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Golf Etiquette

Posted in: General Golf Discussion

VinylJunkie Professional Champion
Go to Last Reply 74 Views 9 Replies 1 Like
Hi everyone, As I am a true beginner to this great game, (picked up clubs for the first time this March,) I wanted to ask everyone's opinion about a 'situation' I got into yesterday. I went to play 9 holes at a local Muni Course after work. When I teed off, the starter said I could play by myself, since the course wasn't busy that day, and because it was after 6pm (twilight play.) Unfortunately, I was having one of those rounds were nothing was going right for me. Occasionally, I would hit an extra shot off the tee, or take another practice chip, or whatever. I ALWAYS made sure to check behind me first however, as I didn't want to hold any one up. There were even times were I picked up my ball and moved on to the next hole, just to keep a steady pace going, as I really was out trying to practice. On the 5th hole, as I'm teeing off, a guy who is still putting on the hole behind, yells, "Hey a**hole, this isn't a driving range. You are holding everybody up!" I looked at him, and he was by himself. He proceeded to keep yelling at me, so finally, I responded, "Look, if you want to play through, just ask, but I don't need your side comments. This is a muni course, and its a Monday." Anyway, he yelled some more, then ended up skipping over me, but by now I'm totally frustrated, pissed off, etc..........to the point I didn't want to keep playing, which I never have felt before. I just wanted to ask, am I missing something here, or, is it not ok to take a couple extra shots when it is slow? I see pros practicing multiple shots from the same area all the time? I know I didn't help the situation by yelling back, but seriously, please let me know if I am in the wrong, so I don't make a mistake twice. Thanks for your comments and reading, sorry this post is a bit lengthy. -VJ
gj24 Legend
# 1 5/25/2010 9:37:55 AM
Sounds like the other guy was having a bad round and needed to vent and you were the closet thing to him. You did the right thing by not lowering yourself to his level and offering him to play thru. I used to be the same way back in the day when I found myself on the course by myself, playing several balls, I wouldn't worry about it, keep doing what your doing. Sounds like you know enough about etiquette to know what to do in those types of situations and sounds like the other guy could sharpen up his etiquette.
Duckhunter Legend
# 2 5/25/2010 9:50:24 AM
OK VJ, Here is my take on this. When it's slow and I'm not holding anyone up, I will hit an extra ball or two. I have had guys in front of me before that would hit 4,6,8 balls off the tee and did that for a few holes. That did get under my skin as I'm trying to hit my shot or putt and you keep hearing a ball being hit by a driver. One day I was waiting in the fairway and I see this guy in the sand. I wait for a few as he swings 5 or 6 times. I'm in a cart so I run up there and there are 15 balls on the green. I did say something to him that was not so nice. Any way there are times you can hit an extra shot. The guy behind you should have just asked if he could play on by you.
HIGH_LANDER Legend
# 3 5/25/2010 9:50:40 AM
all that yelling! no way! i pack a 357.one look & thier gone! i'm not gonna put up with all that B.S. & Yelling.i play golf to enjoy not to be yelled at.that's my 2-cents
MikeNomgi Professional Champion
# 4 5/25/2010 10:06:15 AM
If you are a member at a private club, and are not holding up play, it's perfectly ok to hit as many balls as you like. Your membership dues entitle you to unlimited play. On a daily fee course, your green fee entitles you to 18 holes of golf (although the occasional mulligan can be overlooked). If for some reason the course was empty that day, your green fee doesn't mean you can hit ten balls a hole and play all day, like a ski ticket allows you to ski all day. That said, the clown behind you was a moron if in fact you were not holding him up. I'm thinking though, if he was putting while you were teeing off, by the time you hit your tee shot and got to your ball, he'd have been waiting for you on the tee. Maybe you hadn't noticed him waiting behind you since you were a single. Or maybe bacause he saw you were playing slowly, he was taking extra putts on the green waiting for you to get out of range. I'm thinking maybe you were holding him up without realizing it. It is up to course management as to whether they want to allow you to hit more than one ball if it the course is not busy. Some may, others may not. In the end though, remember you have paid for the privilege of playing one ball per hole for 18 holes, not playing as many balls as you wish.
BUCKNUT Legend
# 5 5/25/2010 10:30:37 AM
At the municipal course Im a member at you greens fee's do entitle you to play unlimited golf all day, they just make you pay for your cart every round. I do in fact hit extra balls when alone just for practice but I also keep the pace of play.
MikeNomgi Professional Champion
# 6 5/25/2010 10:45:16 AM
At the municipal course Im a member at you greens fee's do entitle you to play unlimited golf all day, they just make you pay for your cart every round. I do in fact hit extra balls when alone just for practice but I also keep the pace of play. If you're a member, why are you paying daily green fees?
BUCKNUT Legend
# 7 5/25/2010 10:51:21 AM
I never said I was paying fees. Thats how it is done for the non-members though. I've been on both sides of the fence.
dysangel Professional Champion
# 8 5/25/2010 11:33:46 AM
If someone is putting and you haven't left the next tee yet, that is blind crippled dog slow. Especially as a single. You cleared the green, he hit his approach shot and drove or walked to the green and had time to line up a putt. While all you did was go to a tee that was close enough for him to yell at you, and get out a driver? When did you notice that he was there? Had he been behind you for a while? Were there people waiting for him? Obvoisly the guy was a jerk, but a little sutuational awareness would have helped. If you had realized he was catching up to you, you may have waved him up before the situation turned stupid. Then offer to have him play through.
slingshotg Professional Champion
# 9 5/25/2010 12:43:33 PM
i dont see a problem with it if the course is not crowded and im by myself someetimes i will play two balls all the way to the hole nothing wrong with getting in some practice. sounds like the guy was upset with his round and he took it out on you.

