What is your golf pet peeve?

[dbdors]

On 2/27/2024 at 10:47 AM, TSauer said:

Whether it be with mannerisms or course layout or something else that just drives you nuts... What is it?

I'll start, mine is when people aren't ready to hit when it's their turn. I used to golf with one of my father-in-law's friends and every time it was his turn to hit, he would still be in the cart carrying on conversation, finishing a smoke, and just oblivious to everything else going on. Needless to say, I don't golf with him anymore.

That is exactly mine, "play ready golf".  I remember playing in a threesome and one guy brought is wife the ride with him (not playing).  The other guy in our group spent all the time flirting with her, and was never ready to play.

[JDunc55]

Far and away... slow play. A distant second is excessive time reading the green before putting. 

[warrenator8]

Slow play is the obvious answer. I would also add not allowing faster groups to play through. There are many times when I'll play as a single or in a two-some and get stuck behind a four-some (a few times a five-some) and they'll never acknowledge me or how slow they are playing.

[Mauchan]

What a topic!  While everyone mentions slow play, for me it's time spent putting in particular.  

When you watch each player in a 4some take 3 min on each put, standing over the ball, standing over the green measuring break, and all of them 3 put, with the same time on each putt...PLEASE 

Other things. groups with carts and walkers.  Rangers that tell you to speed up with nowhere to go, anyone taking videos for IG or whatever...

[captkid7800]

On 2/27/2024 at 11:01 AM, Josh Parker said:

Waiting on the group in front of me and watching them not understanding ready golf.  I played this past weekend and the group in front of us had 3 carts they wouldn't drive over to their ball across the fairway and waited for the first cart to hit before going to theirs.  

 

also not parking carts towards back of the green, so the group behind has to wait longer to hit!

[Golfdaddy13]

Without a doubt! My number 1 pet peeve..... is players playing off the wrong color tees. Dude if you can't hit your driver 175, please move up to the white tees or gold. Just because you paid your green fees, doesn't mean you should play from the Black or Blue. There is no shame in moving up. It keeps the game moving, especially for the groups behind!

[Mereplogle]

There should be a written statement explaining golf etiquette at each course, that must be signed, explaining that groups might be asked to skip a hole or removed from the course until a time when the course is less busy. Also a chart that explains where golfers should tee off from depending on their average score. If you shoot in the 90' don't play from the tips, no matter how far you hit your drive. If you drive 275 or more and still shoot that score then 3/4 of the time you're in the woods!

 

Edited March 2 by Mereplogle

[Peter Daufenbach]

Two pet peeves, slow play because they are never ready to hit and rude staff that figure they don't have to be polite because the course is full.

[StrokerAce]

1 hour ago, JDNYC42 said:

#1 Pet Peeve - Is people complaining about slow play ... hear me out.  I dislike a long round too and do everything in my power to help my game along and the people in my foursome.  But I'd rather manage through most or even all of the pet peeves like unfixed divots, unraked bunkers and even being paired with someone who gives unwanted advice or has a temper, than the petulant child in the group behind you telling you to "speed it up" when you yourself are also waiting on the group ahead of you.  If you're an experienced golfer:

1.  Have your expectations match reality.  You know a late Saturday tee time on a public course isn't going to be fast.  Just like traffic at rush hour.  Take a breath and enjoy your time on the golf course, there are worse places to be. 
2.  Is the group ahead not as fast as you?  Relax, you'll probably still finish in a reasonable amount of time. 
3.  How do you react when someone "hits up on you"?  You could have been seriously injured, right?  Or you at least think it's bad etiquette and rude.  So then don't expect the group in front of you to hit until they feel comfortable that the group ahead of them is out of the way.  
4.  Are you trying to play fast because you have things to do or places to be?  That's your problem, don't make it someone else's.  Are you that skilled and time is important to you?  Pick the right course and time and/or pay up for exclusivity.  
5.  Golf is a hobby with people at varying experience, knowledge and skill.  Foster it.  Spread the love of the game and quit saying "get out of MY way because I'm better than you".  Nothing is worse than having someone breathe down your neck for no reason and bring bad vibes.
6. Kindness - People in front of you are playing slow?  Ask about the group ahead of them, I bet they're slow too.  It's traffic, no one is going anywhere fast, accept it.  Grumpy old men always blame the people in front and can't fathom to think that anyone else is also waiting on slow play too.  Quit being self-absorbed.
7. Ask kindly to play through if you can see the group ahead is slow.  You'll probably get a "yes", and an apology too!
8. Do you play often, and are a regular at this course with your 3 friends?  Then I'm sure your club selection is fast and you know where to look for your ball.  Other people may be playing there for the first time with people they don't know.  It's not always a well-oiled machine.  

