Whats the deal with poker chips?

[DavePelz4]

No just easily annoyed.

 

Then distracted by being annoyed, maybe.

 

There's one irascible old coot in our weekend group who doesn't much care for the poker chip thing (among many others). A new guy maybe 30 years old joined us one Saturday and had the really big, thick poker chip. The kind so big I can't imagine anyone would use them in an actual poker game.

 

Plops it down on the first green more or less vaguely in irascible old coot's line. The old guy walked over, replaced the "poker chip" with a penny, tossed it to the young guy and said, "You can keep the penny, I've got a pocket full".

 

You know if we ever play together in a battle of AVX vs KSig, I'm using a silver dollar from a slot machine in Vegas Weighs a few ounces...and I'll gladly move it out of your line because I'm that kind of guy.

[Augustok]

I don’t mark my ball at all unless it’s in someone’s way, then I use a flat small marker that I have no problem digging out of my pocket.

[Cwing]

Why are you not asking them to move their mark?

[llewol007]

Just have em move it. Sheesh???????

[@_the_crook]

You know if we ever play together in a battle of AVX vs KSig, I'm using a silver dollar from a slot machine in Vegas Weighs a few ounces...and I'll gladly move it out of your line because I'm that kind of guy. (fixed that for you)

 

In the golden, olden days, I had a $5 chip from the Desert Inn in my bag.

Seemed unwieldy at the time with everyone else using conventional marks but maybe I was an early adopter.

[lookylookitzadam]

I never complain about poker chip ball markers since they pail in comparison to the marker I have been using lately.

 

 

[timsiegle]

How about this...the poker chips are easier to see! I'd rather see peoples markers and have mine be seen than walk on a line of putt. It's easy to miss seeing a penny or dime when the green is shiny in the sun

[kejoal11]

I use a poker chip and sometimes I’ll use a challenge coin that is bigger than a poker chip. Touch my coin and we have an issue. Just ask for it to be moved. It’s ok to be nice!!!

[wobgon]

I don't care what people use, but wonder why they use the poker chip......At what point is a marker to big......Would a hub cap be considered odd......Maybe not in years to come. When I first saw people using the poker chip, I thought,what the F***......Now they are commonplace. As a matter of fact, i think i will use a hubcap my next round.

[Triple Putt]

I can't stand looking at a poker chip if it's near my line that I am putting. I'll usually tell who ever I'm playing with to move it a putter length away or use a flat marker that isn't as vibrant and distracting.

[Augster]

I hate poker chips and will never use one, but they don’t drive me off the deep end like, it seems, it does to others.

 

My friend always marks with a penny. I can barely see a penny lying on the green. It blends in with our greens. Then he gets all pissy when someone steps in his line. I play with him all the time and almost all the time when he marks I can’t see it. It’s not a shiny penny. It’s very matte. Very dull.

 

At least with poker chips I’ve never come close to stepping in someone’s line. They aren’t for me, as they don’t stick too well to the magnet on the cap bill.

[soregongolfer]

Dude is better off moving on. Who the hell wants to play with three geezers who can't break 90?

[AUDuffer]

The hole is round. The ball is round. They should call it roundtine.

[HackerD]

As someone said, poker chips are way more visible if you dont want people stepping in your line. When I use a coin people are always stomping on my line. Now thats annoying.

[USAF Retired E7]

As someone said, poker chips are way more visible if you dont want people stepping in your line. When I use a coin people are always stomping on my line. Now thats annoying.

 

Agreed. GO BUCKY!!

[bigred90gt]

Social norms..like being a dick? No reason to be a dick to someone for a movable round piece of plastic...

 

So I guess in retrospect it would have been better for him to say, "Pardon me, kind sir. Would you be so kind as to replace your saucer-sized, annoying hunk of plastic with a smaller, less conspicuous coin or other traditional ball marker? I'll be glad to provide a penny if it would be helpful".

