Your most unpopular Golf opinions?

[MaxBuck]

A strong right hand isn't the reason for hooking the ball.

[Divot License]

I'm pretty sure Pete Cowen has said this several times in interviews, he believes putting should only be worth half a shot.

[third-times-a-charm]

Meh...putting is so easy it's ridiculous. It's like a free shot most of the time.

[Shakester]

I've gotten so much grief over the old saying that every golfer has probably heard and thats "drive for show, putt for dough". Especially with the younger golfers in my group that like to bomb it 300 yards into the next fairway. They keep telling me how much of an advantage they have because they hit the ball further and its true. These are the same guys that would putt out of bunker if they could. Guys that average 40 putts per round and are 15 handicaps.

[RJ_MJ_JJ]

GREAT TOPIC. here are mine...

Putting with the flag in is stupid.I would do away with the concept of Par. Comparing your round to the course rating is a way better reflection of how you played.

[DavePelz4]

When Jim Nantz says "Hello friends," he's talking to everyone but me.

[DLev45]

That I would like to see PGA/LPGA combined events with men and women in the same field, with the women playing from ~6,600 and the men from ~7,200.

Stroke play, match play, or team event. Just to mix it up.

[RJ_MJ_JJ]

These are ALL popular in my house. Dress codes at a golf course are antiquated just like dress codes in the workplace, generally speaking. Par is meaningless. OB (and lost balls) should be treated like a hazard. AMEN brother.

[RJ_MJ_JJ]

Ha - why?

[sdandrea]

Golf is a scoring game, not a distance contest.

Most amateurs won't admit to their true ability in a golf forum.

There are far too many members of this forum that should be banned for trolling and pot stirring.

[C6 Snowboarder]

Most guys think they are too manly to play a Regular flex shafts.

[Mr. Grumpy]

Everyone cheats to some extent...

[fillwelix]

Hot take: some "cheating" isn't and shouldn't actually be cheating

(not taking stroke & distance for OB, relief from being on rocks/roots, etc.)

[LICC]

That is unpopular?

[Singapore Joe]

I actually like this line. I am struggling to find people to play with as almost all of my past playing buddies have quit the game. I am not salesman or a religious person but I play quite often as a solo player and just book myself into a flight with a free slot. Then I show up on time and try to work out with the people at the club whether I should go out with a different group. On busy times there may not be such luxury but on quiet times I want to be flexible. Most golfers are fairly welcoming but it could be that there's some rare [father | mother]-[son | daughter] time for a flight, for example, and I don't want to be the outsider in that group if I could as well play a bit earlier and later with a different group. I would appreciate if a group told me straight that they'd rather I go out with a different group. I'm quite rhino skinned so it won't insult me in any way. Better for everyone, really. I tend to record most of my rounds for the HC and I can't do that if I play alone.

[Singapore Joe]

There is a thing called Green Card. Many courses in Europe require it if you don't have a handicap. It's basically a certificate that you have passed a test in basic proficiency in golf and golf etiquette and have the necessary skills to play the game while working towards a handicap.

[Bushwood Country Club]

What an AWESOME TOPIC!!!!

I don't care if you walk, but stfu about me taking cart and don't slow down the group. When I want exercise, I will ride a bike - Golf is for competing to do your best.Music is an abomination on the golf course. If you want to smoke a cigar, please walk and keep it out of my face in the golf cart.People who have an opinion about someone else's golf bag really need to find something useful to do, and leave the arena. WHY do you care what kind of bag someone else carries?People who think they "play better with blades" are delusional. Use whatever clubs you want to, but don't confuse yourself that blades make you a better golfer.Please shut up about pace of play if the group isn't wasting time in the woods looking for lost balls on every hole. If it takes 4:45 to play a hard, competitive round, so be it. Golf takes time - it's not a footrace. Michelle Wie was never really that good.Paige Spiranac makes me smile, and people who bitch about her really need to pound sand. Patrick Reed is one of my favorite golfers, and one of the best golfers in the world. Sometimes, he is in the top 5.

