Why Don't Serious Golfers Know the Rules?

[Fourputt]

1 minute ago, Groucho Valentine said:

The basic ones (rules that govern actual play and relief situations, IMO) most tournament players should be familiar with. But the rules of golf are so procedural and esoteric its not really practical to memorize most of them. Thats why we have rules officials out there. Use them. 

Great idea, but most of us don't have rules officials posted around the course.  And it's easy to learn and play by those procedures.  In Men's Club tournaments, the most common issues come from determining the NPR when taking relief without penalty.  This seems to be the one that the average club player has the most difficulty with.  It was one of the focal points of the half day outdoor instruction at my 2 USGA 4 day workshops.  In 15 minutes out on the lawn I can straighten out any player who is actually interested in doing it right.  It really isn't that difficult.

[Groucho Valentine]

9 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

Great idea, but most of us don't have rules officials posted around the course.  And it's easy to learn and play by those procedures.  In Men's Club tournaments, the most common issues come from determining the NPR when taking relief without penalty.  This seems to be the one that the average club player has the most difficulty with.  It was one of the focal points of the half day outdoor instruction at my 2 USGA 4 day workshops.  In 15 minutes out on the lawn I can straighten out any player who is actually interested in doing it right.  It really isn't that difficult.

I agree. Even on the club level, medal players should be familiar with relief procedures. And when in doubt, play 2. But i understand why alot dont know all the rules. For alot of players, its really just hit it-chase it. Then worry about the rest as it comes up. 

[DeadMan]

2 hours ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I agree. Even on the club level, medal players should be familiar with relief procedures. And when in doubt, play 2. But i understand why alot dont know all the rules. For alot of players, its really just hit it-chase it. Then worry about the rest as it comes up. 

I don't expect anyone except a rules official to know all of the rules. What I care about is that you know the basic rules: what do you if your ball is in a hazard, the difference between yellow and red hazard lines, how to take relief from an obstruction, etc. I would also like everybody to know how to play 2 balls under Rule 3-3, and how to look up stuff in the rules book when necessary.

Apparently, it's unfortunately too common that people don't even know the basics.

[zipazoid]

That's why I carry the Rules of Golf in my bag. I sure as heck don't know all of them either. The basics, sure. But the book comes in handy if you're in an unsure situation or arguing with someone over the rules. 

 

Edited June 9, 2017 by zipazoid

[iacas]

16 hours ago, DeadMan said:

I don't expect anyone except a rules official to know all of the rules.

We don't know them all, either. We just know the basic ones down cold and know where to look to find the other ones, know enough of the really unusual ones that they tickle the mind when they come up, etc.

Today in the final round of the national junior college championship at Chautauqua golf club a kid didn't know what to do when his ball was next to a large water tank.

 And rather than play two balls under 3-3, he waited 20 minutes for an official to come over.  I wasn't assigned to the event but told him if the local rules declared it integral to the course, he had to play it or take an unplayable or whatever but most likely it was an immovable obstruction. 

[HonestyPolicy]

At my club most of the members are seniors. They've been playing golf for years, tournaments, etc. I ran the club for one year, what a horror show. Anyway, here's some of the "fun" I endured:

- Men's league the guys play from different tees against each other for $. I told them the guys on the front tees needed their handicap adjusted per section 3-5 when playing against others from  different tees. When  guys off the front tees were calling for my head!

- During Match Play, no one was posting their scores. They said how can you post a score if you pick up? Even the owner agreed. I told them see section 4-1 and the "most likely" score. Even the club champ disagreed with me. They all found out they were wrong and the committee should have hit them with failure to post but since the entire club was doing it they looked the other way assuming people knew now and would post. Yet 5 years later they aren't posting again for the same reason, how can you post if you pick up, and it's all the same guys...

- The owner wins the club championship. When he comes in he signs his card and many are congratulating him. He happens to set his clubs down inside (he's the owner so he can set them where ever he wants) and then someone counts 15 clubs in his bag. I count them, yup there's 15. The tournament committee hits him with the penalty of too many clubs and with the extra strokes he is no longer club champ. He asks me "why didn't you protect me by telling me I can only have 14 clubs". What????

-  I'm made aware a guy is keeping two ghin cards, one for his NY club in the summer, one for his FL card in the winter. He leaves his FL club with a 14 handicap, and comes back to his NY club where he left there with a 15 handicap. He jacks his handicap up to 26 in NY and wins a lot of net tournaments, eventually bringing his handicap back down to 15 by the end of the season. Then he goes to FL and jacks his handicap up there and does the same. He never posts T scores. I call the state association and connect his cards, then the committee posts his T scores for him and he loses his mind like it's the end of the world. But this guy is the first one to challenge people on rules. So why doesn't he hold himself to the same standards he holds everyone else to?

I could keep going but I'll stop.

The thing that gets me the most is no matter what rule we have to review, they all refuse to even crack open the book. How do you learn if you won't even crack open the book? Like I said, what a horror show....

 

 

 

 

[DeadMan]

On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 4:45 AM, HonestyPolicy said:

- During Match Play, no one was posting their scores. They said how can you post a score if you pick up? Even the owner agreed. I told them see section 4-1 and the "most likely" score. Even the club champ disagreed with me. They all found out they were wrong and the committee should have hit them with failure to post but since the entire club was doing it they looked the other way assuming people knew now and would post. Yet 5 years later they aren't posting again for the same reason, how can you post if you pick up, and it's all the same guys...

For what it's worth, at my men's club, the person who runs the match play sends out guidelines on how to score a match play round. Might be something for your club to consider.