Handicap Question

[DaveP043]

57 minutes ago, 2puttbogey said:

Going to resurrect this thread for a handicap question instead of starting a new one.  The guy I play with hits multiple shots from the same spot after he hits the ball he’s playing for score and handicap. It wouldn’t be a big deal, and really isn’t, but it is done after nearly every “bad” shot or when he needs to “figure something out “. It will be 2 sometimes 3 shots from the same place, go to the original ball and repeat if the shot or swing was not “good”. To me it doesn’t seem right if you’re going to post for handicap, even if you’re only scoring the original ball. Any insight would be appreciated.
 

Thats called practice, its not allowed, with minor exceptions.  The first practice shot he hits, 2 stroke penalty.  Second, he is disqualified.  If he does it regularly, he's not playing by the Rules, and the score should not be posted for handicap.

[2puttbogey]

3 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Thats called practice, its not allowed, with minor exceptions.  The first practice shot he hits, 2 stroke penalty.  Second, he is disqualified.  If he does it regularly, he's not playing by the Rules, and the score should not be posted for handicap.

Thanks for responding. I knew you would know. 

[Kenny B]

3 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Thats called practice, its not allowed, with minor exceptions.  The first practice shot he hits, 2 stroke penalty.  Second, he is disqualified.  If he does it regularly, he's not playing by the Rules, and the score should not be posted for handicap.

A few years ago my wife was playing in her Ladies league, and one of her teammates she was playing with is a Rules Nazi... according to my wife.  They were on #9; a par 5 boarding the side of the driving range and range balls end up in the fairway.  While waiting for another lady on her team to hit, my wife punched a range ball back into the range.  "That's a 2 stroke penalty" said the Rules Nazi.  My wife replied: "OK, add it if you want to."  My wife didn't care since she was playing for fun.  "Oh no!  Oh no!  That's alright!"  Apparently, it was OK since she was on my wife's team.  

[chisag]

4 hours ago, 2puttbogey said:

Going to resurrect this thread for a handicap question instead of starting a new one.  The guy I play with hits multiple shots from the same spot after he hits the ball he’s playing for score and handicap. It wouldn’t be a big deal, and really isn’t, but it is done after nearly every “bad” shot or when he needs to “figure something out “. It will be 2 sometimes 3 shots from the same place, go to the original ball and repeat if the shot or swing was not “good”. To me it doesn’t seem right if you’re going to post for handicap, even if you’re only scoring the original ball. 
 

 

... That is the big difference between hitting balls on the range and actually playing golf. There are consequences for a bad shot and one of the consequences is the mental ability to overcome that bad shot. Hitting another ball and even worse hitting several to figure out what went wrong completely nullifies the round. Hit a shank from 150 yds and the next hole you have a 147 yd shot with the shank still in your mind is part of the difficulty of playing golf and dropping several balls to get the shank out of your system can make a huge difference for your next shot. I love doing the above in a practice rounds as I find it more helpful than standing in one spot on the range but of course I don't keep score during a practice round. 

[DaveP043]

8 hours ago, Kenny B said:

A few years ago my wife was playing in her Ladies league, and one of her teammates she was playing with is a Rules Nazi... according to my wife.  They were on #9; a par 5 boarding the side of the driving range and range balls end up in the fairway.  While waiting for another lady on her team to hit, my wife punched a range ball back into the range.  "That's a 2 stroke penalty" said the Rules Nazi.  My wife replied: "OK, add it if you want to."  My wife didn't care since she was playing for fun.  "Oh no!  Oh no!  That's alright!"  Apparently, it was OK since she was on my wife's team.  

Before 2019, this probably would have been considered practice during the play of the hole.  Under the current rules, hitting a ball back into the practice area, when done solely as a courtesy, is specifically not considered a practice stroke.

[chisag]

4 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Before 2019, this probably would have been considered practice during the play of the hole.  Under the current rules, hitting a ball back into the practice area, when done solely as a courtesy, is specifically not considered a practice stroke.

 

... Thank goodness they changed common sense rules. While I have seen a handful of players actually address a range ball and hit a shot back onto the range 99% of the time they are one handing it or just smacking it off the hole and toward the range. Some of the old rules were beyond silly. 

