Putting Etiquette...Getting Better or Worse?

How far away from the hole should a person who is not putting be standing? 10,15, 20 feet away?

I have had some really good rounds this year totally ruined because of poor putting ettiquette by clowns. For example: Not marking your ball, talking when someone is putting, standing closer than 10 feet from the hole when someone else is putting. And my favorite...the moron holding the flag who is just dying to get that flag in the hole (while I'm putting for birdie!)...he is 5 feet away! WTF!

Here's the new rules for the 2014 season:

1. Mark your ball or it's going to get tossed off the green or thrown in the water.

2. Zip it on the green ok...just shut up and no farting either.

3. Clear the area and get away from the hole. If you don't... I'm gonna grab my driver and tee one up right at you!

4. Leave the flag on the ground until everyone is done putting...ok moron? Take a deep breath enjoy the scenery and leave the flag alone!

This list is not final. What else did I miss?

This isn't going to go over well.

Someone needs a hug.

With all those rules, maybe you should play alone.

5. Better not walk in my through line.

In before the lock....

[quote]What else did I miss?[/quote]

Hmm... personal accountability?
I reckon you've had more good rounds ruined this year by an inability to concentrate and blame everyone and their dog for your missed putts when they are standing 9'11" away.

I like that you have asked for our opinion, but I feel like you are leading the conversation.

Man, have I got a group you'd love to play with.

That stuff bothers me, too. Learn to back away and ask them to stop, then get composed again and make your putt.

Here we go. Today I was playing with a foursome of friends. My one buddy is The Complainer. Great golfer but what a head case, there's an excuse for everything. Missed putt, god did you hear that squirrel? You know the type. So he is on a tough green in two on a par 5. He is short and has a pretty wild uphill 30 footer. My buddy is just in the rough on the back of the green and chips his ball on while the complainer is waiting for him to tend the pin. The complainer doesn't get up the slope and ends up 5 putting for 7. All of a sudden he is blaming my buddy for going out of turn (we always play ready golf). It was sad.

Long story short, don't be that guy. You missed a putt because YOU missed a putt. Something bugging you? Let the person know, and move on. Don't be the guy that is blaming everyone and everything else for bad shots and missed putts.

If you toss my ball into the water, you'll be going in right behind it, and your bag behind you.

Then, after you have dried off, I would expect you to impose the proper penalty for breach of rule 1-2, which should be disqualification

[url="http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rule-01/"]http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rule-01/[/url]

If you can't see me when you are putting and I'm not talking who cares about all your rules? And why is the flag required to remain on the ground until everyone putts out? That's silly.

This reminds me of the guy who asked me to move out of his line on an approach shot. I was parked in a cart 40 yards behind him. Granted I was in line with the pin, but just haven't experienced that before. He must have had a very sensitive periph.

Are you Monty in disguise???

When I was young my friends and I would always play in pairs for moolah. The rules were that there were no rules except that you couldn't touch the other person or mess with their line. We would yell at each other, stand right next to each other. Sometimes I would be lining up a putt and see two putter heads coming in my line of view. One between my legs coming close to my junk and one blocking my view of the ball. All the while they would be yelling "Noonan"! That will teach you some concentration let me tell you.

I guess what I am trying to tell you is that you are over reacting. Maybe some Valium will help, or as we used to say "take a chill pill."

remind me never to play in your foursome

[quote name='bruinsPATSirish' timestamp='1384919012' post='8175934']
Here we go. Today I was playing with a foursome of friends. My one buddy is The Complainer. Great golfer but what a head case, there's an excuse for everything. Missed putt, god did you hear that squirrel? You know the type. So he is on a tough green in two on a par 5. He is short and has a pretty wild uphill 30 footer. My buddy is just in the rough on the back of the green and chips his ball on while the complainer is waiting for him to tend the pin. The complainer doesn't get up the slope and ends up 5 putting for 7. All of a sudden he is blaming my buddy for going out of turn (we always play ready golf). It was sad.

Long story short, don't be that guy. You missed a putt because YOU missed a putt. Something bugging you? Let the person know, and move on. Don't be the guy that is blaming everyone and everything else for bad shots and missed putts.
[/quote]

That's ironic, today I played a round of bro golf with the haymaker, the heartbreaker, and Webb simpson.

[quote name='OnePuttEagle' timestamp='1384913653' post='8175408']
How far away from the hole should a person who is not putting be standing? 10,15, 20 feet away?

I have had some really good rounds this year totally ruined because of poor putting ettiquette by clowns. For example: Not marking your ball, talking when someone is putting, standing closer than 10 feet from the hole when someone else is putting. And my favorite...the moron holding the flag who is just dying to get that flag in the hole (while I'm putting for birdie!)...he is 5 feet away! WTF!

Here's the new rules for the 2014 season:

1. Mark your ball or it's going to get tossed off the green or thrown in the water.
2. Zip it on the green ok...just shut up and no farting either.
3. Clear the area and get away from the hole. If you don't... I'm gonna grab my driver and tee one up right at you!
4. Leave the flag on the ground until everyone is done putting...ok moron? Take a deep breath enjoy the scenery and leave the flag alone!

This list is not final. [b]What else did I miss?[/b]
[/quote]

Your XANAX pill?

I like to take the flag and as the last guy putts stand behind him and whip it over his head then look around and ask if anyone else saw that hawk.

Would that be ok in your world?

Can't pick up the flag?

I always pick up the flag before the last guy putts out. I hold it silently, caddy-style, with the flag in my hand so it doesn't make any noise in the wind.

