Taking up a new pastime here...
 

try to use a little common sense when doing so. All sports, card games, clubs have etiquette rules and most people know this and respect the rules, behavior and do's and don'ts. Golf is no different. Here some simple things to know:

1)do not pull ahead of the tee markers being used.
2)do not, unless asked, stand behind the person hitting(it's impolite unless requested to do so because the person teeing off can't see very well).
3)"mulligan"...not a real golf term and not in the Rules of Golf by the USGA. if you must hit a mulligan make sure no one is behind you waiting for you to tee off. also if you are picky about putting out know that when hitting that second tee shot you're hitting your 3rd shot.
4)stick with a score of double par(no more than 6 strokes/par 3 or 8 strokes/par 4).
5)park your cart even with the middle of the green. never leave your cart where when you finish you have to walk back towards the previous tee.
6)be ready to play...we play "ready" golf. even if you're closer to the hole you can hit your shot as long as it doesn't endanger others. giving everyone a turn to hit after the tee shot is not being nice....it's being ignorant of the etiquette .
7)playing music from your cart that others can hear is being inconsiderate.
8)those of you who disagree with me know not of what you speak. I'll bet you there is a hobby, sport, pastime you partake in that has rules and etiquette. try to understand we who play golf(not play "at" golf)would always respect your pastimes rules and etiquette ...please give us the same consideration.

I suspect someone had a bad round today.

dt;tl

Definition of insanity - Refusing to accept the reality that golfing etiquette expected at high end Championship golf courses will never be the norm at The Villages Executive courses. The best way for one to truly enjoy the Executives is to go with the flow and accept the fact that they are what they are, amateur hour at its best.

Yes, I do know of what I speak.

If you'd like to park your Cart PROPERLY, you do it BEHIND the Green being played and there are a raft of reasons why. For example, you likely won't have to walk around a Bunker to get to it (& slowing down the players in back of you). Secondly, you'll have yourself in your carts and out of the way of the players behind you, much faster.

Lest you still doubt if I know what I'm talking about, perhaps you should re-acquaint yourself with: https://www.golfthevillages.com/golf...dgolfguide.pdf or check here: Golf Cart Etiquette | Golfweek

It's all in there and you're wrong.

rules , we dont need no stinking rules.......

So true, I fall into that insanity myself sometimes as I never played executive courses before TV only played Championship.

You can’t even get people to fix their ball marks never mind all the other etiquette.

I don't golf and know nothing about it but, THIS is one of the best posts I've read.
Now, lets wait for those entitled players with huge egos and no consideration for others to start hating.

Yep, that’s how I get at the range when someone walks in front of the bench when the range is Hot!

Well, Yeah, I know all of that. But how many Strikes do I get per hole? If I'm offsides do I have to take a drop and a yardage penalty or do I just hit another ball? When am I allowed to use the bridge on the green. When I hit into the group ahead of me am I supposed to yell 'FOUR' or is it 'FORE" ???

If TV gave us 12 minutes between start times instead of 8, that would help. Don't ya think?

You forgot to mention an important rule where: those that smelt it most likely dealt it

Then Golf rounds in The Villages would take 5 hours and The Villages would have 33% FEWER Tee Times available.

GREAT solution!

I always play with earbuds listening to music helps relax me and play better.
Mark Twain: Golf is a good walk spoiled. —

The OP is not talking about USGA rules. He’s talking about simply being considerate of other people.
Another one is when you’re finished with your round don’t stand next to the green adding up your score, putting your tees and balls away or doing who knows what. Move your cart away from the green so that those behind you can play.
It’s really pretty simple. Play without delay, leave the course in better condition than you found it and don’t disturb others when they are playing.
Again, these are not rules, they simply courtesy.

Precisely.

Other than a few outings on the championship courses, my wife and I play the executive courses exclusively. It is a mixed bag to say the least: some good golfers, many not-so-good and even some raw beginners. Of course they're expected to know the basics (which are posted at every starter shack) but I don't get my undies in a bundle if there are infractions here and there. I've seen an individual player with a slow foursome in front of him playing two balls: (no problem as he wasn't slowing play down), some horseplay (we were in a foursome with two guys whose idea of fun was to try to disrupt the other when putting--they didn't do it with us so, again, no problem), heard the occasional utterance of a curse word or two--sometimes quite loud, etc. etc. I've only said something to other players twice: once to ask the foursome in front of us to move ahead when they decided to park their carts under a tree adjacent to a green on Chula Vista to wait out a minor shower and not moving when it was over, and once when a player had his pull cart on the green. It was cordial both times, and both thanked me.

I can understand strict adherence to a code of conduct when playing a championship course. For the most part only serious golfers play on them, in my experience. But the people on the executive courses are there to have fun.

