - why not?

[Buckeyebowman]

Oh good heavens! We ignore the "strict" rules all the time! "Stroke and distance"? What the hell is that? Just figure, as close as you can, where the damned ball went OB, drop another somewhere in the vicinity, mug it around till you're happy, and then try to smack it out of there! Take a one stroke penalty.

Some of this stuff can also be included in what are called "local rules". I play league at a little 9 hole wonder where nearly every hole is bordered by gigantic oak trees. You can be dead in the middle of the fairway and have a knob of root intruding on your swing. According to the league president, who is also the owner of the course, take complete relief. He doesn't want anyone breaking a club, or wrist, on one of those roots!

There's another thread on this page where someone argues in favor of "bifurcation" of the rules for pros and amateurs. Why bother? It already exists!

 

[Gator Hazard]

4 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Oh good heavens! We ignore the "strict" rules all the time! "Stroke and distance"? What the hell is that? Just figure, as close as you can, where the damned ball went OB, drop another somewhere in the vicinity, mug it around till you're happy, and then try to smack it out of there! Take a one stroke penalty.

Some of this stuff can also be included in what are called "local rules". I play league at a little 9 hole wonder where nearly every hole is bordered by gigantic oak trees. You can be dead in the middle of the fairway and have a knob of root intruding on your swing. According to the league president, who is also the owner of the course, take complete relief. He doesn't want anyone breaking a club, or wrist, on one of those roots!

There's another thread on this page where someone argues in favor of "bifurcation" of the rules for pros and amateurs. Why bother? It already exists!

 

That last paragraph made me laugh out loud. So true!

[mcanadiens]

Particularly with not being able to post solo rounds, anything now goes when I'm alone. Often, I don't pull the flag stick and I'll take much more liberal drops.

If I'm playing with anyone on a regulation course, I try to adhere to ROG the best I can regardless of what my partners are doing. Getting better at recognizing when I need to play a provisional has kept me much more legal than in my formative years. 

[Martyn W]

9 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

You can be dead in the middle of the fairway and have a knob of root intruding on your swing. According to the league president, who is also the owner of the course, take complete relief.

This is an authorized LR: (The part about fairway is new as of the last revision, used to be no authorized relief at all)

33-8/8

 

Local Rule Providing Relief from Tree Roots

Q.May a Committee make a Local Rule providing relief without penalty if a player's stroke is interfered with by exposed tree roots?

A.A Local Rule is authorized only if an abnormal condition exists. Generally, the existence of exposed tree roots is not abnormal. However, if the exposed tree roots are encroaching on to the fairway, a Committee would be authorized to make a Local Rule providing relief under Rule 25-1 for interference from exposed tree roots when a ball lies on a closely-mown area. The Committee may restrict relief to interference for the lie of ball and the area of intended swing.

[bkuehn1952]

40 minutes ago, Martyn W said:

This is an authorized LR...

I was not aware of the host of additional situations where the USGA might suggest the committee to make a Local Rule like:

33-8/32  Local Rule for Animal Hoof Damage

Thank you for mentioning the "root rule" as it led to my exploring that section of the Decisions.

[imsys0042]

My home course has several drop areas that are on the other side of the hazard they are associated with and have several hazards that have nothing to do with water.  I believe these are both local rules / designations for pace of play.  It's a very penal course.  

 

IIRC, reading here, both of those are not supposed to exist under the rules.  Our championship flight does not use the drop areas in tournament play.  Except for pace of play reasons when it's busy, I try not to use those drop zones .  I suppose that's the only difference for handicap purposes . 

 

Notable mentions are the leaf rule and I have let people take an unplayable when not finding the ball in high grass where we agree that said relief was within where we saw the ball enter.  Aka, for pace of play we don't tear the grass up to find the ball.  Not appropriate for tournament play. 

[dave s]

Heck, most of the guys I play with, (me included) would be DQ'd by the turn due to rules infractions.  We play a pretty loose game because it's mostly for fun.  If we're playing for money, it's a different ball game, though.

Some of the usual rules infractions we violate are:

1. Dropping on lost balls rather than returning to the tee box and reteeing stroke 3.

2. Moving balls in areas that clearly should be ground under repair but not marked as such

3. Conceding close putts.  I'll concede any putt that I know *I* can make to another player

4. Allowing a player a 'breakfast ball' off the first tee.  I don't take them, as my first (and sometimes ONLY) tee ball usually finds the fairway.

Honestly, I don't care what anybody does from a rules perspective on the golf course.  Let them play.  Let them have their own kind of fun ... or misery as it might become. Our goal as a 4-some is to not hold up the group behind us, enjoy the company, the outdoors and the game.

I'm firmly in the camp of golf has WAY too many rules!

dave