BY THE RULES:WHICH IS worse? Someone who is ignorant of the rules, or someone who intentionally ignores the rules? Both are wrong, for it is incumbent on everyone who plays the sport to get to know the Rules of Golf. But it is more wrong, isn't it, for the player who does know the pertinent rule and wilfully finds a way around it.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of hackers out there who simply don’t know and make no effort to know the rules. I’ve been in a situation where I thought my eyes were deceiving me – it occurred when a player made no effort to conceal the fact he was improving his lie in the bunker, gently nudging the sand wedge under the ball to get a nice shot. And, when called, professed not to know what he was doing was wrong and was shocked to hear he had incurred penalty shots. The rest of the round was completed in near-silence.
We all have personal experiences. Indeed, only the other day, I was playing a round where one of our party suffered a double hit when attempting to play a deft chip shot from beside the green.
There was no attempt to hide the unintentional action. He immediately raised his hand to acknowledge the fact and give himself a penalty.
To which the other player in our group recounted the story of how he was playing in a three-ball some years back where someone visibly and audibly made a double-bit on a pitch shot but, in the process of compiling a good score, stubbornly ignored the fact.
As the eyewitness admitted, even all these years later, it remains one of his golfing regrets that neither he – nor the other member of the group who witnessed the infraction – called the perpetrator as to his actions and actually signed his card. To make matters worse, the individual in question won the competition.
The Rules of Golf can be quite complicated and not everyone can be expected to know each and every one of them, even if there are some gentlemen and women to be admired who seem to know them inside out.
However, a survey among golfers in the United States recently, showed that no more that 27 per cent admitted to playing entirely by the rules – and the main infraction, it seems, was the propensity to take a “Mulligan,” which basically invites a player to hit a second tee-shot. In the rules, though, and despite it being an unwritten rule in social outings or where playing with a beginner, the “Mulligan” is most definitely not allowed.
Sure, it is fine to hit again if playing a provisional .. . . but if someone takes a “Mulligan” and doesn’t count the shot then, sorry to say, that is simply not golf.
What are the other common “mistakes” made by players? Well, there’s the player who picks up the ball to find out if it’s their ball – why not spend a few minutes marking your ball with green shamrocks or red polka dots before the round? – and others who, instead of taking a drop, will actually place the ball neatly on the best tuft of grass available.
The most irritating of all?
The player who walks into heavy rough, can’t find the ball . . . . and proceeds to drop and play another one rather than walking back to the tee to play another one. It shouldn’t be allowed and, you know what, it isn’t.