Oh if only I could exercise free speech here but I know I'll end up in time out.

A little courtesy goes a long way
 

I am happy to see the preceding suggestions for more courteous play. The comments above address one of the more aggravating scenarios, which I observe very often here (especially when I have some other fun activity I'd like to do right after playing golf & wish everyone could play a little faster). When your group has finished a hole move on immediately - you will have time while waiting on the next tee to replace/rearrange gear in your bag or discuss how well you just played that hole. I know there are many very new golfers here, & etiquette mistakes are going to happen. Good golf manners are pretty simple: try to be thoughtful of other players, apologize if you realize you inadvertently just did something really annoying, keep the pace of play, repair your ball marks, rake your bunkers, thank our staff & enjoy being here.

No one wants to prevent anyone from having fun. But people who don’t follow a basic code of etiquette are infringing on other people’s fun. One can have fun without being rude.
If a person at a square was drunk, bumping into people and screaming profanities while dancing, would anyone say “They’re just having fun”? It’s the same thing in golf and many other activities.
In bowling, the person on the right goes first. You wouldn’t throw a bowling ball into another lane because it’s fun. You wouldn’t toss a cue stick onto a table while someone else is shooting pool.
This is simple common courtesy. It has nothing to do with rules or players abilities.

Why is it in football the fans shout at the top of their lungs either to encourage their team or make it difficult for the opposing team player to hear the play call. This is accepted etiquette. In the sport of golf the fans are expected to hold their breath until "premadonna" player strikes the ball then one can shout "in the hole". Who gets to make up these so called rules of etiquette ?

I golf for the exact same reason I fish. I don't do either to actually play golf or go fishing. They are simply excuses for drinking.

Golden Rule: Most important thing in golf is taking birdie shots. Preferably moonshine. Golfing itself is secondary. More like tertiary. Probably even less than that. It's:

1. Birdie Shots;
2. Cruising around in golf carts;
3. Hanging out with buddies;
4. Having cigars;
5. Being outdoors;
6. Not doing "honey-do's;"
7. Maybe golf.

Probably the same folks who made up the rule that you hold a door open and allow the woman behind you, to walk through first.

.... or maybe the rule that says you're supposed to put the toilet seat back down?

.... or the rule that says you can't walk into a restaurant, naked.

They're old "rules" and if you live in The Villages, you're not going to live long enough to see them changed.

Football, baseball, tennis and many others are what are called reactive sports. Golf is a proactive sport. You'll find that fans are quiet when bowlers and billiard players play and while tennis players are serving. Those sports require a different type of concentration that reactive sports.

An exception is when basketball players are shooting foul shots. In that case it's team again team and the fans of the opposing team are trying to distract the player. That has become acceptable in basketball.

In golf, there are no teams. A certain behavior of both players and fans has become acceptable. From the beginning, golf was a gentleman's game. You never root against your opponent. If you lose, you thank your opponent for the competition and shake hands.

There is also a difference when there is a constant noise such as in a football game. if you play golf next to a busy highway, that noise wouldn't be bothersome. Someone suddenly yelling as you're trying to make a four foot birdie put is distracting.

Anyone that has played golf for any length of time has come to expect certain behaviors from others on the course. If you haven't played golf, you may not understand this but golf is a game with a long history and traditions. Some people who are learning the game don't understand or don't care. But if you don't care, then you simply don't care about other people.

By the way, I'm no prima donna but it would disturb me if someone walked behind me as I was starting my swing or if I were trying to make a four foot birdie putt. This code of etiquette applies to everyone, not just tour players.

Or rake the sand traps!

Great reminders on how to be respectful of other golfers and to keep up with the pace of play. It’s sad to see that some people are so self centered that they seem to feel like they don’t need to follow these sensible rules.

I remember years ago, my wife asked me "Why do you like golf so much? You're gone for 6 hours!"

My confused facial expression must have been quite amazing, because she then replies, "Oh, never mind..."

I love it when they can answer their own questions!

True however I get observe countless violations every day in the land of entitlement.

Hole 16 on Waste Management one of the most popular on the tour of a waning sport seems to be a fan favorite. Perhaps the PGA stopped holding those quiet please signs up and encouraged cheering for your player (singular) the sport would be growing instead of declining and they would not have to keep looking over their shoulder and strategizing over LIV. As a side note here in TV most courses have tee times 8 minutes apart. The courses are booked solid everyday - all day. If people were not playing eight minute holes the tee times would keep getting backed up more and more as the day progresses. Not the case. The place runs like a fine tuned fiddle. Where is all the need to speed up play ?

Executive courses and short par threes should take LESS time. 6 Minutes per hole is sufficient. Get to the ball, hit the ball a few times, pick up, go to next hole.

