Alignment

[Nutsmacker]

I have a question/concern about alignment and golf course etiquette.  

I decided a few years ago to really work on alignment when hitting my shots.  It helped me a lot.  However, I am concerned about one the methods I use being bad etiquette and I am looking for advice.

My pre-shot routine will be to stand next to the ball and take one practice swing where I believe the correct line is.  I will try not to take any real sized divot and mostly just mark the grass.  I then back off the ball and take a look at where the line is from my practice swing mark from behind.  I then address the ball with the necessary adjustment using the mark from my practice swing as the measure of where my alignment should be.  It is not a long process but the backing off the ball I am worried annoys people.  I keep it to only one practice swing and do it quickly.  

I do not do this on every shot, but if I have an odd angle or the hole is presenting itself in a way where the alignment of the shot is critical I use this method.  It has helped immensely in lining up my approach shots.

Is this legal?  And how bad of etiquette is this?  I don't believe I am taking any more or less time than anyone else.  

Edited May 29, 2017 by Nutsmacker

[dennyjones]

I can only speak for myself but if it is a quick process I wouldn't blink an eye.  If it helps your game, and doesn't contribute to slow play, it wouldn't bother me.   

I'm bothered by the guys that take 4 practice swings, back off of the ball, get a line and then take more practice swings.  Or worse yet, wait until it is their turn to take their club out of the bag and then take forever to play.  

[iacas]

You can't make a mark (that you don't remove) for the purpose of alignment. That is against the rules.

[Nutsmacker]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

You can't make a mark (that you don't remove) for the purpose of alignment. That is against the rules.

That is what I was wondering when taking the practice stroke.  If I make a mark with the practice stroke in the rough or on the fairway...is that a penalty?  Because I see people doing that all the time...but since I am looking at where my divot/brushed grass was pointing as a reference point...is that illegal?  If I wasn't using it as a reference point would that be then legal?  That seems like some murky waters.  People are touching the ground on practice strokes all the time...

[iacas]

You're doing it to help you align.

[Denny Bang Bang]

13 minutes ago, Nutsmacker said:

That is what I was wondering when taking the practice stroke.  If I make a mark with the practice stroke in the rough or on the fairway...is that a penalty?  Because I see people doing that all the time...but since I am looking at where my divot/brushed grass was pointing as a reference point...is that illegal?  If I wasn't using it as a reference point would that be then legal?  That seems like some murky waters.  People are touching the ground on practice strokes all the time...

If you are using the "divot/brushed grass" to indicate your line of play, then it's illegal 

[Nutsmacker]

6 minutes ago, iacas said:

You're doing it to help you align.

Okay, Thanks for clarifying.   I thought that it felt like to good of a way to do it!  

[DrvFrShow]

7 hours ago, Nutsmacker said:

I have a question/concern about alignment and golf course etiquette.  

I decided a few years ago to really work on alignment when hitting my shots.  It helped me a lot.  However, I am concerned about one the methods I use being bad etiquette and I am looking for advice.

My pre-shot routine will be to stand next to the ball and take one practice swing where I believe the correct line is.  I will try not to take any real sized divot and mostly just mark the grass.  I then back off the ball and take a look at where the line is from my practice swing mark from behind.  I then address the ball with the necessary adjustment using the mark from my practice swing as the measure of where my alignment should be.  It is not a long process but the backing off the ball I am worried annoys people.  I keep it to only one practice swing and do it quickly.  

I do not do this on every shot, but if I have an odd angle or the hole is presenting itself in a way where the alignment of the shot is critical I use this method.  It has helped immensely in lining up my approach shots.

Is this legal?  And how bad of etiquette is this?  I don't believe I am taking any more or less time than anyone else.  

 

I look at it like this - if you're playing alone, do what you want. You can't record the score anyway - you're not supposed to. If you're playing with others, play by the rules.

[Denny Bang Bang]

46 minutes ago, DrvFrShow said:

 

I look at it like this - if you're playing alone, do what you want. You can't record the score anyway - you're not supposed to. If you're playing with others, play by the rules.

It doesn't appear to me he was aware he was breaking a rule... until now

[Nutsmacker]

3 hours ago, Denny Bang Bang said:

It doesn't appear to me he was aware he was breaking a rule... until now

No,  I wasn't... which is why I was asking in the question.  I am still a little confused on how to call this on myself.  

If I was to take a practice swing and make a mark on the grass during the practice swing but ignore the mark mentally; would that then not be a penalty?  I am asking because I always take a practice swing and sometimes brush the grass and sometimes take a bit of grass out on the swing.  I thought it was legal to ground the club on the course when not in a hazard..during a practice swing.  I am just curious to know how to play this.  When I played this afternoon I made sure that I never looked at where my practice swing was taken but I feel like nothing is different in my routine to addressing a ball for a shot.  Maybe I will video record the pre shot routine during a round and you guys can tell me when I am breaking the rules?   