 

No, it would have been better if he would have asked him to move it if it was in his line and had the possibility of being struck by his putt, or keep his trap shut and putt if it wasn’t.

 

Why are people so bothered by what people use for a ball marker? If it’s not in the line your ball is going to take, get over it and move on. Only a true mental midget would be bothered by the sight of one to the point it distracted them so much they couldn’t function like a normal human being.

[North Butte]

Nobody is "distracted so they much they can't function like a normal human being". Where did you come up with that.

 

We are "distracted" by somone tossing a huge chunk of plastic down on the green when we're putting. When golfers do thing that distract their playing partners, that is poor etiquette.

 

The whole poker chip thing is no different than jingling change in your pocket, standing in someone's eyeline when they are setting up for a shot or talking while someone is swinging. Yes, we are perfectly capable of ignoring poor etiquette. But we're also capable of telling someone to cut it out.

 

There's a long tradition in golf that if someone you're doing annoys or distracts another player, you stop doing it. Not that such traditions have any place in the game of a music-playing poker-chip narcissist.

 

There's one guy in our group with rabbit ears. He has the uncanny ability to hear someone making the slightest movement anywhere within 50 feet of him and it distracts him. I think he's being mighty sensitive, given that he plays in a group of people who routinely prepare for their shot while other people are hitting. But out of courtesy we all become still as statues for a few seconds when it's that guy's turn to hit. Because that's the etiquette of the game, if someone finds a thing distracting a good golfer will refrain from doing that thing.

[bigred90gt]

Nobody is "distracted so they much they can't function like a normal human being". Where did you come up with that.

 

We are "distracted" by somone tossing a huge chunk of plastic down on the green when we're putting. When golfers do thing that distract their playing partners, that is poor etiquette.

 

The whole poker chip thing is no different than jingling change in your pocket, standing in someone's eyeline when they are setting up for a shot or talking while someone is swinging. Yes, we are perfectly capable of ignoring poor etiquette. But we're also capable of telling someone to cut it out.

 

There's a long tradition in golf that if someone you're doing annoys or distracts another player, you stop doing it. Not that such traditions have any place in the game of a music-playing poker-chip narcissist.

 

There's one guy in our group with rabbit ears. He has the uncanny ability to hear someone making the slightest movement anywhere within 50 feet of him and it distracts him. I think he's being mighty sensitive, given that he plays in a group of people who routinely prepare for their shot while other people are hitting. But out of courtesy we all become still as statues for a few seconds when it's that guy's turn to hit. Because that's the etiquette of the game, if someone finds a thing distracting a good golfer will refrain from doing that thing.

 

If it isn’t in your line, how are you distracted by it? When I’m putting, I’m focused on my line while reading the putt, then my starting point while addressing the ball, then the speed I need to hit it right before I pull the trigger. How does a ball marker that isn’t in your line have such an effect on your ability to focus on the task at hand?

 

I don’t care if you mark your ball with a tree branch, as long as it’s not in my line.

 

Comparing a static object, that is not in the path your ball will take, to someone jingling change or talking in your swing is quite a stretch man. The marker isn’t moving, it isn’t making noise, and it’s not in your line. Suck it up buttercup.

 

I think if we ever had a round of match play, I’d beat you on the first hole. If you think my poker chip is distracting, you should see the anniversary coin I have from my ex-wife’s job that I sometimes use, lol. First crack about the poker chip, out comes the giant coin and it’s all over but the crying.

[bigred90gt]

If you showed up on the first tee and someone in your group told you that they didn’t like your shirt, it was distracting to them, would you go change clothes? Would it be considered a lack of etiquette if you didn’t?

[North Butte]

Wow

[Corifto]

As I've only played one round, it's threads like this that worry me that I'll do something wrong if I play with a paired foursome.

[mikedejong]

There is a guy I play with that marks his ball with a can of Copenhagen. If someone is going to seriously complain about something like this, I think they might have a hard time finding people to play with. It cant be that big a deal.