[CarlH]

14 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Thank goodness they changed common sense rules. While I have seen a handful of players actually address a range ball and hit a shot back onto the range 99% of the time they are one handing it or just smacking it off the hole and toward the range. Some of the old rules were beyond silly. 

Concur with this one.  On my last course, one of the holes was always littered with range balls because it ran parallel to the driving range on the slicer's side.  We were always knocking them back to the range, one handed, both, whatever.  Of course for the tournaments, most of us knew not to do that.  I didn't know that the rule had changed to permit this.  Good to hear!  The only time we see range balls on this course that I play now is when some numbskull decides to play the range balls on the course as their personal ball.

[Golfspy_CG2]

19 minutes ago, CarlH said:

Concur with this one.  On my last course, one of the holes was always littered with range balls because it ran parallel to the driving range on the slicer's side.  We were always knocking them back to the range, one handed, both, whatever.  Of course for the tournaments, most of us knew not to do that.  I didn't know that the rule had changed to permit this.  Good to hear!  The only time we see range balls on this course that I play now is when some numbskull decides to play the range balls on the course as their personal ball.

We see a lot of that at our course, a range ball in the trees of the 14th hole or some random hole not even near the range.  The only thing that is funnier is when I see a range ball like that, and it's not our range ball...meaning they're a seriel range ball thief...ha 

[DaveP043]

43 minutes ago, CarlH said:

Concur with this one.  On my last course, one of the holes was always littered with range balls because it ran parallel to the driving range on the slicer's side.  We were always knocking them back to the range, one handed, both, whatever.  Of course for the tournaments, most of us knew not to do that.  I didn't know that the rule had changed to permit this.  Good to hear!  The only time we see range balls on this course that I play now is when some numbskull decides to play the range balls on the course as their personal ball.

Its one more instance where the revised Rule considers not just an action, but the intent of the player.  Its a whole lot easier to enforce rules that are based only on what is actually done, rather on what a player says he was thinking when he was doing it.  Allowing intent to be determinative opens up a greater potential for abuse, by those whose morals are low enough.  I'm not arguing against that particular change, but I'd hate to see the Rules go too far in that direction.  What do you say when a player hits 3 or 4 range balls back onto the range, using a full set-up and full swing, yet claims he was doing it only as a courtesy?  

[chisag]

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

  What do you say when a player hits 3 or 4 range balls back onto the range, using a full set-up and full swing, yet claims he was doing it only as a courtesy? 

 

... This has been one of my complaints about the rules of golf from the beginning. I always felt many rules were instituted to prevent cheating. Unlike all the other sports I played where getting away with whatever you could get away with made my original transition into golf a challenge. "No ref, actually I wan't fouled so I don't deserve a free throw" and "Sorry ump but my foot was just off the bag and you couldn't see from your angle so I was out, not safe". But it didn't take long to understand that golf is a game of honor and exactly what separates it from other sports I played. You either embrace that honor or you don't. And to be clear when talking about cheating, I am not talking about recreational golfers that play by their own rules to make playing more enjoyable. If removing a ball from a divot, playing preferred lies, taking a mulligan or anything else they and their pards agree on, it can still be honorable. 

... That said, a cheater is going to be a cheater and a rule certainly isn't gone stop them. Clearly in your scenario the guy knows he is hitting a practice shot and not being courteous. Clearly the guy that moves his ball in the fairway for a better lie knows exactly what they are doing. Same for the guy that miraculously finds a ball lost in the woods but a cleaner version of his ball with a clear shot at the green "appears". I used to despise many rules and I am still amazed that starting to fall in a bunker and using your club to stop a face plant in the sand was a penalty under the guise of "testing the sand". I think I can honestly say I never saw anyone hit a good bunker shot after "testing the sand" with their face. 

[Kenny B]

9 hours ago, CarlH said:

The only time we see range balls on this course that I play now is when some numbskull decides to play the range balls on the course as their personal ball.

Seen especially on holes where a carry over water is required.  Generally speaking, numbskulls also don't know that range balls carry about 80-85% of normal balls.