Standing over partners through line. Who cares?

[Haroputt]

Does anyone really get bother when I step on playing competitors  through line when I pick up the ball from the cup.   I’m sure it happens all the time.  
Anyone heard complaints about this?

 

edit (  the through line  is the other players line past the hole)

Edited April 6, 2022 by Haroputt

[Abh159]

Seems pretty simple to just not step in their through line. I mean there is literally 360 degrees around the hole...

[klebs01]

38 minutes ago, Haroputt said:

Does anyone really get bother when I step on playing competitors  through line when I pick up the ball from the cup.   I’m sure it happens all the time.  
Anyone heard complaints about this?

 

 

its pretty much nonsense. Just something very few people care about, but those that do are very vocal. 

[ericschlukebir]

I think it's one of those things that was probably important when shoes had real spikes and you couldn't fix spike marks on the greens.   Now that the spikes don't impact the green as much is probably doesn't matter, but as ABH159 said, it's not very hard to not do it either.

[Haroputt]

8 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

Seems pretty simple to just not step in their through line. I mean there is literally 360 degrees around the hole...

Let’s get real here.  There probably 3 other ball on the green at different angles to the cup when I bend down to pick up my ball 

Does it seem pretty simple to not step in anyone’s through line?  Plus the intended line to the cup.  That’s six lines 360 degrees around the cup to avoid 
 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Haroputt

[Abh159]

7 minutes ago, Haroputt said:

Let’s get real here.  There probably 3 other ball on the green at different angles to the cup when I bend down to pick up my ball 

Does it seem pretty simple to not step in anyone’s through line? 
 

 

Unless you're the first person to hole out on every green, and all three of your playing partners' balls are positioned exactly 90 degrees apart I can't imagine it's that difficult to pick up the ball from a side of the hole no one will be putting through. 

 

Personally, I couldn't care less if someone stepped in my through line. You can tap down marks on the green now anyways. But it seemed like you were venting about something that people have complained to you about on multiple occasions so I was offering a solution. 

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Abh159

[Cliffy2020]

Just to be clear, we’re talking about the other players line past the hole?
 

Assuming they’re going to burn the edge and have a 3’+ come back putt?  Hopefully they didn’t lip-out.
 

Or they mis-read or mis-hit lag putt and miss it left or right?  
 

Now that I think about it, the through line might be the safest place to step?

 

Thankfully, Ive never heard anybody complain about this in 30+ years of golf.

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

If someone in a casual round whined about this, it'd be last time I played with them....seriously, if not earning your living on the course, relax

[amace04]

Wait, you're talking about past the cup?

Find better playing partners.

[cassel191919]

If it was a playing partner I would never play with them again. If its match play I do it again just to get them angry.

[Wham49]

the old people I play with( 60 and older) usually are the sticklers on that kind of stuff, really wet, soft greens I really pay attention, but I do not think it is that big of a deal. MAke the putt the first time then you don't have to worry about it, walking on a players clear line to the hole is another thing, but predicted line if missed come on, then why is anybody allowed on the green at all

[Valtiel]

If you're talking about the line beyond the cup as mentioned above then yeah, not a big deal and anyone complaining about that deserves a sneeze in their next backswing. If you're talking about the line between the hole and the cup then I agree with @Abh159 in that it's not hard to avoid. 

[cgasucks]

Having a player complain while you're standing in in the line of your partner's putt PAST the hole is pretty ridiculous unless the other player has no sense of touch and putts 10 feet past the hole (which is unlikely). 

 

If you cast a shadow on your partner's putting line while standing there that's a different story.

Edited April 6, 2022 by cgasucks

[ericschlukebir]

yeah, if we are talking about past the hole, that's crazy.  I had no idea that was a thing people even thought about.

[Mudguard]

On 4/7/2022 at 6:20 AM, ericschlukebir said:

yeah, if we are talking about past the hole, that's crazy.  I had no idea that was a thing people even thought about.

 

I had no idea until I caddied in a professional tournament. I wound up staying well away from the cup and letting the older caddies sort the pin. 

[mshills]

Only time I've ever paid attention to this was when caddying in US Open sectional qualifiers or in a professional event.

 

Someone raising a fuss about this in my regular group....LOL, the ball-busting would be so severe that person wouldn't finish the round.

[Nels55]

This one got me thinking a little bit...  LOL not always a good thing!  First off I have never noticed anyone stepping in my line past the hole and I would never complain about it.  On the other hand I think that I try to avoid stepping in someone else's line past the hole when I am getting my ball out of the cup.  It is just sort of something that seems like a good and normal thing to do is it not?  LOL I have never really thought about it before.  I guess that if someone was constantly stomping in my line a foot or so past the hole during a round it would seem kind of weird...  Most people do try to stand off to the side and as far from the hole as they can which seems like the most polite way to act.  

[BlackDiamondPar5]

Never seen it be a problem in any round I've ever played. If it became an issue then I wouldn't play with that uptight person again. 

[Unplayablelies]

I take care not to step on others lines. However, unless you are one of the first t times out, there have been other golfers stomping around the cup. It doesn’t bother me when someone steps on my line

[Hawkeye77]

 

I can kind of see the justification - it's not like the stupid "don't talk to my ball" nonsense.