VinylJunkie

Professional Champion

Go to Last Reply

74 Views 9 Replies 1 Like

Hi everyone,

As I am a true beginner to this great game, (picked up clubs for the first time this March,) I wanted to ask everyone's opinion about a 'situation' I got into yesterday.

I went to play 9 holes at a local Muni Course after work. When I teed off, the starter said I could play by myself, since the course wasn't busy that day, and because it was after 6pm (twilight play.) Unfortunately, I was having one of those rounds were nothing was going right for me. Occasionally, I would hit an extra shot off the tee, or take another practice chip, or whatever. I ALWAYS made sure to check behind me first however, as I didn't want to hold any one up. There were even times were I picked up my ball and moved on to the next hole, just to keep a steady pace going, as I really was out trying to practice. On the 5th hole, as I'm teeing off, a guy who is still putting on the hole behind, yells, "Hey a**hole, this isn't a driving range. You are holding everybody up!" I looked at him, and he was by himself. He proceeded to keep yelling at me, so finally, I responded, "Look, if you want to play through, just ask, but I don't need your side comments. This is a muni course, and its a Monday." Anyway, he yelled some more, then ended up skipping over me, but by now I'm totally frustrated, pissed off, etc..........to the point I didn't want to keep playing, which I never have felt before.

I just wanted to ask, am I missing something here, or, is it not ok to take a couple extra shots when it is slow? I see pros practicing multiple shots from the same area all the time? I know I didn't help the situation by yelling back, but seriously, please let me know if I am in the wrong, so I don't make a mistake twice.

Thanks for your comments and reading, sorry this post is a bit lengthy.

-VJ

gj24

Legend

# 1 5/25/2010 9:37:55 AM

Sounds like the other guy was having a bad round and needed to vent and you were the closet thing to him. You did the right thing by not lowering yourself to his level and offering him to play thru. I used to be the same way back in the day when I found myself on the course by myself, playing several balls, I wouldn't worry about it, keep doing what your doing. Sounds like you know enough about etiquette to know what to do in those types of situations and sounds like the other guy could sharpen up his etiquette.

Duckhunter

Legend

# 2 5/25/2010 9:50:24 AM

OK VJ, Here is my take on this. When it's slow and I'm not holding anyone up, I will hit an extra ball or two. I have had guys in front of me before that would hit 4,6,8 balls off the tee and did that for a few holes. That did get under my skin as I'm trying to hit my shot or putt and you keep hearing a ball being hit by a driver. One day I was waiting in the fairway and I see this guy in the sand. I wait for a few as he swings 5 or 6 times. I'm in a cart so I run up there and there are 15 balls on the green. I did say something to him that was not so nice. Any way there are times you can hit an extra shot. The guy behind you should have just asked if he could play on by you.

HIGH_LANDER

Legend

# 3 5/25/2010 9:50:40 AM

all that yelling! no way! i pack a 357.one look & thier gone! i'm not gonna put up with all that B.S. & Yelling.i play golf to enjoy not to be yelled at.that's my 2-cents

MikeNomgi

Professional Champion

# 4 5/25/2010 10:06:15 AM

If you are a member at a private club, and are not holding up play, it's perfectly ok to hit as many balls as you like. Your membership dues entitle you to unlimited play.

On a daily fee course, your green fee entitles you to 18 holes of golf (although the occasional mulligan can be overlooked). If for some reason the course was empty that day, your green fee doesn't mean you can hit ten balls a hole and play all day, like a ski ticket allows you to ski all day.

That said, the clown behind you was a moron if in fact you were not holding him up. I'm thinking though, if he was putting while you were teeing off, by the time you hit your tee shot and got to your ball, he'd have been waiting for you on the tee. Maybe you hadn't noticed him waiting behind you since you were a single. Or maybe bacause he saw you were playing slowly, he was taking extra putts on the green waiting for you to get out of range. I'm thinking maybe you were holding him up without realizing it.

It is up to course management as to whether they want to allow you to hit more than one ball if it the course is not busy. Some may, others may not. In the end though, remember you have paid for the privilege of playing one ball per hole for 18 holes, not playing as many balls as you wish.

BUCKNUT

Legend

# 5 5/25/2010 10:30:37 AM

At the municipal course Im a member at you greens fee's do entitle you to play unlimited golf all day, they just make you pay for your cart every round. I do in fact hit extra balls when alone just for practice but I also keep the pace of play.

MikeNomgi

Professional Champion

# 6 5/25/2010 10:45:16 AM

If you're a member, why are you paying daily green fees?

BUCKNUT

Legend

# 7 5/25/2010 10:51:21 AM

I never said I was paying fees. Thats how it is done for the non-members though. I've been on both sides of the fence.

dysangel

Professional Champion

# 8 5/25/2010 11:33:46 AM

If someone is putting and you haven't left the next tee yet, that is blind crippled dog slow.
Especially as a single.

You cleared the green, he hit his approach shot and drove or walked to the green and had time to line up a putt. While all you did was go to a tee that was close enough for him to yell at you, and get out a driver?

When did you notice that he was there?
Had he been behind you for a while?
Were there people waiting for him?

Obvoisly the guy was a jerk, but a little sutuational awareness would have helped.

If you had realized he was catching up to you, you may have waved him up before the situation turned stupid.
Then offer to have him play through.

slingshotg

Professional Champion

# 9 5/25/2010 12:43:33 PM

i dont see a problem with it if the course is not crowded and im by myself someetimes i will play two balls all the way to the hole nothing wrong with getting in some practice. sounds like the guy was upset with his round and he took it out on you.

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