TL;DR - If you are on a golf course and you can't find a way to enjoy a few extra minutes on each hole on a slow day, talking to your friend or getting to know the stranger you're paired with, their golf equipment, trips or funny stories, than YOU have a problem.  The world doesn't revolve around you, your skill level and your schedule.  People are having fun, fostering relationships (Parent/child, spouse, friends, new acquaintances, etc.) and creating memories around a game that you claim to respect and enjoy.  Don't lose sight of that.

As long as you're keeping pace with the group in front, that's all you can do.

You can't be blamed if the course sent too many people out at once. BUT... if there's an empty hole in front of you - i.e. you're on the tee on a par 5 and nobody is on the green, you need to move it along.

Chatting is great! Golf is a social game and it's meant to be; that's what makes it so much fun, but just have some respect for the people around you. Maybe that long-winded story you're describing on the tee box while nobody is in front of you and no one can hit until you finish can wait until after the round? 

As you said - the world doesn't revolve around you - look around, be aware of your surroundings, are you moving at a steady pace and doing the best you can, be respectful of everyone on the course.

[ajdegeno]

I have 3 not one--Yes, I am a starter and marshall at two fine golf courses. 

1) Slow play--enough has been said about it.

2) Not taking care of the course--filling divots, repairing ball marks and pulling the ball out of the hole with the pin.  People need to leave the course in better shape than when they arrived.

3) Exhibition golf--I will not attend or watch a golf tournament that has a limited field or without a cut.  If a person has earned his or her card they should be able to play in tournaments, with cuts and make their living.  Some will always be better and some will flounder but not to have the opportunity to play is not supported by me.

[LinksgolfFever]

I have two equally tied at the top of the annoyance chart.  

1. Slow play/not playing ready golf.  I understand that people regardless of ability play at different paces.  Sometimes you lose a ball, need some time to try and find it, but there is a limit to that time.  If you are unable to stay ahead of the group behind you and there is room in front of you, let the faster group(s) play through.

2. Have a divot repair tool and USE IT!! I find it perplexing when I get up to my putt and have to spend time fixing or re-fixing divots from someone else.  Whatever happened to fixing your divot/ball mark and another one on the green.  

Happy Wednesday....

[flyingwedges]

2 hours ago, Bernie G. said:

I don't want to sound like "Becker" ( TV serie in the late 90's) but here goes:

1. Guys that think they are that good ( Maschismo kinks in) and play the longer tees. They barely hit it past he tee box and OB.

2.  This one is for cart riders that are somewhat healthy: their balls are 50 yards apart on the fairway. They wait for first partner to hit and then drive over his/her ball. Golf is a sport, walk a little and get some exercise.

3. You get on the greens and it looks like the bottom of a bird cage. Sunflower seeds everywhere. How do you feel if someone spits on your dinner?

One can write a book on "Golf Irkism", but the object of the game is have fun and a positive attitude.

 

 

In #2, you forgot to mention that both carts ride to each ball and watch the player hit the ball, then to the next ball, and so on. No one does this when walking, only when in a cart, and it is a big cause of slow play.

[Alan Scalzi]

People playing from the tips or playing from the wrong box for their abilities ( please go back to fishing were you can say you caught a bigger fish, then we know you really did ), when clearly they should not be! This is the biggest cause to me for people playing slow!

[Jodrell]

As many have already said, slowing play down by not being ready to hit when it’s your turn, or worse stopping when you’re about to hit to carry on the conversation you were having…HIT THE DAMN BALL ALREADY!

I know some people have said they don’t mind people walking on their line because their greens are probably hard enough that it’ll make no difference, but for me it’s a respect thing. Bugs the crap out of me!

[Swing Dokter]

Windy conditions 

[TaraStriker]

 

Running to into slow players groups (men and women) that were sent off the 10hole.  As we were finishing the 9th hole.

 

[HSGC]

9 hours ago, THE GOLF GUY said:

And I reply , “ do you think !” 

Or ‘does ya husband play’

[RITZ]

Golf Grievance- Golfers men and women that take 3-4 slow practice swings each time with full address and stance positioning only to dub it 10 yards and then repeat the process of 3-4 practice swings dub it,....  I CAN'T WATCH IT AND I CAN'T TAKE IT!!    

[GolfSpy SAM]

Something that happened a few weeks back, that I'd never experienced before, and I hated it and was completely perplexed by it.  

  So, I like to walk when I play - I find that using my push-cart, and walking the course gives me a) some much-needed exercise (desk job is killer to my "step count" goals), b) a chance to reflect on my last shot, whether good or bad, and therefore a little more time to prepare for my next shot, and c) some space to be by myself in a place that I love.  I'm not against carts at all - sometimes they're awesome, and if playing with buddies or on a trip, I'm almost exclusively in a cart. 

  All that being said, I was playing with three other people I didn't know - two of them were a twosome in a cart, buddies for a long time, and the 3rd was another solo guy who was also walking.  