 

A few of the guys I play with would have a panic attack if they had to putt from inside three feet, so can't say it comes up all that often, lol.

 

If someone still has a putt and I'm pulling my ball out I'm not stepping all that near the hole to take it out, don't need to be tromping right around the hole for any reason, but other than that?  I don't think I've ever thought about it until now.  Thinking about it, if I drain a straight putt and someone is coming from the other way, I doubt I'm doing anything other than walking straight towards the hole to get the ball so I guess I don't care because if it was a thing for me I'd sure be careful about not doing it to someone else.

 

I honestly don't think I've ever heard that complaint in a few decades and a few thousand rounds of golf.

 

 

 

[Nels55]

58 minutes ago, Unplayablelies said:

I take care not to step on others lines. However, unless you are one of the first t times out, there have been other golfers stomping around the cup. It doesn’t bother me when someone steps on my line

This is true 99% of the time.  I do remember once on the 16th green of a tournament in the winter where I was playing really crappy that a big fellow stepped right in the middle of my line.  The greens were really soft and he left a couple of noticeable footprints.  LOL I did not say anything because I did not care at that point but when I hit my putt the ball did hit his foot print and veer off.  So in addition to first ones out there is the condition of the greens to consider.  LOL big guy's footprints might be there for a while but they do slowly heal up...  Oh well!

[isaacbm]

I got in a pretty heated argument about this once in a professional tournament. 
     I made a five footer and the other guy had a 4 1/2 footer. I bent over to pick my putt out of the hole and he said I need to learn to not be such an a**h*** and stay off his  through line.  Literally hadn’t said one thing about it the entire first two days of the tournament. 
     I stood there by the hole and looked at him for about 5 seconds straight. We just had a stare off.  He says to me “ What?! You got a problem with that?!” 
I said “ You’re currently six over par. We have three holes left. The cut is -3. Maybe you should worry about making your 4 1/2 footer and not where  your balls going to end up when you miss  the hole!”

 

Overall I feel through line is complete garbage.  Particularly on longer putts. I don’t know if you’re going to miss it long or short,  right or left,  or do some sort of strange power-lip-out that’s going to make the ball end up in any number of random places. 
     Imagine Arnold Palmer caring about Throughline! Lol! Great putters don’t get too caught up in where they think the ball is going to miss. They’re too focussed on making it! 

     Obviously you have to be conscious of walking  softly when you’re within a few feet of the hole, but you have to get the ball out of the cup somehow. 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by isaacbm

[Obee]

100%. 
 

It's a silly tradition that maybe mattered a tiny bit when you couldn't tap down spike marks. 
 

And as slow as they all putt,the ground has plenty of time to spring back after someone steps on it — even someone as big as me! 🙂 

[mshills]

Only reason I ever cared about it as a caddy (like I said, US Open sectional qualifier and a number of Hogan / Nike tour events) is simply wanting to be totally unobtrusive to any player other than my bag.

 

But it is still totally silly, and I’d love to see someone fuss about this with my regular playing group. That would be really funny!

[Obee]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:20 AM, ericschlukebir said:

yeah, if we are talking about past the hole, that's crazy.  I had no idea that was a thing people even thought about.

pretty much only Tour Pros. 

[Haroputt]

What I don’t get is the ball generally will not stop anywhere close to the through line so what’s the deal? 

Lips out and close misses ends up outside the through line.  
Ball that it rolling and aim at the through line will be holed out unless the speed is faster than what’s needed and even if the ball hits the hole with more speed than normal, the cup will act as a speed bump and veer ball offline and ball end up away from the through line.   
Not stepping through line is just another stupid etiquette that should disappear  with metal spikes  even at the tour level 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Haroputt

[Stanks]

If it's a tournament and the greens are rolling, then maybe I would take this as a precaution. If it's just a weekend round on your local muni, then whatever. But, if the guy asks you to not do it again, then lesson learned and help him out. 

 

It goes both ways though, if he does something that annoys you, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind letting him know. 

[rogolf]

31 minutes ago, Stanks said:

If it's a tournament and the greens are rolling, then maybe I would take this as a precaution. If it's just a weekend round on your local muni, then whatever. But, if the guy asks you to not do it again, then lesson learned and help him out. 

 

It goes both ways though, if he does something that annoys you, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind letting him know. 

Courteous behaviour should always prevail.

[tatertot]

What is the through line? Is it straight? Do I need to read everybody's putt? If Jimmy Joe Bob has a left to right breaker, do I need to play my footsteps correctly according to how hard I think he's going to hit his putt for the proper break?

 

Don't step on anybody's line ... don't step too close to the hole. Try not to dig in. You'll be fine.

[Stanks]

1 hour ago, rogolf said:

Courteous behaviour should always prevail.

*should* is the key word.

 

Unfortunately, it does not exist in modern golf. 

 

I played 9 today after work, and luckily snagged a tee time in back of a 3 some (high school kids) who have never played or swung a stick in their lives. 

 

Etiquette says they should let faster players play through but, nope. They weren't taught that part of the game. And more and more will not in the future.

 

Even the guys I played with today were stepping in my line and they were 30 years my senior. I'm over it.