Gentlemen's rules.

[DirtCheap]

I have a group of buddies who like golf, but aren't too serious about it.
We have developed a set of "gentlemen's rules" or sometimes called "Arkansas rules."

If it's it's a birthday game, the birthday boy gets to make a rule (usually something that helps him in his strongest area) but it has to be agreed on before the game starts.

If your tee shot lands within one clubs length from the fairway, you get one shot to footwedge it out of the tall grass and back onto the fairway without penalty. (but you can't pick it up with your hands)

We only allow 8 strokes per hole. Once you hit 8 strokes, you put 8 on the scorecard and you're done with that hole. This rule is mostly to keep the game moving and keep the good players from beating us up.

We play on a course that just three years ago was a cow pasture, so the ground is like concrete and the grass is irregular so (as per course rules written on the scorecard) we improve the lie on every shot.

We also do one foot gimmes. If your ball is within one foot of the hole,(or "in the leather") you just pick it up and pretend you took the stroke. No point slowing down the game for a putt that is near impossible to miss. Unless it’s for birdie, then you have to hit it in.

Any other gentlemens rules you guys play with?

[Alex B]

Any other gentlemens rules you guys play with?

Yeah, it's called the "Rules of Golf."

[mgolfer]

That made me laugh so much Alex.

Sometimes, if we don't go to the range before we play 1 mulligan for 9 holes as anything right of left of the fairway is basically a drop needed on my course I play at. Also if it is a practice round we sometimes hit some extra shots out of bunkers and some extra approach shots if no one is behind us.

[Eore]

obviously if we are playing early in the morning (as my dad and i often do to get a quick 18 in) we don't go to the range, so we can use a "breakfast ball" on the first tee if our first shot is horrible-

[mgolfer]

Yeah, that's what we do.

[Alex B]

Honestly, though, I do break the rules on several occasions.

1. I usually don't have time to warm up. (At my home course, my grandfather doesn't like to warm up; at my local muni, I usually walk up 18 as the sun disappears.) Therefore, I allow myself a first tee mulligan (though I rarely use it).

2. At my local muni, the greens are awful in the fall. Therefore, I give myself any putts inside 3 feet. (I figure any putts I would have missed from close range are balanced out from putts I would have made from beyond 3 feet if the greens weren't so bad.)

3. I don't count it if I accidentally touch my ball. (I should, however, as a accidentally touch my ball quite often.)

4. I replay shots in stroke play. (I don't count the second ball.)

5. During the summer at my home course, the bunkers become infested with yellow jackets... the damn bees basically cover the sand. Therefore, if I hit into a bunker, I remove my ball and give myself a bad lie in the rough.

[DirtCheap]

5. During the summer at my home course, the bunkers become infested with yellow jackets... the damn bees basically cover the sand. Therefore, if I hit into a bunker, I remove my ball and give myself a bad lie in the rough.

This was actually covered in Golf magazine last year. I think it was Novembers issue, but don't hold me to that.

The three examples they used were a rattlesnake, a beehive, and an alligator. If you ball lands in an unsafe place, you can drop from the closest safe place, no nearer to the hole without penalty.

[Shindig]

We only allow 8 strokes per hole. Once you hit 8 strokes, you put 8 on the scorecard and you're done with that hole. This rule is mostly to keep the game moving and keep the good players from beating us up.

I wish more folks would do this at the munis. I've seen folks plumb-bobbing a short putt for an 11. In a stroke play tournament, this makes sense. But in a casual round at a muni?

[TourSpoon]

In the Saturday morning group we play don't hit off tree roots and you can hit two off the first tee. Everything else is legit.

As far as the wild animal bit, I once got a drop because my ball ended up a few feet from a really pissy water moccasin. That is legit because he was not giving up his position on the course.

[JonnyGolf]

I used to take putts inside of 3 feet if the greens have been plugged or improve my lie if it landed in a unrepaired a divot. But, after playing in a match play event where my competitor, a 16hdcp, shot 79, I'm playing everything to the letter of the law if I'm playing enough holes to record.

I've got to keep my index competitive or I'm going to get blown out next year having recently gone from an 11 to an 8.

[lamebums]

I play breakfast balls, gimmes inside the leather, and improve your lie (in the winter). Sometimes we take 9 max on a hole. Whatever we do, we do fairly for everyone though. Other times I'll play several balls from the same place, especially if there isn't anyone behind me (I'll play the first one always, though).

[bca42]

LOL, yes I'm with you. If you aren't following the Rules of Golf, you're not playing golf. Maybe your 'Hitting a Golf Ball on the Course" - yes, call it that from now on please my friend from AR..

[clutch]

My dad and I will play best ball if one of us has a particularly awful or hilarious tee shot. For example, he once hit a shot that nestled in the crook of a tree trunk. 4 feet off the ground. If he took a drop near there, he would have been either ankle deep in leaves or hitting off roots and bare ground. Also, he'll sometimes Jack Nicholson the score a bit. Such as, if I would have gotten a 5 if it hadn't taken X number of blown shots to get out of the bunker, he writes a 5. I don't complain.

[meenman]

we play 100% by the rules - max 10 strokes based on our handicaps - which will go down to 9 as we improve - thats just me and my wife - we kind of laugh at these kids that shoot 80's when they play us - hell i could shoot an 80 if i re-did 10-15 shots per game

[Shindig]

I used to take putts inside of 3 feet if the greens have been plugged or improve my lie if it landed in a unrepaired a divot. But, after playing in a match play event where my competitor, a 16hdcp, shot 79, I'm playing everything to the letter of the law if I'm playing enough holes to record.

A 16 handicap shot a 79? Unless he was a 16 handicap at Oakmont and moved to a very easy course to play, I doubt a 16 handicap is shooting 79. Odds are you played against a sandbagger (or you conceded too many putts).

Check out http://www.popeofslope.com/sandbagging/odds.html to see the odds of a player beating his handicap by so much.

[JMMARICH]

I am fairly new to the game. Sometimes I par, sometimes I do miserable. If noone is behind me, I write down exactly the number of strokes it takes me to finish a hole. If someone is behind me, or I am playing with someone much better than me, I stop at 8.

I take one mulligan tee shot per 9. Other than that I stay 100%, or I will never know when I actually improve.

--Josh

[Saks]

A 16 handicap shot a 79? Unless he was a 16 handicap at Oakmont and moved to a very easy course to play, I doubt a 16 handicap is shooting 79. Odds are you played against a sandbagger (or you conceded too many putts).

I shot an 81 (par 72) when I was a 19 handicap. I am now a 16.7 and threatening breaking 80. Isnt that just what happens when people improve? You shoot a low score and your handicap drops some more...

No mulligans, no gimmes, no footwedge. No improvment of lie either. When it gets boggy in winter and your ball ends up with chunks of mud from the fairway, some clubs allow lift clean and drop. Thats all.

[Shindig]

I shot an 81 (par 72) when I was a 19 handicap. I am now a 16.7 and threatening breaking 80. Isnt that just what happens when people improve? You shoot a low score and your handicap drops some more...

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but beating one's handicap by a large number is a rare happening. I assumed it was in a recent tournament by the way you had said it, so the suggestion (which I should've said) was to see how he fared in other rounds. If the rest of the rounds matched his handicap, fine. But if he was consistently playing 10 strokes under his handicap during a tournament, it would be worth investigating.