I always thought I was being polite by getting the pin...huh...

[quote name='ND2005' timestamp='1384953250' post='8177002']
Can't pick up the flag?

I always pick up the flag before the last guy putts out. I hold it silently, caddy-style, with the flag in my hand so it doesn't make any noise in the wind.

I always thought I was being polite by getting the pin...huh...
[/quote]

Think of all the millions lost on tour because of caddies holding flag sticks!

I dislike when someone either putts or throws me my ball and says that is good.

[quote name='4Wedges' timestamp='1384947203' post='8176796']
I like to take the flag and as the last guy putts stand behind him and whip it over his head then look around and ask if anyone else saw that hawk.
[/quote]
Great idea. You do that and I'll pull a shotgun from my bag - I never miss from 50 yards. Well, almost never ....

What on earth is wrong with holding the flag - well away from the hole of course - while others are putting? Very odd.

[quote name='Sunningdale' timestamp='1384979467' post='8179520']
[quote name='4Wedges' timestamp='1384947203' post='8176796']
I like to take the flag and as the last guy putts stand behind him and whip it over his head then look around and ask if anyone else saw that hawk.
[/quote]
Great idea. You do that and I'll pull a shotgun from my bag - I never miss from 50 yards. Well, almost never ....

What on earth is wrong with holding the flag - well away from the hole of course - while others are putting? Very odd.
[/quote]

How about you come hold the flagstick and play in my group while we try to figure it out? You may also talk on the green, I don't like introverts while I am putting.

"[color=#282828]1. Mark your ball or it's going to get tossed off the green or thrown in the water.[/color]
[color=#282828]2. Zip it on the green ok...just shut up and no farting either.[/color]
[color=#282828]3. Clear the area and get away from the hole. If you don't... I'm gonna grab my driver and tee one up right at you![/color]
[color=#282828]4. Leave the flag on the ground until everyone is done putting...ok moron? Take a deep breath enjoy the scenery and leave the flag alone!"[/color]

[color=#282828]1. I really can't see how this would make a difference unless the ball was somewhere between you and the hole[/color]
[color=#282828]2. Makes sense[/color]
[color=#282828]3. So long as they are not visible or not hovering just behind your back it shouldn't matter too much.[/color]
[color=#282828]4. I was taught (as a caddie), when either tending the pin or holding it waiting for people to putt out, to hold the flag itself against the pin so it doesn't flutter. If people do this (most people don't, by the way) (and stay out of your vision) then it shouldn't matter if they are holding the pin waiting for you to putt out. Plus as we all know - IT IS ALL ABOUT SPEED OF PLAY! Imagine the seconds I save per round by already having the pin in my hand before you putt out rather than having to pick it up after? SECONDS SAVED I TELL YOU![/color]

I would have lost everything I own if someone had asked me what I would wager against this thread having 26 replies and no one having really gone after this guy. I saw the second post was "This isn't going to go over well" or something like that, and I thought, no...no its not.

I'm not the guy who goes ape nuts on people here, so I won't do that, but I do have to say that it seems you've got a couple of issues here. One, you need to relax a bit. This is the level of intensity I would expect with $1000000 on the line or something. I don't like people talking while I play, or putt, and though I can block it out, I still consider some of those things to be a breach of etiquette. I can honestly say though, it has never even occurred to me that I would tee up a ball and hit it at someone. I assume (and hope) that you were kidding, but even having the capacity to reach that level means you might be overreacting a touch. Two, to be frank, you came across as very self-absorbed. Maybe other people in the group don't know as much as you about etiquette. Maybe someone doesn't like it when people take all day and don't play quickly. You're not the only one out there, and you're not the only one whose opinions matter.

This reminds me a little of a story from when I was younger...playing with my dad, and a buddy of mine and his dad. My dad was probably an 8 at the time, played frequently, taught me the game as a child and taught me proper etiquette, so even as a kid (13 i think at the time), I still knew how to get around a course without bothering anyone...or so we thought. My friends dad gave me a hard time about walking in his THRU LINE, which in and of itself is reasonable, except he had about a 20 foot putt, and I was at LEAST 8 feet past the hole. My dad told me not to worry about it once we were back in the cart and explained it to me, but 20 years later, I still remember it, because it was that ridiculous. You have to be able to block out SOME stuff to play this game. The more the better.

Don't hit any golf balls at anyone. Probably shouldn't hit anyone else's golf ball either. There are some crazy people out there man.

If I got paired up with you, I ditch you at the turn.

[quote name='Thrillhouse' timestamp='1384928314' post='8176480']
[quote name='bruinsPATSirish' timestamp='1384919012' post='8175934']
Here we go. Today I was playing with a foursome of friends. My one buddy is The Complainer. Great golfer but what a head case, there's an excuse for everything. Missed putt, god did you hear that squirrel? You know the type. So he is on a tough green in two on a par 5. He is short and has a pretty wild uphill 30 footer. My buddy is just in the rough on the back of the green and chips his ball on while the complainer is waiting for him to tend the pin. The complainer doesn't get up the slope and ends up 5 putting for 7. All of a sudden he is blaming my buddy for going out of turn (we always play ready golf). It was sad.

Long story short, don't be that guy. You missed a putt because YOU missed a putt. Something bugging you? Let the person know, and move on. Don't be the guy that is blaming everyone and everything else for bad shots and missed putts.
[/quote]

That's ironic, today I played a round of bro golf with the haymaker, the heartbreaker, and Webb simpson.
[/quote]

How did no one laugh at this?!?!

What's wrong with you guys?