Poker chips are for poker tables

[trilinkrealty]

The poker chips are a little goofy but what actually bothers me is the dude who marks with a tee!  Coooooome on Man!

[2bGood]

 

58 minutes ago, Bob Cat said:

Are guitar pics acceptable?  Asking for a friend.

Yes. They are pretty light and easily moved on windy day though.

42 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

I've used one in a pinch, but technically they're not permitted under the rules of golf if they aren't round. 

This is not correct. Ball markers do not need to be round under the rules. 

 

 

[dfeldss]

3 minutes ago, trilinkrealty said:

The poker chips are a little goofy but what actually bothers me is the dude who marks with a tee!  Coooooome on Man!

 

me and my friends generally mark with a tee just out of pure laziness. If it's in the way at all ill usually just poke a small hole that i can see

[Wardonation]

100% agree... use a penny or dime

[me05501]

Here are some interesting tidbits from the RoG:

 

https://www.liveabout.com/ball-markers-rules-1565978

 

[2bGood]

18 minutes ago, me05501 said:

Here are some interesting tidbits from the RoG:

 

https://www.liveabout.com/ball-markers-rules-1565978

 

This is not from the ROG - this is from an article on the ROG. Nice advice, but here  is what the rules golf says:

 

Definition of a Ball Marker : "an artificial object when used to mark the spot of a ball to be lifted, such as a tee, a coin, an object made to be a ball-marker or another small piece of equipment."

 

You to dig a but further to get more requirements if ball mark has an alignment devise:

7. Definition of Alignment Device and Treatment of Ball-Markers (Rule 4.3)

The following criteria are used to determine when an object manufactured to mark the spot of a ball is an alignment device. Features include, but are not limited to:

• The object incorporates features designed to measure, gauge or interpret slope, green speed or other conditions, or includes optical or electronic components or,

• The vertical height of the object, in any configuration, is greater than 1.0” or,

• The maximum dimension in any horizontal direction exceeds 2.0” and incorporates any of the features noted below (or similar features):

o the object incorporates painted, etched or inscribed line(s) or similar features greater than or equal to 2.0” in length (“line” includes any line, arrow or other straight marking that could be solid or broken, but has a defined start, a defined end and whose length can be measured),

o the object has an appendage(s) or an extended feature(s) greater than 2.0” in length or that extends a feature of the object to a length greater than 2.0”.

Note 1: An object is an alignment device if it exceeds the dimensional specifications listed above and advertising, marketing or intellectual property descriptions or claims related to the object indicates that it is primarily for the purpose of showing the line of play.

Note 2: An object is an alignment device if it is modified in any manner that would satisfy any of the above provisions.

 

At any rate the rules allow allot of (artificial) items to be ball markers and only imposes rules around dimensions when it has alignments aids and their is no requirement for markers to be round..

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by 2bGood

[mshills]

I don't understand the issue here.  A putt that rolls over a ball marker, any ball marker, is going to be affected.  If your shot is likely to hit someone's marker, ask that person to move it.  No big deal.

 

If you're distracted by someone else's marker, I can't imagine what else on a golf course would mess up your concentration.

 

For the record, I use whatever I happen to have handy, and I don't know how to play cards, so it's not going to be a poker chip.  😉

[SantoroMT]

2 hours ago, North Butte said:

Not a big deal at all but I do wonder what the attraction is.

 

Then again I don't understand the reason any golfer would want a white belt, white pants or the Aimpoint system. So maybe I'm just dumb. 

I can see the appeal if someone buys them from courses they play to display them at home as some sort of memento. They're a standard size, easy to see, easy to display in a case. On the greens though, I don't see them being practical. 

[Z1ggy16]

This is like iron covers and using staff bags - who cares.

 

As long as the chip (or whatever object) isn't on your line, the person should be able to use a pancake for all a care. 

[cristphoto]

49 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

I'd be prone to ask, "Would you be so kind to move your ball marker 4 CLUB LENGTHS to the right, so it's not such a distraction?"

 

You're right.  I've been too courteous.  

[Nard_S]

Poker chips are easier to find in pocket. Loose change is a pain. If a marker is in the way, it ought to be moved without regard to what it is.Oh and I use a tee too, so I'm a real annoyance.

[isaacbm]

I remember one of my first professional events nearly 30 years ago. I marked my ball near the hole with a bright shiny dime. The guy I’m playing with literally went over to my coin and put a 30 year old browned out Penny on top of it because he said “the reflection of the sun on the dime was going to distract me…”

 

I imagine if I had marked it with a poker chip he may have had an aneurism on the spot! 

