Looking for Golf Groups That Play Strictly by USGA Rules
 

I’m considering moving to The Villages and, as an avid golfer (albeit a higher-handicap one), one of my top priorities is finding a group that plays by official USGA rules—no gimmies, proper lies, penalties assessed, and honest scoring.

I completely respect that many groups are more relaxed, but I’m simply looking for like-minded players who enjoy the game as it's written. If such a group exists, I’d really appreciate any pointers or contacts.

Thanks in advance!

You may find a foursome on the Championship courses.
Definitely none on the Executive courses.
The main obsession with Village golfers is speed. You must play as fast as you can, harass slower pairings in front of you, and if you have sufficient breath left, smoke very large cigars.
Raking traps, and divot repairing seems to be optional.

I've been playing golf for 40+ years and have belonged to at least 10 different Private Clubs. I've yet to see a group like that, unless you're playing with a small group of low single-digit players, playing for significant money.

The Villages isn't a hotbed of competitive golf.

Good first post.
What makes you think those groups don’t exist? It’s the largest golf community in the world, there are golf groups that run the gamut.
If you are a high handicap, and your playing script rules, your round of golf is too long, you won’t find any golf group.

Every Tuesday is men's day on the championship courses (one group rotates among the 6 courses south of Lake Sumter Landing and north of 44, another between Glenview and Lopez). The format varies but is always according to USGA rules. I suspect within a year or two they will start another men's day south of 44/the turnpike. There is a gold tee group/club that follows the rules, but if you are a high handicapper, that group is not for you. Outside the bubble, you can join the US AM tour (formerly Golf Channel AM Tour) or the FSGA tournaments, but both may require 1+ hours of driving. While I don't agree with everything in post #2 above, you probably won't find many groups that strictly adhere to the rules among neighborhood groups (unless they play for $$$) and certainly not on exec courses, which is understandable since most of those players (not golfers) don't know the rules. Of course, regardless of what other players are doing, you should follow the rules yourself. It matters little, unless they are running a competition.

There are golf rules???

Next you're going to say, rake the sandtraps.

:mornincoffee:

I think you meant to post "WRECK" :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

For 10 plus years, I play championship in and out of TV. Usually 2 foursomes twice a month. Out of eight players 3 are local teaching pros in their 40s, 2 are parents of golf pros currently on tour, all male. Two females both played college and women’s pro tour, as they say many years ago. I knew 3 of the players who invited me when I was a snowbird, eventually moved to a full time spot.

All play USGA rules, except for the the sand trap with 40 footprints.

Last week two of us hit into the sand and instead of human prints, a large panther or two decided to use the facility. We decided to play as is because nature caused the chaos not human.

So yes there are some who play on property that will give you the high you are looking for. But fair warning, you may or may not be invited to join their established groups.

Once you are here full time, you can start a golf group, requiring any and all rules you choose. Then you could have competition play to see who fits your comfort level to play with.

ONLY 40 footprints???? Where????? I want to know

Usually there are hundreds, and 20% of them are right under a rake, some traps have a 30-yard trail of footprints from front to back with a "scoop" of sand out every 5 yards or so. I once watched this show from my lanai with some bozo taking 6 shots to get out of the fairway bunker (championship course) and just walked away. I ran out and raked the trap, and since the "golfer" STILL wasn't more than 20 yards away, said "you're welcome", which drew a one-fingered salute. I did suggest he go play a pitch and putt but then recanted since even those people deserve better. :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: (I was afraid he would be taking divots on a putting course)

So very true and don't forget to be prepared to get run over by the ones arriving to their course just in time to pull up to the first tee box!:shocked:

Do you have a group like that where you live now?

In my experience, the vast majority of golfers play for fun and are not that concerned with the rules.

And 99% of golfers don’t know all of the USGA rules. When you watch golf on television, many PGA players do not seem to know the rules. If you follow all of the rules, it will definitely slow down the pace of play.

How does playing by all the rules slow down pace of play?

What??? You get tired of pretending not to see other players "fluff" the ball for a better hit also picking up and moving their ball for a better position or 5' gimmes on the green?

I hear you. I'm also a higher handicapper but enjoy the game as the rules lay it out. I really don't care how others manifest their scores but dislike the amount of time it takes for all the adjustments vs walking up and hitting the ball.

Good luck in your search, I don't know if much is available in The Villagers at that caliber.

Let's see:

How about walking back to the Tee Box, because you didn't hit a Provisional, because you thought your Drive would be findable?

Or when you have to walk back to the Tee Box, because you didn't get "over the water you always blast it over"?

How about taking your Driver out, to measure your "Drop Area", instead of just kicking the ball off the cart path.

How about 4 guys, lining up at least 4 Putts, from inside 3'?

My group plays by the USGA rule that if after your putt, if you’re still away, you have to putt again. USGA = “U suck, go again”!

