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In General
Golf traditionally begins and ends with a handshake.
Allow faster groups to "play through."
Dress appropriately...all courses have dress codes which generally
forbid blue jeans and require shirts to have collars.
Replace or fill your divots...that's why the little sand bucket
and scoop are on your golf cart.
Respect environmentally sensitive areas.
Lightning is dangerous, seek shelter when lightning is in the area, most
golfers are struck under blue sky -- that's where 60% of the strikes
occur!
What is
Par?
Par is the number of
strokes a top-class golfer is expected to take to play any
given hole based on its length and difficulty. It also refers
to an expected total for the whole round of 18 holes.
Most
golfers never match par.
Only one golfer out of every one thousand ever plays an entire
course in par.
And only two or three in a hundred ever take five or less
above par.
Par for a hole is usually between three and five -- Although
there a couple of par sixes in America.
And par for a course usually ranges between 70 and 72.
Scoring
Golf is the only sport where
the scores are kept by fellow competitors not by officials.
Players swap cards at the start of a round, marking each
other’s score as well as their own.
Both players must sign both cards if the card is to be
submitted to a competition or for handicapping.
In a tournament, failure to sign a cards or signing for a
wrong score can lead to disqualification.
Strokeplay is the simplest form
of scoring.
Each player adds up his score for the round and, once
handicaps have been deducted if they are being used, the
lowest score wins.
Strokeplay tournaments are often called
Medals.
Because the player is playing against the course rather than
an opponent, every putt must be holed no matter how short.
Most professional tournaments are played like this.
At The
Tee
Players must play their
first shot on every hole from the teeing area, known as the
tee.
The ball must be played from anywhere between the two tee
markers and up to two club lengths back from an imaginary line
running between them.
A player may stand with his or her feet outside the imaginary
box as long as the ball is inside the imaginary box.
The tee markers may not be moved.
In stroke play, if you are found to have played from outside
the tee area you must add two shots to your score.
In match play you must play the stroke again but without
penalty.
If you knock the ball off the tee while addressing it you may
replace it and play your stroke without penalty.
This is because the ball is not considered to be 'in play'
until after a player has teed off.
Who plays first?
The person furthest from
the hole always plays first. You may be in a bunker and your
opponent on the green but if your ball is furthest away, you
should play first.
As soon as the player has teed off, the ball is in play.
The best score on the previous hole gets "honors" and tees off
first followed by second best score, etc.
Alternately you may choose to alternate or keep the same
rotation, especially when grouped with players of differing
ability.
Ball Hawking -- 5-minute rule
A player has five minutes
to look for a ball before it is deemed to be lost. The player
must then add a one-stroke penalty to their score.
They must then play a second ball as near as possible to the
spot from where the original shot was hit from (not where the
ball was thought to be lost). This is called 'stroke and
distance'.
Water Hazard
The only exception to the
above rule is when the ball is lost in a water hazard. Then
the ball may be dropped behind the hazard, keeping the point
at which the ball was lost in between the flag and the spot
where the ball is dropped.
There must be 'reasonable evidence' to suggest the ball is
lodged in the water hazard in order for it to be deemed lost
in it. Otherwise it must be classed as a lost ball and the
player returns to the original spot he hit the shot from
(stroke AND distance).
Bunkers
The two main hazards on a
golf course are water and sand. As a general rule, you may not
'ground your club' in a hazard.
This means you may not allow your clubhead to touch the ground
before striking the ball. If you do you will incur a
two-stroke penalty.
You must also not:
- Test the condition of
the sand or water or mud in the hazard
- Remove any 'loose
impediments' from the hazard such as stones, twigs or leaves
or touch them when addressing the ball or on his back swing
Cart Path or Other Immovable
Object
If your ball comes to rest on the cart path or
immovable object. The player has ONLY ONE LOCATION where he
may drop. The player must drop within one club length of the
NEAREST POINT of RELIEF, no nearer the hole. He can’t drop on
either side of the path wherever he chooses! This "nearest
point of relief" maybe
different for left- or right-handed players.
The NEAREST POINT of RELIEF is the
point on the course, NEAREST to WHERE the BALL LIES, where interference
with the obstruction no longer exists, and no closer to the hole. The
player then drops within one club length of that point, no nearer the
hole. The player may not drop the ball into a hazard or onto a putting
green. Other hazards such as bushes are NOT considered and must be
played.
The proper procedure is to mark the
NEAREST POINT of RELIEF with a tee, then measure one club length from
that point, no nearer the hole and mark that second location with a tee.
Then drop the ball between the limits of the two tees.
If the nearest point of relief must be in the
bunker then ball must be dropped in the bunker. You do not
have to drop in a water hazard.
On the
Green -- Marking the ball
As soon as the ball is on
the putting green, a player may pick up and wipe his ball as
long as he or she marks it properly. The ball is on the
putting green when any part of it touches the surface.
You may use anything to mark the ball but a small penny or
marker pin is recommended.
If the marker is in the line of your opponents putt you may
choose to move the marker to either side of the line. This
should be done by marking the ball then moving it one club's
head or club's length to the side on a line with a fixed spot
on the horizon.
Be careful after marking your ball and putting in your pocket
that you take out the right one. If you put down a different
ball, you will be penalized two shots, or in match play,
concede the hole.
Take care what you do while you are waiting to putt.
You are not allowed to practice putting on the green or test
the surface before your shot.
A point of etiquette, do not walk between a player's ball and
the hole.
Where Golf Began...
The game of golf is
believed to have originated from a game played on the rolling
links lands of the Fife coastal town of St Andrews during the
1400's.
Players would hit a pebble around the sand dunes of the
natural links lands using a stick.
Claims that the ancient Dutch game of kolven and the French
game jeu de mail were actually forerunners of golf have been
dismissed by historians.
Neither had the single, most important element which makes
golf what it is - the hole!
How golf actually started isn't known.
One of the most popular theories has it that fishermen on the
east coast of Scotland invented the game to amuse themselves
as they returned home from their boats.
The first golf course in the US is believed to have been in
Sarasota, Florida in the area around Links Avenue.
Weenie League...
- Dress appropriately.
- Observe all signs (not be run over or used as target practice).
- Keep golf carts off all greens and tee slopes.
- Do not take cart over white line at green, park on path next to green.
- Repair all ball marks.
- Use sand boxes to fill divots.
- Observe lightning warning.
- No coolers. All alcohol must be purchased and consumed on premise. Snack bar has
coolers you may borrow with purchase.
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