Fourputt
Littleton, Colorado
- Sep 5, 2006
- 973
- 0
Our group follows the Rules of Golf. We do NOT do so in a religious, "rules gestapo" style. We, too, play for fun. Most of us do not carry a bona fide GHIN handicap. We don't play for the big bucks. We're just out there, having fun. But, we play by the rules.
We do NOT roll the ball. We play the ball where it lies, even in fairway divots. There are no "gimmes" on the putting green. Each and every putt is made. Lost balls do NOT get the "leaf rule". A lost ball is lost and incurs the appropriate penalty.
There are only two or three instances where, for the sake of pace of play, we deviate from the actual Rules of Golf. Many times, we will putt out instead of marking the ball. If I roll the first putt to 1 foot, I'll go ahead and tap in before the next player will putt. That just keeps pace of play moving forward. We do NOT spend the entire 5 minutes looking for a lost ball. Make one pass where you think you saw it land. If you don't see it on the first pass, take your drop with a new ball and play on... with the penalty. If I hit it in the junk, I deserve to lose the ball. I have 7 or 8 dozen of AA+ found Pro V's at the house. Another 2 or 3 5-gallon buckets of Top Rocks and other assorted balls also are in the basement. When we play first off the tee on Saturdays and Sundays, you stumble over quite a few balls left behind by the later players the eveing before. If you hit an errant shot off the tee box, we hit provisionals. It is not conducive to pace of play to have to return to the box to rehit.
My wife and I play a lot of Scrabble on weekends. We play by the rules... with challenges... and the Official Scrabble Dictionary to check a challenge. If you play... play by the rules!!!!
Sorry! Just my opinion.
Just FYI, the part I highlighted is still well within the rules. By the rules in stroke play you are not required to mark if your ball interferes with another players stroke. You have the option of playing your stroke first or marking and lifting your ball, whichever seems most appropriate at the time.
From Rule 22-1:
In stroke play, a player required to lift his ball may play first rather than lift the ball.