The PGA rules have extreme restrictions against using a golf cart. Everyone walks the entire course. Getting an exception is very difficult.
Walking will slow down things quite a bit. But you can have a caddy walk with your clubs.

The PGA does not have any rule against "using a golf cart".

The PGATour typically doesn't allow carts, except under unusual conditions.

The above are not "rules", they are "conditions of play".

The USGA & R&A make up the rules.

Right? I played behind a group that didn't allow gimmes. I'll never forget that 6 hour round of golf. Even the ambassadors couldn't get them to speed it up.

How far out should a gimme be? One foot, two foot, three, 4 ?

My rule of thumb is that if I have made it in the past, it is a gimme. And it helps lower the score!

If you play the rules regularly, you are going to hit a provisional to start with.

You don't have to go back to the tee box if you didn't hit the ball over the water.

Kick away, no one wants to change the way you bat a ball around the course. He's looking for someone who plays golf the way the game is laid out by the rules.

You can take all the 3 foot gimmes you want, he wants someone who plays at a different level.

He hasn't asked anyone to change the way they have developed their own golf rules or lack there of. Play away, he doesn't care.

You have to remember the age of the crowd and the fact that this area attracts lots of newbees. I played in a league for years where the rules were followed and I never saw even a four hour round of golf including tournaments.

They don't, most rules are basic knowledge if one is a golfer. If one's group hits a quandary, there a pocket sized booklet for one's bag that can be researched for a very freakish situation, although, we never came across that situation.

Ready golf is what speeds up play. It amuses me when the hole ahead is open, the players have played the same course many times but they have to walk on to the tee box, stare at the green and then go back and grab a club. They make about 5 practice swings on every green and then take a mulligan after hitting the ball about 10 yards on their tee shot. Talk about what really slows down the game..

You’re playing a $5 Nassau with a group of buddies - it doesn’t matter.
Enjoy the round.

Our Tuesday, Saturday Afternoon golf group plays by USGA rules. The only game we do not play is quota points. We roll them in the fairway (I didn't make that rule), play the ball down in the rough and if the putt counts it must be holed. As a rule everyone putts all of them out for accurate USGA handicaps. Our foursome played Evans Prairie today in 3 hours and forty five minutes. Years ago all the guys played the blue tees, then the white tees. Now they can play any tee they want and we adjust their USGA handicap to match. All members have to have an Enhanced membership so we have priority for tee times, it pays for itself if you play twice a week from January to June. Players handicaps range from 0 to about 22. We have lost a lot of snowbirds at the moment, and they start coming back about September or October. We try to mix the foursomes up as best we can. We do not play Sawgrass or Shallow Creek because we have so many golfers who live north of 466. We try to mix up the courses as best we can, and keep a close eye on aeration schedules.

You are not entitled to hit a provisional, if your ball may be lost in a Hazard.

& you are not allowed to "take a drop" under 26-1, without knowing to a virtual certainty, your ball is in the hazard. You are required to play a questionable shot as a "lost ball" and return to the Tee.

I’m a 13 handicap index player who is one of two players in a group of 30+ who played by the rules of golf while all others took liberties (rolling in the fairway, gimmees, etc.). We would play 2-, 3- and 4-man games, along with low gross and low net prizes. Pace of play was never the issue because everyone played ready golf.
However this got to be painful for me to play with the guys whose vanity handicap indexes skewed the payouts. So I now play with a group who do not bet and also take liberties along the way. We don’t compare scores over lunch and I find this much more enjoyable than trading dollars.

Good luck. Wait till you play in the summer and know you hit a ball into the rough, other players watch it go into the rough and you can not find it. Stroke and distance penalty and go back to former hitting spot. In summer months can happen a lot, We do not have hundreds if not thousands of fore caddies. We agree that in this situation drop a ball and take a penalty stroke. If you want you can change your score to reflect the true stroke and distance penalty for handicap purposes. If all players played by the strict rules, rounds in TV will be up to 5 hours

1 example lost ball in heavy rough. Happens a lot in the summer. Player has to go back to the area where the last ball was hit. The out of bounds/lost ball rule allowing a player to hit from the advanced spot and take a 2 shot penalty is a local rule, 2nd example is gimme puts. Seen players plump bob 1 footers

[QUOTE=kkingston57;2435637]Good luck. Wait till you play in the summer and know you hit a ball into the rough, other players watch it go into the rough and you can not find it. Stroke and distance penalty and go back to former hitting spot. In summer months can happen a lot, We do not have hundreds if not thousands of fore caddies. We agree that in this situation drop a ball and take a penalty stroke. If you want you can change your score to reflect the true stroke and distance penalty for handicap purposes. If all players played by the strict rules, rounds in TV will be up to 5 hours[/QUOTE]

Probably even longer.