[ChipStrokes]

i've never given any thought to what someone else uses to mark their ball.  

 

any time i see a thread along these lines i wonder if the OP, or the people in agreement, have ever played sports other than golf.

 

hearing music from the next fairway, someone jingling their change, a big ball marker, a garbage truck backing up on the road behind the tee box...none of these things has ever once affected how well i can concentrate on the task at hand.  

 

growing up playing sports, and then playing at a high level, you get really good at blocking out things going on around you.  hitting a fastball while someone 30 feet away heckles you makes swinging a club while your playing partners whisper to each other seem like no problem at all.

[SEP1006]

1 hour ago, Bob Cat said:

Are guitar pics acceptable?  Asking for a friend.

 

I'm pretty sure you can use whatever you want. As long as you place the ball back in the same position relative to where you picked it up from in relation to the "marker".

[caniac6]

51 minutes ago, 2bGood said:

 

Yes. They are pretty light and easily moved on windy day though.

This is not correct. Ball markers do not need to be round under the rules. 

 

 

I use my lucky brick on windy days.

[puttnforthe8]

3 hours ago, me05501 said:

Using them as ball markers is silly and impractical. 
 

I will die on this hill.  
 

🙂

 

What about a challenge coin in memory of a ToD where one was shot and one's best friends who loved golf was killed.  Is that an issue for you as well? 

Edited June 15, 2022 by puttnforthe8

[Skydiver22]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

I'd be prone to ask, "Would you be so kind to move your ball marker 4 CLUB LENGTHS to the right, so it's not such a distraction?"

You start doing that to me when clearly the marker/chip is a foot off your one inch line to the hole... I'll start the ...  'I'll just clean this up" and start dancing all around your perceived highway lane of a line to the hole. 

[llewol007]

Nothing wrong with a Poker chip in my view. I actually use it as a marker to get around for my putting line. I just make the player move it to my liking. You use the chip you have to move it if it is in my line.

[puttnforthe8]

1 hour ago, me05501 said:

Here are some interesting tidbits from the RoG:

 

https://www.liveabout.com/ball-markers-rules-1565978

 

 

 

"Specifically made to be used as a ball marker" - Size of a poker chip.

 

 

 

[Warrick]

I hate anything in my pocket, been using the WRX hat clip with black marker for years, tough even for me to lose.

 

It’s not just for women…..lol

[golfday]

2 hours ago, scott406 said:

Poker chip markers should be banned

Especially ones with a stupid design on it

 

If the Poker Chip is from an actual Vega Casino

Only then is it allowed

 

This is the way

Also, the chip must be at least $100. If you're going in, you've got to go all in.

[jc2]

Had a playing partner that started using a poker chip, so the next week I showed up with a platter I pulled out of a hard drive.  About 3inches in diameter and mirror finish.  You could see it from the tee box. 

 

Guy went back to a normal marker the next week 

[m d g]

I prefer manhole covers, but that's just me...

[Warrior42111]

So if a poker chip not in your line but a couple feet left or right is a distraction what about some standing 20 degrees left or right lining up from the other side of the green? How about 90 degrees? or should we just all stand 140 degrees away then walk back up to green? 

 

That won't slow play down at all.

 

 

[m d g]

1 hour ago, Z1ggy16 said:

This is like iron covers and using staff bags - who cares.

 

As long as the chip (or whatever object) isn't on your line, the person should be able to use a pancake for all a care. 

Yummy!

 

 

[me05501]

12 minutes ago, Warrior42111 said:

So if a poker chip not in your line but a couple feet left or right is a distraction what about some standing 20 degrees left or right lining up from the other side of the green? How about 90 degrees? or should we just all stand 140 degrees away then walk back up to green? 

 

That won't slow play down at all.

 

 

 

You can try to justify it anyway you want but laying down something large and brightly colored within ten feet of the hole is adding an unnecessary distraction from the cup and target line.

 

Also, it's funny how the guy using the poker chip is the only one in the group who doesn't have to putt with the stupid thing in his eyeline. 

 

I bet if we were discussing laying down the flagstick too close to the hole we'd have 100% agreement, but no one does that because everyone knows it's ridiculous. 

Edited June 15, 2022 by me05501

[Warrior42111]

3 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

You can try to justify it anyway you want but laying down something large and brightly colored within ten feet of the hole is adding an unnecessary distraction from the cup and target line.

 

Also, it's funny how the guy using the poker chip is the only one in the group who doesn't have to putt with the stupid thing in his eyeline. 

