Golf Etiquette

Etiquette is an important part of golf, more important than the balls, the clubs, the players and the actual course itself. Without etiquette golf is just a bunch of rogues hitting a 2 inch white ball across a field aiming at a hole twice the size. However it seems that this is becoming apparent as etiquette works its way out of the golfing scene.

Golfing is a proper sport. When you begin to regularly play golf and gain a handicap, your local course becomes extremely important, every shot in the round is vital, and the frustration that is generated when you duff a shot is soul destroying. So you can begin to understand the anger when hooligans play on the course you know and love.

Pushing in the line for tee-off is a good place to start. Tee-offs are given at very specific times, 7.06am for example. I have witnessed four grown men throw punches on a golf course because a group of two started before their tee-off time. Now I’m not advocating violence but NEVER, ever start before your designated time, it is given for a reason. If you’re late and miss your time you are going to get some serious bad looks because it messes up the whole choreography of that day’s golfing.

When you hit a duff shot and your club decides to carve the ground open like it has no other cares in the world, the divots that are made, especially when the ball plummets onto the green, need to be repaired. A sneaky golfer may try to avoid doing this because the chunk of grass he’s ripped out has landed 30 feet away and he doesn’t want to waste time, but the bunker that is created from their mistake can ruin other peoples game and make the course look a state.

It appears that the old fashioned tradition of shouting FOUR! when hitting a wayward shot has been eliminated from the grand old sport. It may not seem like etiquette but when someone gets hit with a 40 gram dot travelling at 150mph you’re going to hear something about it.... when they regain consciousness.

It may seem particularly funny to make loud noises on a golf course; because it’s a quiet, tranquil area where people have to keep their concentration for a long period of time. It isn’t. If any of you have seen Jackass you’ll know what kind of “air horn banter” and you’ll know what kind of rotten, golf club related death that came to the man that pressed it while golfers took their swing.

The moral of this story may seem pointless to you but is important for golf players to know that any future players of their beloved sport (if this very positive blog has enticed you to play) do not break the rules!