  That third guy was one of the most anti-social people I've ever met.  Now, don't get me wrong: I have ZERO problem with someone not being "chatty" - hell, I talk enough for 3 people, so no problem there.   

  But this guy would hit his putt, pick it up (regardless of how close / far from the hole it was), walk to his bag, and walk to the next tee - all while the rest of us were still lining up our (usually) first putts.  40-50% of the time, he would go ahead and hit his tee shot and then start walking  - again, all before we'd even finished on the green.

  Keep in mind, the group in front of us was NOT playing fast, nor were we playing slow.  He was constantly right on the next group's butt.  At one point, one of the other guys I was playing with, while at the tee watching the 3rd guy walk down the cart path, suggested he just go ahead (literally yelling "go ahead!", and then, quieter, "we don't want you"), but he just stood 200 yards down the fairway, waving us up.  

  It's the most aggravated I've maybe ever been on a golf course - I felt like I was constantly being passive-aggressively hurried up, even though he never said a thing and there was nowhere for him to go. 

  Anyway - he ended up leaving after 16 (shock), and it was much more pleasant without him.  

  Also - no, he was not excellent.  He was probably a 7 or 8 handicap - so it wasn't like he was birdieing everything and annoyed at being paired up with a bunch of hacks.

  Alright: rant over.  If you or someone you know plays like this, reach out to a doctor and see if a ChillPill is right for you.

  

[djrexyman]

just thought of another one .. playing with someone who lies about score.

[aguybadatgolf]

This is a great topic. 
 

People who take a really long time to hit their shot. I’m in the camp of people that like to check the yardage, slope, wind, etc. but that only takes me about a minute and I typically do it while others are playing their shot. When it’s my turn to play I step up to the ball do a couple waggles and hit. No practice swings, no crazy routine, just walk up and hit the ball. 
All said it probably takes 1.5-2 minutes to pick my club, target, and hit. I have friends who will stand there looking around, chat, select a club, decide it’s the wrong club, then take 10 practice swings till they brush the grass just right. It takes them 5+ minutes to play a shot and it drives me crazy. All that just to slice it or top it 20 yards. Might was well just pick your favorite club and give it a rip, all that time isn’t helping you lol. I say that as a golfer who isn’t amazing, just suck faster.

 

Oh and being intentionally hit into multiple times when you’re stuck behind a slow group. Just last weekend I was at a muni course and it was packed. First nice day of the year so far. We were right on the group in front of us and yet the guys behind us hit into us 4 or 5 times, clearly on purpose. I don’t know what they expected us to do, as playing through would just get you stuck behind the next group. We even finished in under 4 hours. Some people just need to chill a little and remember why we’re all out there. 

Edited February 28 by aguybadatgolf

[LinksgolfFever]

37 minutes ago, GolfSpy SAM said:

Something that happened a few weeks back, that I'd never experienced before, and I hated it and was completely perplexed by it.  

  So, I like to walk when I play - I find that using my push-cart, and walking the course gives me a) some much-needed exercise (desk job is killer to my "step count" goals), b) a chance to reflect on my last shot, whether good or bad, and therefore a little more time to prepare for my next shot, and c) some space to be by myself in a place that I love.  I'm not against carts at all - sometimes they're awesome, and if playing with buddies or on a trip, I'm almost exclusively in a cart. 

  All that being said, I was playing with three other people I didn't know - two of them were a twosome in a cart, buddies for a long time, and the 3rd was another solo guy who was also walking.  

  That third guy was one of the most anti-social people I've ever met.  Now, don't get me wrong: I have ZERO problem with someone not being "chatty" - hell, I talk enough for 3 people, so no problem there.   

  But this guy would hit his putt, pick it up (regardless of how close / far from the hole it was), walk to his bag, and walk to the next tee - all while the rest of us were still lining up our (usually) first putts.  40-50% of the time, he would go ahead and hit his tee shot and then start walking  - again, all before we'd even finished on the green.

  Keep in mind, the group in front of us was NOT playing fast, nor were we playing slow.  He was constantly right on the next group's butt.  At one point, one of the other guys I was playing with, while at the tee watching the 3rd guy walk down the cart path, suggested he just go ahead (literally yelling "go ahead!", and then, quieter, "we don't want you"), but he just stood 200 yards down the fairway, waving us up.  

  It's the most aggravated I've maybe ever been on a golf course - I felt like I was constantly being passive-aggressively hurried up, even though he never said a thing and there was nowhere for him to go. 

  Anyway - he ended up leaving after 16 (shock), and it was much more pleasant without him.  

  Also - no, he was not excellent.  He was probably a 7 or 8 handicap - so it wasn't like he was birdieing everything and annoyed at being paired up with a bunch of hacks.

  Alright: rant over.  If you or someone you know plays like this, reach out to a doctor and see if a ChillPill is right for you.