[North Butte]

There is a guy I play with that marks his ball with a can of Copenhagen. If someone is going to seriously complain about something like this, I think they might have a hard time finding people to play with. It cant be that big a deal.

 

If you just had another member of the foursome mark his ball with a bluetooth speaker you'd have the hat trick!

[mikedejong]

There is a guy I play with that marks his ball with a can of Copenhagen. If someone is going to seriously complain about something like this, I think they might have a hard time finding people to play with. It cant be that big a deal.

 

If you just had another member of the foursome mark his ball with a bluetooth speaker you'd have the hat trick!

Yeah a speaker would be a new one! But I have seen guys use some funny things to mark. Sunglasses, car keys, wallet, a leaf... the speaker usually doesn't leave the cart though.

[RobS14526]

Most of the guys that I’ve played with that used the manhole cover use it with some common sense. Switch to a coin inside 10 feet, don’t put it down if it’s anywhere close to another player’s chipping line, etc.

 

At that point, it always seemed like more trouble than it’s worth.

[North Butte]

At that point, it always seemed like more trouble than it’s worth.

 

That's what I don't get. What is the motivation? Is it a form of one-upmanship like having garish custom stampings all over your Cameron putter? Or does "poker chip" signify something that these guys want to be identified with?

[Lord Helmet]

I could care less about the poker chip things. I use one - reason you ask? In the last 3 outings I have played in the poker chips have been part of the giveaways in the cart (along with bag towel, tees, sleeve of balls, drink coupons, etc). I used to use a 1968 (birth year) quarter and still have it - but the chip is easier for me to see. Nobody ever has said anything to me about using the chip. I also play allot as a single walk-up so I deal quite a bit with strangers on the course. Obviously I go out of my way to move it if I am anywhere near someones line. Never had an issue.

[Togatown22]

At that point, it always seemed like more trouble than it’s worth.

 

That's what I don't get. What is the motivation? Is it a form of one-upmanship like having garish custom stampings all over your Cameron putter? Or does "poker chip" signify something that these guys want to be identified with?

 

The motivation is that it's easy to see. I use one that I got from Greg here on WRX he gave me on one of the TM trips. If it's in someone's way, I move it for them.

You're really in your own head about this one.

[North Butte]

At that point, it always seemed like more trouble than it’s worth.

 

That's what I don't get. What is the motivation? Is it a form of one-upmanship like having garish custom stampings all over your Cameron putter? Or does "poker chip" signify something that these guys want to be identified with?

 

The motivation is that it's easy to see. I use one that I got from Greg here on WRX he gave me on one of the TM trips. If it's in someone's way, I move it for them.

You're really in your own head about this one.

 

Where do you get that?

 

I never said I couldn't ignore a manhole cover on the green. Just posted a funny (to me) anecdote about a grumpy old guy's way of telling a newbie not to use one.

 

Guess I'd better not post my story about passing gas loudly during someone's backswing...

[Togatown22]

At that point, it always seemed like more trouble than it’s worth.

 

That's what I don't get. What is the motivation? Is it a form of one-upmanship like having garish custom stampings all over your Cameron putter? Or does "poker chip" signify something that these guys want to be identified with?

 

The motivation is that it's easy to see. I use one that I got from Greg here on WRX he gave me on one of the TM trips. If it's in someone's way, I move it for them.

You're really in your own head about this one.

 

Where do you get that?

 

I never said I couldn't ignore a manhole cover on the green. Just posted a funny (to me) anecdote about a grumpy old guy's way of telling a newbie not to use one.

 

Guess I'd better not post my story about passing gas loudly during someone's backswing...

 

?? You forgetting about everything you spewed out in post #48 about etiquette? C'mon.

As long as someone is conscientious around their playing partners, and moves their mark (whatever it is) when asked, there's no etiquette issue here.