how strict are yous on rules with playing partners?

New to the club, I would just find new playing partners rather than making a complaint to club officials.

Ignore it and keep playing with them or move group if it annoys you - At best you could pass a comment like "do you mind me asking, how many clubs are you allowed"

Focus on your own game and don't be worrying too much what others do, you are out to enjoy yourself not be the police to other peoples bad habits/conduct

If you continue to let people break the rules they will never bother to learn not to break the rules.

gaz22 wrote: »

i bit the bullet and joined a club this summer. i've only played two comps and both times had playing partners that dont care about the rules at all.

one lad kept taking drops from shoulder instead of knee height even after being reminded, he said it hurts his back the new way. another one had 17, yes 17 clubs in his bag and kept teeing up a good 5 or 6 inches in front of the tee markers. wouldnt care if it was casual golf but its in the sunday singles. was half tempted to refuse to sign the scorecards but they had terrible scores anyway.

i'm new and dont know anyone at the club so not sure if i want to make a name for myself but id also go crazy if i lost a competition to people like that.

do yous just let this stuff go or take it to the competition committee or what?

I've often seen lads tee off ahead of the markers but it's been a once off thing where they genuinely just put the tee down and didn't check. Being honest I'm not going to call someone on that, but I know others would.

The bad back thing is complete boll0x. How does he get the ball out of the hole? Dropping from the knee is miles more beneficial anyway.

For the guy with the clubs in the bag I'd just give a passing comment like "Look I'm not going to say anything but I know there's a few strict lads around. If you're caught with that many clubs in the bag there's a good chance they'll report you". Bit of a cop out from me but that's how I'd handle it

The counting casual rounds are a new side to this. For me in a casual round I never really cared. I'd let someone know if I thought they didn't know the rule so that they wouldn't be caught out in competition. But if someone takes an extra club length or two for their drops, or plays a provisional and decides to use it because they find the original and don't like the look of it I won't care. To be honest, even if they want to kick the ball out of the rough and come in happy with 36 points and then wonder why they can't shoot that in a competition that's their business.

But now if someone is submitting these rounds I'm not sure what way I'll react. I did have a fella on the second hole the other day say he'll throw one down on the fairway and play it as 3 since his had been lost. I told him he can't since he's submitting the card. But that's a clear one. If it was a minor infringement like forgetting to move your marker back or something on a green I don't think I would call someone on it if they're submitting the card for the handicap. Whereas I would for a competition. I suppose for a counting casual round like that no-one cares if someone submits a card that should technically be a shot or two higher. Ultimately it'll result in them possibly having a handicap that's an either or a quarter of a shot lower than it should be. No-one is affected by that. Whereas if it was in a comp, someone coming in with a score a shot or two better than it should be would be a big deal.

Pretty similar to a previous poster but for the ball drop issue, i wouldn't get too fussed about that since i don't see any real advantage to it by dropping from shoulder height. I do it the odd time myself as i spent 20 years doing it that way so sometimes you forget the rule has changed, especially if you're a casual and infrequent golfer like myself. I'd be a bit more careful though in competitions, not that i enter many.

The teeing up beyond the markers, again, wouldn't bother me too much if it happened the odd time and was marginal. It can be just carelessness. But if it was a few inches and frequently, it would annoy me as it suggests a blatant disregard or ignorance of the rules as opposed to a bit of carelessness or distraction which we all have the odd time.

The number of clubs thing is the big one as there's a definite advantage to it. Being restricted to 14 clubs makes you think a bit more about how to configure your bag. Do i load up at the top or bottom end of the bag? Do i sacrifice a 3 wood which i might need to fall back on if the driving is ropey for an extra wedge which might come in handy if i'm struggling with 3/4 shots for example. It might be nice to carry an extra driver or putter if you rotate and one is struggling on the day....there's any amount of scenarios that would be nice to carry more than 14 clubs for....

I'm not sure i'd have the balls to report someone on anything other than the most blatant of cheating (moving ball, dropping a "lost" ball, etc) unless i was a senior and respected member myself but i would definitely subtly remind someone of the rules and that someone else might be more fussy about these things and to consider that going forward....at the end of the day, especially if you're new to a club, you don't know who they know or how they'll react so best to be as diplomatic as you can....