 

I bet if we were discussing laying down the flagstick too close to the hole we'd have 100% agreement, but no one does that because everyone knows it's ridiculous. 

Laying down a flag sure, not as an eye distraction, but if I jack a putt long and hit it.

 

I'm fine if someone has opinions against them, it just seems silly to me that it distracts some so much they miss shots and it gets in their head.

[2bGood]

23 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

You can try to justify it anyway you want but laying down something large and brightly colored within ten feet of the hole is adding an unnecessary distraction from the hole. 

 

Also, it's funny how the guy using the poker chip is the only one in the group who doesn't have to putt with the stupid thing in his eyeline. 

 

I bet if we were discussing laying down the flagstick too close to the hole we'd have 100% agreement, but no one does that because everyone knows it's ridiculous. 

I see lots of guys use poker chips (or large marks). It used to bother me, but I got over it. Mind you the guys I see do it use them for long putts and when they get close to hole switch to something smaller if it is near (within a few feet) of someone's line. 

 

I do find that the large marks have some utility for reading a long putt from behind the hole. Some small marks can be hard to see. Of course you could leave your ball there as it is easy to see, but the rules are much friendlier to those who mark a ball on the green  (so you should always mark the ball at your first opportunity). You could replace it after marking to go read the putt, but a ball can be an issue for others under the rules, and you want to clean your ball etc.

 

I carry a few cheap plastic markers in my pockets and will request someone put a smaller mark down if is in my line/view or I find what they use distracting. If they don't have their own small mark, I provide one of mine. Never been an issue, but I play with some rather polite players.

Edited June 15, 2022 by 2bGood

[Skydiver22]

1 minute ago, 2bGood said:

I see lots of guys use pocket chips (or large marks). It used to bother me, but I got over it. Mind you the guys I see do it use them for long putts and when they get close to hole switch to something smaller if it near (with a few feet) of someones line. 

 

I do find that the large marks have some utility for reading a long putt from behind the hole. Some small marks can be hard to see. Of course you could leave your ball there as it is easy to see, but the rules are much friendlier to those who mark a ball on the green  (so you should always mark the ball at your first opportunity). You could replace it after marking to go read the putt, but a ball can be an issue for others under the rules, and you want to clean your ball etc.

 

I carry a few cheap plastic markers in my pockets and will request someone put a smaller mark down if is in my line/view or I find what they use distracting. If they don't have their own small mark, I provide one of mine. Never been an issue, but I play with some rather polite players.

This is exactly what I do... use the poker chip when I am 25ft or more away. It allows me to walk over to the opposite side to read the putt. When I'm around 3-4ft I use a 1963 dime.

[2bGood]

2 hours ago, puttnforthe8 said:

 

 

"Specifically made to be used as a ball marker" - Size of a poker chip.

 

 

 

It is a bit of an old wives tale that markers have to be round under the ROG. There is nothing in the ROG that require this in the current version or any version as far as I can recall. Pre- 2019 decision  20-1/16 specifically states there is no penalty for using an object that is not similar to a ball marker or small coin, making the note a “recommendation of best practice.” The rules cleaned it up further in the 2019 update and made the ball marker definition even more liberal (but made natural objects illegal).

 

I think this idea that it must be round comes from a story that David Feherty tells about being hung over and rushing to the tee and the only thing he had on hand to use as a ball marker was the room key from his hotel. He claims it he got penalised as a ball marker had to be round. Conditions of competition can require specific equipment and may be in place to require ball markers to be round. I have never been in an event or officiated one that does have this requirement and I can't say I have seen or kind find rules from the PGA Tour that requires this. There may be a rule on tour that requires it, or it could be Feherty has exaggerated that story (as any good story teller does). It is pretty hard to believe, he or his caddie or anyone around did not have anything better than a room key... I could see him doing it for fun and then getting warned to switch to something else. Story grows over time to he got penalty for it. 

 

EDIT- Just looked up Feherty story here is what is says:

Feherty said it wasn’t a penalty according to the Rules of Golf, but it was a Tour rule that he violated. He said he believes it was the third or fourth round of the event “because I think I was comfortably not in contention but still in the tournament, which is probably why it didn’t upset me that much.” That means it was likely in 1995, when he opened with a 68 but ended up T46 after closing with rounds of 74-72-73. (The only other time he played the event was in 1994 and he shot 72-77 and missed the cut.)

Feherty said he never challenged the penalty.

“I was too disillusioned at the time,” he said. “It wasn’t the high point of my playing career.”

Edited June 15, 2022 by 2bGood