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POLL: How do you Cheat at Golf?

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If you pick-up that 1-footer without asking, did you cheat? (photo by Greg D'Andrea)
If you pick-up that 1-footer without asking, did you cheat? (photo by Greg D’Andrea)

What’s that? Cheat you say? Well I never!

Oh really? Have you ever taken a Mulligan? Ever decide to drop a ball near where you lost one, rather than hit a provisional from the tee? Or, maybe you’ve granted yourself a gimme putt (even if it was “just on the lip”) without your fellow players’ consent?

Some of you may not have considered the aforementioned a golf cheat, but trust me – they are not in accordance with the USGA rules. Yet, they happen all the time out on the course, don’t they? “Oh don’t worry about it Bob, it’s the first drive of the day. Go ahead and take a Mulligan.” Or: “Hmmm, I think my ball might be lost. Well, I’ll just drop one over here.”

Many of us don’t even give these phrases a second thought. Yet according to the USGA, they constitute cheating. But here’s the thing: For those of us who play this game for recreation only, there’s a really big difference between rule-breaking and flat-out cheating (bare with me for a second here):

1. Rule Breaking
So you take a first-tee Mulligan…big deal. Maybe on one hole you don’t feel like walking back to the tee to hit a provisional – instead, you take a stroke and drop a ball as if you were in a lateral water hazard…if I were playing with you, I wouldn’t complain. And perhaps you lip-out and pick-up, rather than tapping the last putt in – It wouldn’t be any skin off my back. This isn’t the tour – we’re here to have fun.

2. Cheating
You regularly employ winter rules, the toe iron, the hand wedge, the leather wedge, golfer math or any other tactics meant to deceive your fellow golf competitor.

So now that we’ve established the difference between rule-breakers and cheaters, I guess we should also consider the possibility some golfers neither cheat nor break any of the rules. Not cheating I can understand, but never breaking any of the rules? If these folks really do exist, then I hope they either (a) play golf for a living; or (b) are in therapy.

Time to take the poll and tell us if you’re a rule breaker, cheater or all-around goody two-shoes…

How do you Cheat at Golf?

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3 Reasons Recreational Golfers Need A Rulebook

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Can all those USGA rules be hurting golf? (photo by Sonny Vega)
Can all those USGA rules be hurting golf? (photo by Sonny Vega)

Believe it or not, the USGA doesn’t govern all of golf. And it certainly doesn’t preside over recreational golfers like you and I. The USGA, along with its rulebook, does have a place in golf. But the idea it’s the supreme ruler of all things golf is a rather widespread misconception (this goes for the R&A as well). That being said, I outline below why most recreational golfers should cast-aside the USGA rules in favor of something written more for, well…recreational golfers.

1) The USGA rules weren’t really written for recreational golfers
Let me begin by stating in no way, shape or form am I advocating we throw-out the USGA rulebook. Those rules are absolutely necessary to achieve the USGA’s founding mission: To determine the best golfers in the world. This history is clearly recounted on their website:

“1894 – In September, William G. Lawrence wins a ‘national amateur championship’ at Newport (R.I.) Golf Club. In October, Laurence B. Stoddard wins a ‘national amateur championship’ at St. Andrew’s Golf Club. C.B. Macdonald, runner-up in both events, calls for the formation of a governing body to run a universally recognized national championship.” – USGA.org

Today, the USGA is basically still doing the same thing for the top amateurs. In addition, the PGA has adopted the USGA rulebook too. This all makes sense for determining the best golfers in the world.

But what about the rest of us? All golfers – from the youngest to the oldest; the worst to the greatest; are forced encouraged to play by the USGA rules. This notion is foreign to many of the other major sports that also have youth and recreational participation. Think about your son or daughter’s little league; or your work softball team – do those strictly adhere to the rules of Major League Baseball? Of course not – the rules have been modified and/or made simpler to encourage new players and promote fun.

So that begs the question: Why isn’t there a separate set of rules for recreational golfers? For all that the USGA rules have done for the elite players in the game, the reality is the complexity of those same rules have hindered golf’s growth over the years – in particular with regards to recreational golfers (the vast majority of the game’s participants).

It should also be pointed out that while the USGA has been around for over 120 years, the game of golf was around for about 5 centuries before that. Makes you wonder how all those recreational golfers ever got by without the USGA rulebook.