[dennyjones]

I believe what is being considered a rules violation is the fact that you are using your small divot as an alignment tool.   That really wouldn't be any different than finding a broken tee and placing it in front of your ball as an alignment aid.    

[Nutsmacker]

3 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

I believe what is being considered a rules violation is the fact that you are using your small divot as an alignment tool.   That really wouldn't be any different than finding a broken tee and placing it in front of your ball as an alignment aid.    

Yes, I understand that putting a tee down to align my shot would be a rules violation...but if taking a divot on a practice swing may or may not lead to assistance in aligning a shot...when do I call it on myself?  Does that mean I should just work on not touching the ground with a practice swing to avoid any grey area?  I don't think its exactly the same as putting a tee down to align a shot.   Like I said, I played this afternoon and ensured that I never looked at anything that I did with my practice swing....whether it touched the ground or not...however, how would I know that I was or was not violating a rule?  

[Buckeyebowman]

12 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

I believe what is being considered a rules violation is the fact that you are using your small divot as an alignment tool.   That really wouldn't be any different than finding a broken tee and placing it in front of your ball as an alignment aid.    

Yes, But you can pick out a discolored blade of grass, dead leaf, twig, whatever and use that as long as it occurs naturally on the course.

As for your latest reply, how would you NOT know? You're the only one who could know. And now that the rules situation has been clarified I don't think you need to guilt trip yourself into oblivion!

Edited May 30, 2017 by Buckeyebowman

[Nutsmacker]

14 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Yes, But you can pick out a discolored blade of grass, dead leaf, twig, whatever and use that as long as it occurs naturally on the course.

As for your latest reply, how would you NOT know? You're the only one who could know. And now that the rules situation has been clarified I don't think you need to guilt trip yourself into oblivion!

Haha.  I guess what I am saying is in various hypothetical situations..when would I be in violation?  For example, what if I took a divot with the practice swing, and then as I was walking up to the ball to hit it and noticed from the practice swing divot that I was going to possibly be hitting it to far to the right(as an example.)  Even if I had no intention of using the divot as an alignment tool; at that point, would I be in violation even before I struck the ball?   If I noticed myself considering the divot in where to have my stance, is that a rule violation?   Or if that situation occurs..should I step off, fill the divot with a seed or something and then hit it?  I am trying to make sure that I am not breaking the rules that is all... 

[Denny Bang Bang]

19 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Yes, But you can pick out a discolored blade of grass, dead leaf, twig, whatever and use that as long as it occurs naturally on the course.

As for your latest reply, how would you NOT know? You're the only one who could know. And now that the rules situation has been clarified I don't think you need to guilt trip yourself into oblivion!

@Nutsmacker I would agree this, as far as I understand the rules.  You would be the only one who knows whether or not you used the mark, and therefore you would have to call it on yourself, or not.

Since you've been doing the above for a while now, you probably need to consciously train yourself to not pay attention to your practice swing marks while playing a round.

[Buckeyebowman]

That's kind of my thinking, Denny. FWIW, I'll take a practice swing, maybe rough up a little grass, but that's only after I've picked my line and established the "discolored blade of grass" or whatever as my alignment point. The only things that matter to me are my alignment point and the target.

[iacas]

Just do it away from the ball, man.

If the point of you doing it is to help you align, that's in violation of the rules. The people who are doing it just "near" the ball probably aren't really making a mark intentionally (and really, good players don't take divots or brush the grass right near their ball, lest they do something to cause it to move or something).

Just take your practice swing away from the ball.

14 hours ago, Nutsmacker said:

My pre-shot routine will be to stand next to the ball and take one practice swing where I believe the correct line is.  I will try not to take any real sized divot and mostly just mark the grass.  I then back off the ball and take a look at where the line is from my practice swing mark from behind.  I then address the ball with the necessary adjustment using the mark from my practice swing as the measure of where my alignment should be.

That's illegal. You're placing a mark for the purposes of alignment.

Stop doing that. If that means no practice swings, fine. If you like the practice swings, take them further away from the ball where they don't help you align.

[DrvFrShow]

If you're making a practice swing next the the ball and it marks the ground, fine. There's no problem with that so long as you don't cause the ball to move. It's the intent that matters here. It's the integrity of your round. If you're not doing it for alignment purposes and it just causes a mark on the ground there's no problem. If you're using it as an alignment tool, then it's against the rules and you need to self assess a penalty. 

You can ground the club during practice swings. 

Suggestion for you: stand 6' - 10' behind your ball when you're lining up your shot. Make your practice swing there perpendicular to your shot line, then pick your target, line up your shot, then approach your ball from the side. There won't be any mark on the ground with which to line up your shot. And there's no risk that you'll cause your ball to move.