[LICC]

On this forum, my view that stroke-and-distance penalties should be eliminated for out-of-bounds, and OB should be treated the same as penalty areas, raised quite a stir.

I would like to see a requirement that courses do not permit anyone to play from the back tees unless the player shows his handicap card and has a single-digit handicap.

[jcamn1]

Pace of play DOES need to be addressed in almost all courses. The Idea of racing around the course as fast as you can is wrong, but you shouldn't be waiting to hit shots for 2-3 minutes ea time. Almost every course I played in Scotland had a message posted that you were to finish in 3:45 or less and you walk everywhere unless you have a medical card. And that was in MEMBER locker rooms.

It's simple and easy to do.

Flip side, Should you be upset that you played in 3:45 but still waited 2-3 minutes a hole..My answer it's hard to be, but it's OK to be.

Flip flip side...If you have 3 hours to play a round of golf...Go bowling & quit spoiling it for your playing partners & those in front of you.

As for the courses..QUIT POSTING, on your carts, that you should be done in 4:15 or 4:30 You're ruining the game for the walkers or players that can get around in 3:45 Max.

PS it's -35 windchill here today...So FU to all you peeps playing somewhere today!! Although I hope you had a great time @ a great pace if you were

[Amps]

I defo play quicker in a cart, and as such, because I have a seat, I'm happy to wait for others to play. I like the idea of free carts (if desired) before 12 to keep the play moving.

[TIM929]

groups who tee off early normally play pretty fast and fly through the front 9 like lighting.

 

Back 9 is a stand still..

[TIM929]

LOL!

[HackDaddy360]

If you can break par the majority of your improvement is mental and not physical. People who talk in absolutes about how golf should be played/the club should be swung/etc. are wrong. Golf training aids are largely snake oil.Course management is the most important thing for an 18 handicap to learn if they want to shoot 85 consistently. Changing clubs regularly - particularly scoring clubs - is a dumb idea. You never really get to know them. And tied to that....There is no instant gratification in golf - period. No matter how good your gear or your coach is you can’t buy a golf game - ever.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

Ok maybe these opinions are unpopular in the rules forum:

- The world handicap system wasn't needed and will be a problem

- Many of those in the rules forum are willing to accept and do whatever the USGA says. To be critical of the USGA is akin to blasphemy.

[caniac6]

I wish I could give these "unpopular" opinions more than one like!

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

I think it's a really cool thing that Callaway's doing by integrating their triple-track balls with their putter. I think it would be even more cool if they released a series of drivers with the same alignment stripes.

[third-times-a-charm]

Exactly. Taking your ball out of a fairway divot isnt cheating - it's protesting. A good wholesome protest.

[lookylookitzadam]

 

 

You should be required to record the time it took to play a round when you record your score. Then based on your average speed, you should only be able to play in certain time brackets. It will be accounted for like a handicap index where your longest rounds are thrown out. If you're a 4.5hr pace, you have no business being first off on a saturday morning.You should get relief from areas/conditions that were not part of the original course design or intent. Tree roots that have grown up and out of the ground, bare areas in-bounds not marked GUR, patchy rough that has dead spots, divots that aren't filled...the course designer had no intention of these being an integral part of the course and therefore relief should be allowed. If it is penalty area, your SOL...its a penalty area and should be penal.Country Clubs need to relax their antiquated traditions. If I want to hit the range in a t-shirt and shorts and then go have a beer at the bar, so be it! If I want to play the course or eat at the restaurant I am fine wearing appropriate attire.Everyone should be required to take a rules/etiquette class (or at least watch a video online) before being able to play a full course.There should be repercussions for the people who destroy the course (slamming or throwing clubs, etc) after a bad shot - it's not the courses fault you shanked it.

[Amps]

Like the above idea of a time index, nice!

[Amps]

Cant argue with any of them.