8 Stupidest Rules (golf.com)

[David in FL]

17 minutes ago, iacas said:

I gave you a real reason.

Also, please define a spike mark. Ball marks are relatively easy to agree upon.

Spike marks? Not so.

I disagree...I think a spike mark is no more difficult to identify than a ball mark.  But the same standard as ball marks could easily apply.  FC's or opponents agree that it's a spike mark and it's tamped down.

As for pace of play, I bet I haven't asked someone, or had anyone ask me more than a handful of times in the last 500 rounds of golf as to whether a ball mark could be repaired.  I wouldn't expect spike marks to be any different.

 

 

[iacas]

Right. So you'd give players free reign to spend two minutes smoothing every bump on their entire line. Great.

Like I said… pace of play.

[David in FL]

15 minutes ago, iacas said:

Right. So you'd give players free reign to spend two minutes smoothing every bump on their entire line. Great.

Like I said… pace of play.

Not what I said at all.

Do you have any other argument against repairing spike marks?

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Do you have any other argument against repairing spike marks?

Yep.

Time to move on.

You don't like the rule. Noted.

[saevel25]

The arguments so far are good enough. 

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yep.

Time to move on.

You don't like the rule. Noted.

You posted right before me. I'll move on now :) 

[Rulesman]

3 hours ago, David in FL said:

 FC's or opponents agree that it's a spike mark and it's tamped down..

 

 

And if your opponent doesn't agree?

[David in FL]

6 hours ago, Rulesman said:

And if your opponent doesn't agree?

Then it doesn't get fixed.  

Or alternatvely, in a competitive round, you might decide to repair it anyway and be prepared for the subsequent claim....

Just as you'd do with a ball mark under the same circumstances.

 

[dave s]

The rule in golf that makes the LEAST sense to me is this:  You slice a ball off the tee and it finds the middle of a lake.  You are allowed by rule to drop where the ball crossed the hazard and play from there.  1 penalty stroke.

With the exact same slice there happens to be a fence (and OB) between you and where the ball land, it's back to the tee box hitting 3.  Stroke and distance PLUS delay of game.

It's just not a practical rule for non-tour play.

My other beef with the overall rules of golf is that I BELIEVE the rules were written and apply to golf being played in pristine conditions and by tour-level players.  I realize golf rules have been around a long time, but I still believe they were written for tour-level players on the best course conditions in mind.

dave

[Aflighter]

I voted 8. The only one id say that isnt stupid is the sprinkler head one because some folks would claim its in their line when its not just so they can take  drop.

[Asheville]

One man's tamp is another's stamp.

Let's see, now that I have free reign to repair every imperfection on my line of putt, I'll just smack down a line all the way to the hole. Then I'll make more putts, just like at the golf store's putting green (the one with the subterranean channels to the hole). 

[iacas]

2 hours ago, dave s said:

The rule in golf that makes the LEAST sense to me is this:  You slice a ball off the tee and it finds the middle of a lake.  You are allowed by rule to drop where the ball crossed the hazard and play from there.  1 penalty stroke.

With the exact same slice there happens to be a fence (and OB) between you and where the ball land, it's back to the tee box hitting 3.  Stroke and distance PLUS delay of game.

It's just not a practical rule for non-tour play.

My other beef with the overall rules of golf is that I BELIEVE the rules were written and apply to golf being played in pristine conditions and by tour-level players.  I realize golf rules have been around a long time, but I still believe they were written for tour-level players on the best course conditions in mind.

• If you see your ball go OB, there's no real delay. Hit another ball from the tee.
• Most water hazards are not obscured by a bunch of trees, etc. where a ball can be lost. Many OB are.
• What's wrong with having graduated penalties? OB is a more severe penalty. And for good reason - you've left the golf course entirely. Water hazards, heck, you can still play from them if you choose.

2 minutes ago, Asheville said:

One man's tamp is another's stamp.

Let's see, now that I have free reign to repair every imperfection on my line of putt, I'll just smack down a line all the way to the hole. Then I'll make more putts, just like at the golf store's putting green (the one with the subterranean channels to the hole). 

Yup. Pace of play.

[tristanhilton85]

I really don't have issues with any of those rules. Placing instead of dropping would be fine with me, but I really don't care either way on that one.

[dbuck]

I voted 1-2.

I would somehow modify stroke and distance. I agree with Erik's discussion on this, and agree with it for tournament play, and I don't like a bifurcation of rules, but for the weekly foursome on a crowded course, I'd like to be able to drop and take a stroke in some situations. If you see your ball fly OB, then certainly stroke and distance. If you think it is in, and it turns out it rolled on the other side of the stake, then drop it and take a stroke, rather than hold up play. Same for a lost ball, you thought was in plain sight. Obviously you could have played a provisional off the tee, but didn't anticipate the necessity. I have lost balls in the fairway or light rough.

On a tv tournament once, the player hit a ball into a dry barranca. It was a lateral hazard. The player saw it go in, the tv cameras saw it go in, but because they didn't find it, it was deemed a lost ball and he had to re-tee and play stroke and distance.

 

[DaveP043]

 

On a tv tournament once, the player hit a ball into a dry barranca. It was a lateral hazard. The player saw it go in, the tv cameras saw it go in, but because they didn't find it, it was deemed a lost ball and he had to re-tee and play stroke and distance.

 If the area was indeed marked as a hazard, and there's virtual certainty that the ball is in it, the ball isn't "lost" under the rules, he should have had the lateral hazard options.  The issue may have been the "virtual certainty" part, but the rules are pretty clear otherwise.  If the dry barranca was not marked as a hazard, and many of them are played as "through the green", playing it as a lost ball was his only choice.

I also remember Phil Mickelson hitting one into a dry lateral waste area at Torrey Pines and being forced to play it.  He'd hit a provisional into perfect position, and told people not to look for the ball, but someone did find it, and he had to play it.

[iacas]

32 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

 If the area was indeed marked as a hazard, and there's virtual certainty that the ball is in it, the ball isn't "lost" under the rules, he should have had the lateral hazard options.

Small point of order, but that's not quite right. Balls can definitely be "lost" in a water hazard.

37 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I also remember Phil Mickelson hitting one into a dry lateral waste area at Torrey Pines and being forced to play it.  He'd hit a provisional into perfect position, and told people not to look for the ball, but someone did find it, and he had to play it.

He took an unplayable and returned to the tee under stroke and distance, but yes, since they'd found his original his provisional had to be abandoned.

Ditto Lickliter.

[djfajt71]

On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 1:26 PM, Asheville said:

One man's tamp is another's stamp.

Let's see, now that I have free reign to repair every imperfection on my line of putt, I'll just smack down a line all the way to the hole. Then I'll make more putts, just like at the golf store's putting green (the one with the subterranean channels to the hole). 

What!?!?!  You mean to tell me that I'm not the golf store putting wizard that I thought I was???

[Piz]

I'm going to vote with @David in FL on this one.  Tamping down a few spike marks, or repairing a ball mark or two, while waiting for others to play up, is a courtesy to those behind and a nod of respect to the course.  Besides that...it gives you something to do when one, or more, fellow competitors is having a blow-up.