Golf Etiquette in TV
 

Last night we waited till 7, then played 9 at Sandhill.

We both hit our first tee shot short and had to chip. Before we were on the green a cart had driven up to the tee and both golfers got out and stood there. They weren't stretching or swinging a club - just standing there.

For every hole they pulled up to the tee box before we were on the green and for every hole they exited their cart before we were done. Jim and I aren't the greatest of golfers but we were both bogey or below... There were no golfers in front of us as I think people would rather play at 7 (no points) than 6:30 - 7 (with points).

When the starters are there, they don't have you even drive up to the first tee until the players ahead of you have left - which (in theory) maintains some space between groups of players.

While I have played in many places where you feel rushed, I have always felt that the guidelines of staying in the cart until the players ahead have exited is a courtesy. If you must get out, at least step to the side and swing the club to loosen up.

Am I all wet here? I would love to hear how others feel. And yes, if this is the worst of my problems, I know I have a good life.:o

Never have heard of this one, about staying in the cart. If they did not hit into you....I don't think you have a complaint.

I have to admit this is a new one for me as well. When I, as well as my fellow players, get to the tee box we always seem to exit the carts immediately. This gives us an opportunity to peruse the hole and sometimes by observing the players ahead we can see potential problems we were not familiar with.

While I understand your sensitivity I would recommend you simply ignore the following group. I doubt very much if they are intending to intimidate you. Relax and enjoy your game.

New to me also. I believe you should be ready to hit as soon as it is clear and you can do so safely. So I would prefer the people behind get out of the cart, walk to the tee, look over the hole, select their club, while waiting for me to finish. And I would expect the same from those in front of me. It all helps to speed up play.

Kate,

While I do not know the answer to this, I just wanted to say that, for some reason, I really like to read discussions of golf etiquette. I want to be polite but I know I do not know everything about this.

Of course, when I get there, I will probably stand out like a sore thumb as the awful player who just keeps pathetically waving the people behind me through. I sure hope there is a remedial golf group there. Maybe I will have to play at high noon in the middle of summer so fewer people are out.

Anyway, I will keep reading about golf etiquette. Thanks for starting this thread. Hey, at least I can mind my manners on the course, even if I do not know what I am doing otherwise.

Boomer of Scorched Earth

Allow me to make a sugestion...........If this should happen again and you are feeling rushed .., hit three balls off the tee, When they drive forward to see whats going on , then move on to the next tee before they get there.......when they turn around and return to their tee , this will automatically add more distance between the two groups ...........
Will this work ???? Probably not , but it will ruin their whole day and likely make yours if you have the right frame of mind..........
Just chalk it off to "THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT".........

Don't you just love THE VILLAGES ...........

fumar:girlneener:.......:beer3:

Kate - Not sure if Florida would be different but I always stand on the tee while I wait for the group in front to clear. I actually never heard of staying in the cart until it was clear. I don't think this was any attempt to rush you along. Both you and Jim are good players who play quickly.

How does one play golf by watching the foursome behind you?
 

I need the time to concentrate on my ball, my foursome.
As someone said if they are not hitting into you....no complaint!

Enjoy the forward look....it is not as distracting.

btk

Hi all,

Thanks for the input - like Boomer, I want to be sensitive to those around me. Golf is no much a head game, that feeling rushed can have an adverse affect. Thanks for all the good advice - and Fumar - there are days that yours may be the best of all.

If you say there were no golfers in front of you, and the group behind you was obviously waiting for you on every shot, why didn't you let them play through? Where we come from, that would be the courteous thing to do. Maybe I'm missing something in your description, and if so, I apologize, but we were always under the impression that golf courtesy dictates letting faster players go through.

Hi Taj,

We thought about letting them play through - but thought that would hold up play for everyone. If we finished a hole and then pulled forward and waited until they played the hole and then waited for them to play the next one the people after THEM would then be waiting. Sandhill has just one par 4 to make a play through easier - and at that point they had fallen behind a bit. (though after my double bogey on the par 4 they caught up again)

We are not slow players (as Russ has attested) and I shot a 32 from the gold and the hubs was maybe one stroke off from there. We also both played the same tee to speed up play as well.

Katezbox, I am with you. I was always taught that you do not pull up to the tee box until that group has hit and are on their way:shrug:

Oops, maybe I am not reading that correctly? Once the group has hit....it is ok to approach the tee and wait.

KateZBox - I'm not saying you're slow players. Just sounds like you were slower than the people behind you, and they were obviously impatient and definitely were waiting on every hole. I generally let people play through in that circumstance. I agree, its difficult on a 9 hole course, but otherwise you have to have them breathing down your neck each hole. What we generally do is tell them we'll let them thru on the next hole. That way they're ready to go thru, and its usually pretty painless. Or another way is to hit your drives, then let them go thru on that same hole. That way you won't be holding up the people behind the people you let thru because you've already hit your drive, just have to finish up with the putting.

It could be that they are standing on the tee box taking the opportunity to visit until their turn to play. If you are a mixed group of 4 for instance, and some are hitting from different tees, it is a good time to chat with the person from the other cart that is teeing off the same tees as you. I notice this a lot with the guys and gals playing. The guys will stand on the tee visiting while waiting and the gals will stay by the carts. It has nothing to do with trying to rush the group in front along.

Hi Taj,

We did consider this - but it just didn't seem to work out timing wise.

Thanks for some helpful comments.