  

This is a funny/not funny story that is very similar to a round I had about 2 weeks ago.  I was walking, another single walking and a pair in the cart.  The other single, not social, not unfriendly, just very quiet.  He was not a 7 or 8 handicap, he sprayed balls all over the course but when he got to his ball, he would hit again regardless of where the balance of the group was.  By the 4th hole he was walking to the green while one of the players in the cart had to wait for him to be clear in order to hit his approach.  Everyone gave him the chance to say something....crickets.  On the 5th tee I mentioned he was creating an issue by getting in front of players trying to hit, which was making us slower not faster...

He finished after 9 and the rest of the round was calm....

[HSGC]

49 minutes ago, GolfSpy SAM said:

Something that happened a few weeks back, that I'd never experienced before, and I hated it and was completely perplexed by it.  

  So, I like to walk when I play - I find that using my push-cart, and walking the course gives me a) some much-needed exercise (desk job is killer to my "step count" goals), b) a chance to reflect on my last shot, whether good or bad, and therefore a little more time to prepare for my next shot, and c) some space to be by myself in a place that I love.  I'm not against carts at all - sometimes they're awesome, and if playing with buddies or on a trip, I'm almost exclusively in a cart. 

  All that being said, I was playing with three other people I didn't know - two of them were a twosome in a cart, buddies for a long time, and the 3rd was another solo guy who was also walking.  

  That third guy was one of the most anti-social people I've ever met.  Now, don't get me wrong: I have ZERO problem with someone not being "chatty" - hell, I talk enough for 3 people, so no problem there.   

  But this guy would hit his putt, pick it up (regardless of how close / far from the hole it was), walk to his bag, and walk to the next tee - all while the rest of us were still lining up our (usually) first putts.  40-50% of the time, he would go ahead and hit his tee shot and then start walking  - again, all before we'd even finished on the green.

  Keep in mind, the group in front of us was NOT playing fast, nor were we playing slow.  He was constantly right on the next group's butt.  At one point, one of the other guys I was playing with, while at the tee watching the 3rd guy walk down the cart path, suggested he just go ahead (literally yelling "go ahead!", and then, quieter, "we don't want you"), but he just stood 200 yards down the fairway, waving us up.  

  It's the most aggravated I've maybe ever been on a golf course - I felt like I was constantly being passive-aggressively hurried up, even though he never said a thing and there was nowhere for him to go. 

  Anyway - he ended up leaving after 16 (shock), and it was much more pleasant without him.  

  Also - no, he was not excellent.  He was probably a 7 or 8 handicap - so it wasn't like he was birdieing everything and annoyed at being paired up with a bunch of hacks.

  Alright: rant over.  If you or someone you know plays like this, reach out to a doctor and see if a ChillPill is right for you.

  

Why not pull that up after the first time, if he didn’t like what you’s had to say he could’ve left. I wouldn’t put up with that

[Garverick]

Lots of pet peeves out there...ouch

Slow play, all 4 golfers go to every shot, especially putts. Play ready golf. 

Respect the course, divots and ball marks are inexcusable. Hey you finally hit a green from more than 75 yards out. Celebrate by fixing your mark.

Mine - multiple practice swings. I don't take any, so that makes it worse when people take 3 full speed swings with divots and all. 

[apoodle324]

Echoing MANY others here are my 3:  (1) People who do not play ready golf; (2) People who wait until the group ahead of them is 500 yards away before hitting because someone managed to hit a shot 250 ONCE in their life; and (3) the Chatty Cathy who will not shut up and hit when it's their turn and when they finally are addressing the ball back off because they have to finish telling their story first....

[HSGC]

33 minutes ago, Garverick said:

Lots of pet peeves out there...ouch

Slow play, all 4 golfers go to every shot, especially putts. Play ready golf. 

Respect the course, divots and ball marks are inexcusable. Hey you finally hit a green from more than 75 yards out. Celebrate by fixing your mark.

Mine - multiple practice swings. I don't take any, so that makes it worse when people take 3 full speed swings with divots and all. 

Agreed, only time I take a quick practice swing or two is when u half shots that aren’t a full swing.

[eagle125]

Slow play and bad tees are definitely on my list. But fast play, I know hate me now, can be a problem. I'm 74 and 3 years ago started playing with a group of seniors, most of us have played for 40+ years. Many of the guys play 5 times a week and play like it's a 100 yard dash. Short course, doesn't get a lot of play, 5800 yards from the senior tees. Average round 2:45 for 18 holes. Not lying or exaggerating. Sounds ideal but never any time to stop and "smell the roses" let alone get a good read on most putts.

[PCS]

No need to set land speed records either! Tortoises and rabbits need not apply.

[Shifty]

dudes constantly on their phone.  "It's your turn.... again".

[TJ Hall]

This is quickly turning into a popular thread!