99% of the time, the players (particularly higher handicap players) who insist they "play by all the rules", are the ones you don't want to play with, for a multitude of reasons. Typically, they really don't know "all the rules", they take forever to implement them and spend more time arguing about them, than adhering to them.

I play 150-200 rounds/year and I'm a 5 Index. Unless it's a specific situation/match or a competitive round, nearly every single person I've ever played with, adheres to the usual "casual round rules". Good inside the leather, if you lose one drop it where you think it went and take a stroke (as in a hazard) and finish the round in less than 4 hours.

You can always tell the DB's on the first green. If the guy brings a towel with him when he walks to the Green ... disassociate yourself immediately from the group.

If someone has a "long putter" ... same deal.

Collection of USGA Tags on his bag? Probably bad news.

Carries a 2nd "little carry bag" with wedges around the Green ... trouble. (I hadn't seen one of these in 40 years, until I got to TV.)

Golf is supposed to be about having fun. If you're in it for the competition, you shouldn't be carrying a double-digit handicap.

The PGA and the USGA are not the same. The OP is talking about USGA rules.

The USGA allows carts, and shorts. It also allows you to change golf ball brands/models within a round (except in tournaments) so you can use any ball in your bag. It also allows for a local rule to be adopted where lost balls may be dropped in the fairway under penalty of 2 strokes (I don't know if the Villages has adopted that or not...or even if there is a committee). There are alot of differences, I don't know them all.

[QUOTE=BrianL99;2435640]Take a breath, the OP doesn't insist everyone play golf. You can continue to play at golf and have a good ole time. All he is looking for is some who play by their golf according to the rules.

He's not looking for people who all of a sudden must start figuring out how to do that and those that play at that level of golf, move a heck of a lot faster than the old duffers having fun slapping at the ball. No one wants your game to change.

I said it earlier, the slow play is caused by not being golf ready and not by people who know how to play the game. The Villages accommodates the duffers very nicely and no one will have any problem with golfers who know what they are doing. All this panic is a nothing burger.

Yep, there definitely are duffers out there.

You can't see if your ball went in the water on your drive on a Village's course? :icon_bored:

Nice going considering it's being said it can't be done..;)

By USGA rules you cannot. It is one of the more annoying and often ignored USGA rules. You can't hit a provisional if your ball may or may not be in the water (or other penalty area). If you do, that second ball is in play with a one stroke penalty regardless of whether the first ball is up or not. Its no big deal if its red stakes because you can walk up and then drop by the water if you are in, but if its yellow stakes its a problem.

The below all have Tee Shots into a blind or partially blind area, with a water hazard.

1st Hole, Ponce De Leon
2nd Hole, Ponce De Leon
3rd Hole, Ponce De Leon
5th Hole, Ponce De Leon

1st Hole, Riley Grove (water behind the fairway bunker on the right).
2nd Hole, Riley Grove (water behind & left of the green)
4th Hole, Riley Grove (water on the right, over the hill)
5th Hole Riley Grove
7th Hole Riley Grove
9th Hole Riley Grove

3rd Hole Laurel Valley
8th Hole Laurel Valley
9th Hole Laurel Valley.

This is from AI.
 

Playing by USGA golf rules is generally slower than casual golf. Here's why:

1. Strict Rule Adherence:
USGA rules require precise procedures, such as taking proper drops (e.g., measuring two club lengths, dropping from knee height), assessing penalties correctly, and resolving rules disputes with officials or playing partners. These steps add time, especially in situations like lost balls, out-of-bounds shots, or hazards, where players must follow formal processes.

2. Etiquette and Order of Play:
USGA rules enforce strict etiquette, such as playing in the correct order (farthest from the hole plays first), waiting for the green to clear before hitting, and maintaining pace-of-play guidelines. This can slow down play compared to casual rounds where players might skip formalities (e.g., "ready golf" where players hit when ready).

In contrast, casual golf is typically faster because:
- Players often forgo strict rules (e.g., taking "gimme" putts, ignoring minor penalties).
- They may play "ready golf" instead of waiting for the correct order.
- There's less emphasis on formal procedures, like dropping precisely or consulting rules officials.
- Groups may skip formalities like marking scores after every hole.

For example, Jordan Spieth's 20-minute delay on the 13th hole at the 2017 British Open (due to a complex drop procedure under USGA rules) would likely have been resolved much faster in casual play, where players might just drop near the original spot and continue.

Data from the USGA indicates that an average 18-hole round in a USGA-sanctioned amateur event takes about 4.5–5 hours for a foursome, while casual rounds often take 3.5–4 hours on similar courses, assuming no major delays. The difference arises from the cumulative effect of rule adherence and stricter etiquette.

I always play by the rules.
 

Find a group you enjoy. That is the important thing.

I will bet you won't find one. Maybe one person...but not 4. Not in TV. If you do, I would also bet, some, if not all, will say they will...but, they really won't.