2) Alleviate slow play
It’s no secret slow play is rampant in golf – from the pro tours all the way to your local muni. It’s perhaps the biggest complaint amongst average golfers and the current rulebook is (at least) partially to blame for this. A set of simpler rules for recreational players would go a long way in unclogging the links.

Why does there have to be out-of-bounds? If your ball goes into the woods, drop one near where it went in, take a stroke and move on. Why do we have to go through the entire “tend the flag” ritual? Leave the flag where it is and if the ball hits it, it counts as in. Why do we have to wait for the person furthest from the hole to play first? Instead, we should all be playing ready-golf.

I understand some folks are sticklers for this stuff, but these are the golfers a separate rulebook would help the most! A simpler rulebook would remove the hesitation some golfers have in bending the USGA rules in the first place, thus resulting in a speedier round for everyone.

3) Attract new players; and help keep the ones already playing
Try telling a newbie golfer about grounding his club in a hazard. Or that she has to walk back to the tee and re-hit if she loses her drive. How about that he or she can’t touch their ball until they are on the green. And if their ball lands in a divot in the fairway…oh well, sucks to be them. And the truth is, non of the aforementioned rules sound any better to veteran golfers either.

Watching golf on TV already has issues attracting potential players, but then the few that actually do want to try the game are met with this beast of a rulebook? It’s just not right. We should be doing everything possible to woo new folks to the game. And, part of that should be a simple set of rules that encourages fun out on the course.

Adding a rulebook specifically for recreational golfers won’t solve all of golf’s problems, but it will certainly help – especially in the longterm. And it won’t take much to implement either – there are already organizations out there like the U.S. Recreational Golf Association (more on them in a future post) who are trying to accommodate recreational golfers (including those golfers who keep a handicap) – whereas accommodating recreational golfers clearly isn’t the USGA’s priority.

It’ll Take Balls To Save Golf

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Can these balls save golf?
Can the infamous Polara ball help save golf?

There’s been much ado via the media about the demise of the golf industry – this golf blog included. And while everyone has their opinion on how to fix it (this golf blog once again included), few solutions may be as practical as changing the ball you play.

Following up on Chris’ post from Monday, I’d like to offer my review and brief two cents about the Polara golf ball. Just to be completely transparent, the Polara balls I and the other bloggers here at GolfStinks tested were sent to us gratis after I interviewed the CEO of Polara, David Felker, for this post back in April. In that post, I stated quite honestly that my opinions toward Polara (or any non-sanctioned USGA equipment for that matter) had been rather scathing up until my conversation with Mr. Felker, who provided me a new perspective on this type of equipment.

My new perspective is; If golf is more enjoyable from the fairway (as the tag line in the photo above states) then who cares what equipment you use to hit those fairways? Of course you should never try to deceive your playing partners – especially if you’re playing in a tournament or if money is on the line. But in general, what difference does it make if the average weekend hack is playing with non-USGA conforming equipment? It’s not like the course ranger or USGA police will take away your license to golf. The only difference I can see is that weekend hacks will have a quicker and more enjoyable round.

That all being said, I have since played two 18-hole rounds with Polara golf balls and can offer the following review:

Round #1 (at Woodstock Inn & Resort, Vermont): I didn’t keep score during my first round playing the Polara balls. Perhaps I was still feeling some shame over playing with non-USGA conforming stuff, but my plan was to just see if my drives and fairway shots were straighter. On the first hole, I ripped one right down the middle and thought; “Wow, these balls really do work!” However I quickly learned (after a few poor shots) that the improvement to your game will be more subtle and to truly gauge how much the balls are helping you, keeping score is a must. At any event, when my round was over, I felt the Polara balls made my tee-shots more accurate but I didn’t notice much difference playing from the rest of the course. My guess was I saved 4 or 5 strokes overall.

Round #2: During the second 18-hole round (at Lake of Isles in Connecticut), I made sure I kept score. I played the front nine wretchedly, but still ended up with a 52 – which I didn’t feel was too bad considering how poorly I felt I was swinging the club. On the back, I turned it around and shot a 42 for a total of 94 (which is right around my average). My drives were pretty good on the back and again I attributed some of that to the Polara. To be that consistent with the driver was a bit unusual for me, so I would say the ball helped me save 3 or 4 strokes on the back alone. The ball probably helped me shave a few strokes on the front too, but it was less obvious (drives landing in the rough might have gone OB were it not for the Polara).