I can see why you might make the mistake of thinking that players must play a hole in eight minutes. In fact that it only true on par three holes. On other holes players only need to drive, hit their second shots and get out of the way for the next group to tee off.
But yes, they should have wider spacing of start times on any course that has a par three as the first hole.
The 16th at Phoenix is a one off novelty. The same thing happened in the Ryder Cup a few years back. But in both cases, the noise was constant. There was not a sudden yell or golf cart starting up breaking a relative silence.

Great point.

Both golf and tennis have more than their share of pompous adherents, sometimes to the extent that one actually wonders which is more important; the game or the comportment of those playing/watching. Tennis majors are the most egregious: often the only sounds you hear are the sounds of the ball being struck, the grunting of the players and the PA guy admonishing the crowd to be quiet. All except (to a point) the U.S. Open. Noo Yawkers have a way of popping pompous balloons. Quite some time back the Bolshoi Ballet was in New York giving a performance of Swan Lake. One scene, as the "swans" were dancing onto the stage, some guy in the audience yelled "Pull!".

Golf? Yeah. Players SHOULD practice good etiquette (all except Tiger Woods--his profanity-laced tirades are legendary). The rules of conduct are posted at all the shacks. But on the executive courses, some of those self-appointed enforcers get a bit tiresome. Some time back my wife and I were playing at Saddlebrook. We were waiting for our tee time and saw a woman who had just come off the course staring at my wife. She then marched to the starter shack window and said something obviously about my wife--obviously because she pointed at her while talking. The attendant looked over at my wife and I, said something to the woman and shook his head. The woman turned abruptly and left. After she was gone my wife went over and asked what it was all about. Apparently the woman thought that my wife was dressed inappropriately. Turned out she wasn't.

Some things just aren't worth getting your undies in a bundle over.

When I first moved here a starter told me that playing best ball will speed up play so I use two balls on every hole. It really hasn't help with the speed as I'm always in the weeds looking for two balls instead of one. I'm also not sure how that double par rule works when using two balls. I'm confused now.

I think The Villages needs to post, in a conspicuous manner, the Rules of Behavior and Comportment at every starter shack. I think they should borrow the rules as posted at Willie Nelson's Cut 'n Putt Course, in Pedernales, Texas. I don't remember them all, but the two I do remember should apply:
1. NO MORE THAN 12 PEOPLE IN A FOURSOME
2. NO BIKINIS, TANK TOPS, SHORT-SHORTS, OR OTHER REVEALING CLOTHING IS TO BE WORN, EXCEPT BY WOMEN.

I don't know if we need any rules beyond those two, really.

Etiquette
 

I play championship three days a week and executive three days a week; subtracting medical and other appointments. I also belong to an outside golfing group.
I have to say that the out of the bubble golfing group cannot keep up the pace with our villages golfers. The players are younger and when the beverage cart arrives they take a 10-15 minute break. It would drive Village’s golfers up the wall.
We have a very good pace of play on the championship courses. Be thankful.

If these behaviors offend you so, it seems to me that YOU might consider a different sport yourself. Or find courses where everyone plays the same way as you do. At the courses in TV we have ambassadors and general guidelines, but our overall interest is to encourage people (senior people) who are new to the game too. Yes, there has to be some common guidelines, but they need to be practical given players with very different abilities.

Here are the 12 "Local Rules and Etiquette" at Willie Nelson's Cut-N-Putt in Spicewood, Texas:

When another player is shooting, no player should talk, whistle, hum, clink coins, or pass gas.
Don’t play until the group in front is out of the way.
Excessive displays of affection are discouraged. Violators must replace divots and will be penalized five strokes.
Replace divots, smooth footprints in bunkers, brush backtrail with branches, park car under brush, and have the office tell your spouse you’re in a conference.
Let faster groups play through.
On the putting green, don’t step on another’s line.
“Freebies” are not recommended for players with short putts.
No more than twelve in your foursome.
Gambling is forbidden, of course, unless you’re stuck or you need a legal deduction for charitable or educational expenses.
All carts are not allowed within 20 ft. of traps or aprons surrounding greens.
No bikinis, mini-skirts, skimpy see-through, or sexually exploitative attire allowed. Except on women.
Please leave course in the condition in which you would like for it to be found.

But that would require paying greens fees to play.

Now this is a funny post

All negative posts directed at the OP, and their orphan posts, have been removed. Any further insulting posts will incur infractions and close the thread.

Our local course in UK has a 'canteen service' at the 9th hole turnaround.
Most groups stop for a tea/coffee bacon roll or similar.
Some play through.
Most groups walk 18 holes, except the juniors. (they need the help of a golf cart!)
We still average about four and a half hour rounds.
Never understood The Village golfers obsession with speed golf!