Random Golf Thoughts

I'd like clubs to have a local rule for holes where you may / may not be in a hazard and may / may not be able to play out of it. If someone hits their ball and there's a decent chance they'll have to play 3 off the tee, I don't want them going to the fairway / green and then running back to replay their last shot. It would save time.

It would be an advantage to the player of course. Because how playable the ball in the hazard is depends on how good their provisional ball is! I hadn't thought about it before, but on the 9th hole in corballis you can be in the lake hazard, but not quite in the water so have a very playable chip out beside the green. But you'd make sure to play a provisional in case it is gone because you don't want to look for your ball and then have to walk back around the lake to take a drop if you can't find it or it's not playable. But if you stick your provisional to within a few feet you're far more likely to play that ball than if you hit it into the water too!

In terms of keeping things moving though, I'm glad people don't realise they're doing it wrong.

I'd have thought that if you think it might have gone in the hazard you can play a provisional. If you find it and it's not in the hazard then that ball is in play. If you find it and it is in the hazard then the provisional is in play. What you can't do is play a provisional and then decide to take a drop from point of entry. If you could do that then you might as well always play a provisional to see how it goes and if it doesn't work out well you can always just take a drop anyway.

If you know it's in the hazard then why would you call it a provisional? You can drop from point of entry or replay your last shot.

But what I don't want, is people thinking their ball is possibly in the hazard, but possibly playable even if it is, so they don't hit a provisional from the tee or in front of the lake. And instead go to check out their lie and if it's not worth playing going back to hit again. I'd rather they play a provisional and then be honest about whether they'd play the ball in the hazard and play it if they would have (regardless of where the provisional went). That way I get home earlier on a Sunday morning and spend less time looking at someone walk back 100 metres to play a shot.

I know they're not the rules and rely on honesty which is not something I'd assume of golfers, but I'd rather have a few lads take advantage of the rule than watch the arse around while I want to hit the ball.

It's in play if it's not in the hazard. It's not in play if it's in the hazard. Sorry, I'm guessing that's what you mean, but just in case someone thinks that if they find it in the hazard they have the option of playing out of the hazard even though they played the provisional. They don't.

But I'm saying that people do this all the time. And I'm glad they do.

A quick Google has informed me that you can only play a provisional if you think your ball may be out of bounds or lost but in play. In other words you're not allowed to play a provisional if you think your ball might be in a hazard.

I can understand a reason for this, but I hope people don't realise it. It'll slow down rounds!

Just wondering if people think these events are worth the entry fee?

A quick moan:

I paid €1,200 for new irons at Christmas. I'd two rounds booked in over the break, including a treat in Portmarnock links. Then I was a close contact so had to cancel them even though I felt great.

I finally got out for a round on 8th Jan and it was lovely. And I'd two weeks parents leave booked in for he last two weeks on January. The wife is going back to work so we're weaning the child onto the childminder. The plan was a lesson and range sessions on week 1 while we're doing half days then 3 rounds in week two when we're doing full days. Including the treat being one of the rounds in Portmarnock links, having missed out on it in December.

But, then I slipped going down the stairs last weekend. I swapped the lesson for a physio appointment and time in the range for time lying down for some relief. I've only noticed some signs of recovery last night, but I still cancelled the first of the three rounds. Because I still have to do parenting, and I also didn't want to jeopardise the rounds at the end of the week. The latest is that my childminder has a covid case in her house, so she's out for the week. As are my rounds on Thursday and Friday.

I thought I'd be able to train myself a little on the new clubs, because I'm making a couple of changes with them. But instead, by the time I get to practice with them I'll have forgotten what I was planning on changing!

I know this is a first world loan - I'm but getting to play with my new toys. But it is very frustrating!

As someone who has never played forged irons before, is there really that much of a difference between them and cast? Like many, I've come back to the game during the pandemic and the addiction is still the same! The game is improving all the time and I'm wondering if playing forged irons might help bring me on a bit more.

From my own experience, no, none at all except sound/feel. The real benefit is you can bend them more than cast so they can be fit to a wider range.

Maybe a slightly off the wall random thought and I know it won't happen, but isn't 18 holes quiet a lot? I think one of Golfs biggest issues is how time consuming it is. 4 hours to play a round is a fairly serious time commitment.

Would people think it would be a reasonable idea to reduce it to 16 holes? First off this would shave 25 minutes or so off a round.

Secondly most golf clubs have little or no proper practice facilities. This would allow them convert 2 of the holes into a proper practice area (and the tees and greens would already be in place) and virtually every club could then with a little investment have very good practice facilities.

Just a (random) thought.

I love 18 whether it's 4hrs or more. I thinks it's time well spent away from hectic lifestyles and phones. I'd probably add 2 instead of taking away 2