Now for context: I will mention my most recent round, where I did not play the Polara ball. Last week at Inn of the Mountain Gods in New Mexico, I went 55-45 for an even 100 playing Nike balls. Again I started off wretched and played better on the back – I felt I played very similar to the last time with the Polara balls, yet the result was six strokes higher. Was this because of the Polara balls? It’s hard to tell just by my scores alone.

Considering the slope: The slope rating at Inn of the Mountain Gods (from the forward men’s tees) is 124, while the slope at Lake of Isles (forward men’s tees) is a much harder 135. This means that even though I felt I played the same at both courses, I not only shot six strokes better with the Polara balls, but I was also playing on a much more difficult course that day (as indicated by Lake of Isles’ higher slope rating). To me, the combination of both my scores and the slope ratings at these courses really paints a telling picture.

Now obviously, this is just a small test sample, but it would appear the Polara ball does help keep you in play (especially off the tee). And if that leads to a quicker (since you’re not always looking for your ball) and more enjoyable round, then perhaps these balls can help golf as a whole. Hacks and new golfers alike should embrace subtle game-improving equipment like this. And to help clear the conscious of golfers everywhere, the USGA needs to amend its rules to include a section just for average players and/or non-tournament play. Steps such as these would help put golf back on track and start turning this industry into something we can once again be proud of.

The Push For 9 Hole Rounds

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USGA_Play9Many golf purists see 9 holes as an incomplete round. I kind of get their point. After all, does playing 2 quarters constitute as a basketball or football game? If we played 4.5 innings, is that a baseball game? No, but there are factors involved.

If we break it down and look at this from a participatory view, we must include the elements that are important to us; the participants. When we think about heading out to the golf course for a round, the two main concerns for most are time and money. It’s no secret golf costs a few bucks to play and takes the most time out of any other recreational sport activity.

A recent report by NGF (National Golf Foundation) shows a decline over the past two years in returning or former golfers with a surprising gain in the beginners category. NGF has also done some research into the whole 9-hole thing. Their findings were that the shorter rounds appeal to many beginners and those that don’t have the time or money to play 18. This seems pretty obvious but should not be overlooked.

As with anything, we must adapt in order to survive. That being said, golf’s governing bodies see this trend and have already instituted plans to address this. The biggest being USGA’s Play 9 Campaign. Granted their Play 9 day has already passed (July 23), but the residual effects should hopefully ripple through the golf community and get dormant golfers out there, even if it’s a trip to the driving range.

As always, our sentiment is to just get to out there and play, whatever it may be. 18 holes, 9 holes, driving range or putting in your living room – enjoy the game!

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Rebel Hack: Playing Above The [Golf] Law

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Should you fear bending a few golf rules?
Should you fear bending a few golf rules?

Yes, I am well aware the USGA has set forth a bunch of rules and what-not for us hacks to abide by. Let’s be real, we the 99.9% of the 30 million golfers in the U.S. do not golf for a paycheck. In fact we actually pay to play. So, if I’m paying I’m making the rules, no? We’re not talking about a complete overhaul of the law here, just a few tweaks that are more hack friendly – possibly something like what the Recreational Golf Association of America has done.

This past weekend my buddy and I hit the local track for a quick nine. During our play we were confronted with a couple issues that required some rule bending. I’m writing about it so I can justify our actions and not feel like a cheating scumbag. The first problem we came across was when my ball ended up in the sand trap. Upon reaching the trap, I noticed a bunch of little yellow jacket nests in the sand. F*** that S***! I left my ball there and dropped another one a good 5 yards from the trap and continued to play without taking any penalty.

Granted, that is not a big deal, but we were still curious to know what the ruling would have been. I did a quick search but couldn’t find anything (not surprising, since you need a guide book to understand the rule book). Moving on, the next issue is actually something we have talked about before and we even coined a term for it – PAF! The Pro Advantage Factor (PAF) came into play when my buddy hit his tee shot and couldn’t find it. We saw it land just off the fairway into the rough but we couldn’t find it. Is that fair to take a penalty for that? Hell no! On the tour, someone in the gallery and/or a marshal would have found that ball immediately!

I’m sure stuff like this happens every day on every course. How closely do you actually follow the rules? I’d love to hear what you think!

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

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