Dilly-

That is really a good thought. My feeling rushed was most likely a product of my overactive imagination. I think I am 2nd in that only to me friend Boomer. :sigh:

k

You have brought up a good point, Kate.

Although I don't believe it is necessarily bad manners to stand on a tee before the group in front has holed out, but it may be good manners not to.
We are talking par three for the most part. We are pretty close together. It may appear we are "pushing" and some may find it intimidating.

I'm going to change my ways and stay off the tee box 'till the group in front has holed out.

As far as I am concerned I rarely look back. If there is an open hole in front I check back to make certain we are not holding up those behind. If we are, I remind my partners we should step up the pace.

Meanwhile, Kate, if your group is keeping up, don't look back. Enjoy your game.

We are only going to play as fast as some group somewhere in front of us.

I am only talking the executive courses here and only the par three holes since you can tee of on most par 4s after the group in front of you is out of your range.

First of all there is no reason to try to hurry the group in front of you if they are playing within the time frame. 8 minutes per hole on most courses. Now I have to wonder if the group behind the couple in question is trying to hurry their game since it is after 7 PM. Are they putting out? Are they playing all shots?

When the groups start to stack up I usually try to hang back behind the back tees until the group in front of me has teed off. I then move to my tee position and sit in my cart until the group in front of me is on the green. Then I pick my club and move to the tee area.

What is the hurry? Some days you have no wait and no one pushing you from behind. Other days, you have a slow group some where in front of you and everyone is waiting. All you can do is hope that the field marshal sees the backup and asks the slow group to pick up the pace. If they don't, just relax and enjoy the company in your group.

Golfer Etiquette
 

It is not a breach of etiquette for the group behind you to exit their golf cart while you a still finishing the hole; however, as someone else suggested, it would be a gesture of sportmanship to let them play through if they are waiting on you at every hole....providing there was no one ahead of you as you stated.

With regards to playing after 7pm for no points.....during the Summer, points do not have a negative effect upon you being able to get on a course. Points last only for 7 days before they are erased. During the "season" when our seasonal neighbors are here, it may become difficult to get a t-time, but then it's not so much a matter of points as it is a matter of who gets into the T-Time system first.

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but getting into the tee time system first may apply when making a "reservation" (next three days) but not when making a "request" (four to seven days from current date).

During the four to seven days (more accurately, seven to four days) all requests are amassed. At some point on the fourth day (I heard midnight) the program sorts them out and assigns/fills tee times based on points and the time of the request is not a factor. So, if I make a request tonight for a foursome with 8 points for 0900 on Monday with a narrow window and you wait until Thursday to make a similar request for a foursome with 0 points you will get preference even though my request predated yours.

After the tee times have been assigned per above, the remaining ones are posted to be chosen by those making reservations and it is first come first served.

Having said all of that, I would appreciate more comments. .

You are correct. Making a request on Monday for next Monday does not matter. On Thursday night at midnight, the system will do its thing for points and either give you a tee time or not. The more points your group has the less chance of a tee time.

Kate,

As all the above have said, I always get out of the cart. Most of the times I'm trying to find a breeze to cool off. I'm sure there was no harm meant. Plus my partner smells :pepper2:

Maybe that's why my partner wants to get out of the cart too! :confused:

Tonight we had just the opposite occur. Half of a foursome didn't arrive until 5 minutes before their tee time. We were a twosome following and there was a threesome behind us. The tee was open for at least a couple of holes before this foursome.

By right they (or the starter who was inundated with walk ons) should have told us to start ahead of the delinquent group).

To make it worse one of the players in the group ahead was a novice - and she was playing from the gold tees. Plus the drivers bag was on the passenger side and vice versa - this created a bit of a pas de deux at the end of every hole.

We hoped they would offer to let us play through on the par 4 - no such luck. Even worse, on the following hole, one of the men was giving one of the women a lesson - knowing that we waited for them at every tee. And that the threesome behind us was playing right behind us.

Oh well - it was a beautiful sunset, the breeze was wonderful and I was under bogey. Life is good,:pepper2:

Reminds me of an alleged conversation between Samuel Johnson and his side kick, James Boswell.

Boswell: "Dr. Johnson, you smell".

Johnson: No, Boswell, you smell, I stink".

Oh Oh, off subject. 10 lashes with a wet noodle for poaching.

The reasons to play after 7:00 are;

1. no points
2. no trail fees
3. no cost for guests

As the days become shorter it is more difficult to finish before dark.

I would guess that the group behind you were anxious to finish the 9 holes.

1, 2, and or 3 may have applied to them.

I do not think they did anything wrong. In fact I would have offered them (the faster players) the opportunity to play through.

Bottom line, playing after the staff goes home, we are on our own.

Dynasty,

I agree....

But remember - this was an exec - hard to let someone play thru on a par 3 where there is no place for them to go in front of you!

Sorry folks - but on the exec courses you can either wait behind me or wait in front of me. I prefer you wait behind me or get an earlier tee time.

Breathing down my back does not help either. I just might go into slowdown.

I have just as much right to my 1 hour and 45 minutes as those in front and those behind.

Don't blame me. Blame the ones that might be two or three holes ahead of me for the slowdown. Remember, I am putting up with them also.

Sit in your carts or stand at the tee box - or better yet - stand on the side of the tee box. It is less frustrating. I know.

As I tell me wife when I see the backups - 'Dear, it is going to be a loooong day"

:agree::agree::agree: