Two Ball off the first tee box

[drpino]

Tenementrock, you probably already know that one of the secrets of golf is concentrating only on what you can control and letting all else be as it may. learning to not be so bothered by what other people are doing on the course (even if it's playing egregiously slow) is only to your benefit.

[drpino]

i think most GolfWRXrs are conscientious of the rules and agree with many of your ideals but they have chosen, wisely i believe, to not let what others do (in most cases, simply to enhance the enjoyment of the game of golf) get under their skin as much as you seem to.

[idiotbox]

I don't do it. No need to. I play a lot of tournament golf and I play my casual rounds as if I am playing a tourney. No need to hit two when you are in the fairway. Thanks, PBS.

[drpino]

i think most GolfWRXrs are conscientious of the rules and agree with many of your ideals but they have chosen, wisely i believe, to not let what others do (in most cases, simply to enhance the enjoyment of the game of golf) get under their skin as much as you seem to.

 

Apparently some stuff I'd said likewise got under some people's skin and that is why we are having this back and forth. I dunno, I find this thread interesting. I'm surprised to see the reactions when people are simply reminded of what's right and what's wrong.

it could have something to do with the way you come across (in this topic and others in the past) as being self-righteous in your declarations of the rules of golf. visceral reactions are often the result of how something is stated and not necessarily what is stated.

[MchSt805]

I'll let someone do that in a money match, oddly enough. Members at the club I worked at, if they didn't get to warm up, I'd give them a breakfast ball. I rarely partook of one myself.

 

I've been weaning myself off of trying a missed putt again, and have stopped replaying approach shots completely. Its not good for my focus. It cheapens the shot that counts. In a way, the saying "measure twice, cut once" works for golf as well.

I'm the same way with the money match. If me and my buddies are just playing a little skins match or something, it's just an extra courtesy off the first tee.

 

It's not something that would occur with people behind, it's not something that would occur anywhere else on the course...strictly first tee box, first shot, nobody else around. And even then it's not a guaranteed thing.

 

Other than that, play the game how it's meant to be played.

[roll - gybe]

wow you guys are a bunch of hardWord not allowedes. if you wife wants a breakfast ball are you going to tell her no?

 

and what's with the attitude that a mully is going to turn the round into 6 hours of waiting? If one guy in the group ahead of hits a breakfast ball, and it bothers you, you need to drink less coffee, or maybe get laid or something. don't even go into that speed-golf, i play in 2.5 hours crap...

 

And this stuff about getting kicked off the course outside the US is an exaggeration. I have experienced some upsetting speed golf demands across the pond, but I have also experienced some really slow play encouraged by caddies at very exclusive destinations as well. I have seen caddies on 3 continents pander to their players by encouraging extra shots to make them feel better - in money games! (I have never played golf in Antartica, Asia, Africa, or South America). I have also seen a caddy move a politician's ball out of the rough - but that is another story...

 

If you are betting or in a tourney, of course you play by the rules or golf, or by your own rules, whatever they may be. Why do you care if someone else is playing a game they deem fair?

 

And, yeah, sometimes mulligans get out of hand - I'm not advocating it totally. In fact, I have a friend who is really wild off the tee and claims some suspect scores. My buddies and I usually leave the option to take 2 off the first (especially if we are really hungover) - we usually end up just taking one btw. But if we play with this guy, we count everything just to give him grief! But that's a special case - he's a little too cocky in general, so it's fun to cut on him.

 

Seriously, if your father-in-law wants a breakfast ball at his own top 100 club, are you going to tell him he is a total loser?

If your wife wants one at your club are you going to beat her with a rubber hose again?

If your business associate wants one are you going to embarass him so he can go back to his office and tell everyone you are a prck?

 

Give me a break!

[krustyburger]

wow you guys are a bunch of hardWord not allowedes. if you wife wants a breakfast ball are you going to tell her no?

 

and what's with the attitude that a mully is going to turn the round into 6 hours of waiting? If one guy in the group ahead of hits a breakfast ball, and it bothers you, you need to drink less coffee, or maybe get laid or something. don't even go into that speed-golf, i play in 2.5 hours crap...

 

And this stuff about getting kicked off the course outside the US is an exaggeration. I have experienced some upsetting speed golf demands across the pond, but I have also experienced some really slow play encouraged by caddies at very exclusive destinations as well. I have seen caddies on 3 continents pander to their players by encouraging extra shots to make them feel better - in money games! (I have never played golf in Antartica, Asia, Africa, or South America). I have also seen a caddy move a politician's ball out of the rough - but that is another story...

 

If you are betting or in a tourney, of course you play by the rules or golf, or by your own rules, whatever they may be. Why do you care if someone else is playing a game they deem fair?

 

And, yeah, sometimes mulligans get out of hand - I'm not advocating it totally. In fact, I have a friend who is really wild off the tee and claims some suspect scores. My buddies and I usually leave the option to take 2 off the first (especially if we are really hungover) - we usually end up just taking one btw. But if we play with this guy, we count everything just to give him grief! But that's a special case - he's a little too cocky in general, so it's fun to cut on him.

 

Seriously, if your father-in-law wants a breakfast ball at his own top 100 club, are you going to tell him he is a total loser?

If your wife wants one at your club are you going to beat her with a rubber hose again?

If your business associate wants one are you going to embarass him so he can go back to his office and tell everyone you are a prck?

 

Give me a break!

 

The question asked was "What is your opinion?", not "what would you do to a person in this situation?"

 

Many of us are of the opinion that you play the ball as it lies. It doesn't mean that if someone takes a mulligan, that we call them names or try to embarrass them. So I'm not sure where your post is coming from.

[mrpibb7781]

I'll let someone do that in a money match, oddly enough. Members at the club I worked at, if they didn't get to warm up, I'd give them a breakfast ball. I rarely partook of one myself.

 

I've been weaning myself off of trying a missed putt again, and have stopped replaying approach shots completely. Its not good for my focus. It cheapens the shot that counts. In a way, the saying "measure twice, cut once" works for golf as well.

 

 

I think that probably the best advice to avoid those unnecessary second shots. I understand hitting a second after a pulled approach to get the bad taste out of your mouth but it messes with my concentration for the rest of the round also. I might as well be saving fifty some odd dollars and just beat balls at the range all day. One chance, one shot and if you blow it? Well the Trion-Z is only 19.95!! ha ha just kidding. Go to the range and hit nothing but 8 irons, or whatever club you use from your normal second shot distance.

[roll - gybe]

Ok, so you won't tell someone they are a schmuck, but you will just walk the course with that opinion in your head.

 

I'm coming from the camp that says you guys are being way too rigid. Of course that is my opinion!

 

Now stop beating your wife!!!

[mrpibb7781]

wow you guys are a bunch of hardWord not allowedes. if you wife wants a breakfast ball are you going to tell her no?

 

and what's with the attitude that a mully is going to turn the round into 6 hours of waiting? If one guy in the group ahead of hits a breakfast ball, and it bothers you, you need to drink less coffee, or maybe get laid or something. don't even go into that speed-golf, i play in 2.5 hours crap...

 

And this stuff about getting kicked off the course outside the US is an exaggeration. I have experienced some upsetting speed golf demands across the pond, but I have also experienced some really slow play encouraged by caddies at very exclusive destinations as well. I have seen caddies on 3 continents pander to their players by encouraging extra shots to make them feel better - in money games! (I have never played golf in Antartica, Asia, Africa, or South America). I have also seen a caddy move a politician's ball out of the rough - but that is another story...

 

If you are betting or in a tourney, of course you play by the rules or golf, or by your own rules, whatever they may be. Why do you care if someone else is playing a game they deem fair?

 

And, yeah, sometimes mulligans get out of hand - I'm not advocating it totally. In fact, I have a friend who is really wild off the tee and claims some suspect scores. My buddies and I usually leave the option to take 2 off the first (especially if we are really hungover) - we usually end up just taking one btw. But if we play with this guy, we count everything just to give him grief! But that's a special case - he's a little too cocky in general, so it's fun to cut on him.

 

Seriously, if your father-in-law wants a breakfast ball at his own top 100 club, are you going to tell him he is a total loser?

If your wife wants one at your club are you going to beat her with a rubber hose again?

If your business associate wants one are you going to embarass him so he can go back to his office and tell everyone you are a prck?

 

Give me a break!

 

The question asked was "What is your opinion?", not "what would you do to a person in this situation?"

 

Many of us are of the opinion that you play the ball as it lies. It doesn't mean that if someone takes a mulligan, that we call them names or try to embarrass them. So I'm not sure where your post is coming from.

 

 

Speaking of playing the ball as it lies, I love playing this time of year, but I have no idea what to do in that common situation of losing your ball in the damn fairway. Stinking leaves. Where do I drop from? Is there any stroke penalty? Is anyone here NOT embarrassed using the ol' foot wedge? I don't have many friends who golf and I'm constantly grouped with guys who improve their lies when it is not warranted. I don't say anything because I don't know them and there is obviously no money on the line but come on. I'm busting my duffer behind struggling to break 100 every day and these guys refuse to hit from the rough. UGH.

[jjj912]

Some courses do use local rules to deal with the fairway leaf problem. I think a typical local rule permits you to drop without penalty behind the leaves where you think your ball is hidden.

 

If the greenskeeper has piled a bunch of leaves for removal, that is considered ground under repair and you can proceed under Rule 25 which provides for free relief as well.

[Wookieedog]

See, I just may be more easy going, but it does not kill the pace of play for someone to hit a second ball of the first tee. The swing takes 10 seconds, and an extra 15 seconds out of there way to pick up their first ball.

 

I do not try to worry about what others are doing and just focus on what I do..Its made my life so much happier by doing so. As for what I do....on 1 course there is no range. EVERY member of out Saturday blitz hits 2 off the first tee. Its for $, but not life and death. We are out to have a good time, and it makes it more enjoyable.

 

At other courses, I will only hit a second if I have to.

[SpinMill75]

Sure, I'd let you hit another ball off the first tee.....or any other tee for that matter.

 

The scorecard says you'd be hitting 3.

 

Mullys are lame.

[sigmapete1]

Putting aside the pace of play and holding up people behind issue...if someone arrives at the first tee and states clearly "this first ball is not my tee shot, and I will not play it, I am not starting the round yet." Then hits his practice ball. Then proceesed to tee off appropriately after announcing so, how is that different (based on the rules) than playing a practice round which does not count for handicap and then starting a real round.

 

I think the important distinction is that he states BEFORE any shots are struck, that the shot will not count even if its 320 down the middle. I don't agree with the practice of "starting a NEW round" after hitting a shot you don't like.

 

Again, putting aside etiquette and only dealing with the strict letter of the rules, I suspect that there is no penalty and the round begins with the "second" ball.

 

Thoughts anyone?

 

(I'm probably going to get murdered for this one)

[trevintheFL]

I think this argument is split between those of us who play on cheap muni courses and put up with a lot more than just a guy hitting a second ball off the first tee, and those who are members of country clubs that have practice facilities available for them and have a much stricter code.

 

It's like the argument I saw on here a few months earlier about putting on your golf shoes in the parking lot vs in the locker room.

 

I personally think your round will go a lot better if you don't care what people ahead or even behind you are doing. Too many people I play with get worked up when they sit their waiting, while I'll enjoy myself by chipping around or eating something while I wait. 9/10 I end up winning that hole and a few more holes following that incident.

[atlanta golfer]

Depending on the situation, I'm ok if someone every now and then needs or wants to hit a second ball off the first tee. I personally don't do it because it pollutes my score and my handicap index. What I do have a problem with is watching every person in a foursome hit two off the first tee, and more often than not they are spraying balls left and right, and now it's going to take them 20 plus minutes to play the first hole. It just takes a few groups like that, combined with a starter and marshalls who don't care or know any better, and by late morning, the tee times are running a half hour behind schedule and the course is backed up all the way through.

[kyo-nax]

Depending on the situation, I'm ok if someone every now and then needs or wants to hit a second ball off the first tee. I personally don't do it because it pollutes my score and my handicap index. What I do have a problem with is watching every person in a foursome hit two off the first tee, and more often than not they are spraying balls left and right, and now it's going to take them 20 plus minutes to play the first hole. It just takes a few groups like that, combined with a starter and marshalls who don't care or know any better, and by late morning, the tee times are running a half hour behind schedule and the course is backed up all the way through.

 

+1 there. I don't have a problem but if all 4 hit 2 balls, I know I'm in for a long day.

 

Golf is game of honesty isn't it? I don't have a problem if someone else wants to fudge some numbers to make them think they shot that score.

[aussieb]

Why not keep driver in the bag if you aren't warm? I see amateurs hitting drivers 2-3 times and still making a mess of them. Hit something you can control and position: A 3W, hybrid or iron. Hell! Even if its three pitching wedges and a putt for par! My wife is a beginner and hates hitting two, even when her first is deep sixed into the lake!

I don't care if someone has to wait off the first tee. I'm still following the rules. Being a jerk about having to wait ruins their day and yours. So you rules and 2.5 hr rounds boys, grow up. That's not everyone's thing. When I usually let impatient people play through, we're usually held up by them later. I've hit into a group that was rude to me once. It was a couple holes after the first tee. Got mad and hit it 40 yards longer than I ever have. Not worth it, felt terrible.

[steverum]

I dont think it is a big deal if you are not holding up play and didnt get a chance to warm up.

 

Just aslong as the whole group agrees.

 

I dont think it is any worse than giving gimmes

 

I would say if it starts happening on every tee, then maybe you are abusing it.

 

I have a buddy that always hits two because he shows up right before our tee times and doesnt play much.

 

I dont do it, but I usually get their early and warm up before hand.

 

I wouldnt agree to it if we were playing for money, or if 1 person suggests after everyone in the group has hit and he has hit a bad one.

 

Also, I think if you hit two, you should play the second one, its not a Scramble.

[sdiver68]

At the local muni I play sometimes with no range, almost everyone takes 2 off the first. But almost no one takes 2 after that.

 

As far as the "group" behind us, I guarantee they aren't waiting on the better golfers, meaning anyone there that actually plays decent. It's either wait for 1 extra tee shot or wait on the tee box for the group ahead of the group ahead to clear the green.

[bear]

If it quacks like a duck, swings like a duck and flies like a duck, it is a mulligan. Like some others on this forum I want an honest handicap. I play with a regular threesome and we generally, as a matter of pride, because we don't gamble, play in accordance with the rules of golf. Etiquette

[dlygrisse]

I used to play with a group that did this and it seems that often times knowing you were going to get a 2nd shot you would over swing and inevitably hit it poorly, both times. I have hit some of the best drives of the round off the 1st tee when trying to swing smooth and keeping it in play knowing that I dont get a Mully. Often time I think people feel pressure on the 1st tee, either out of fear of embarrassment because they are playing with unfamiliar people or there are others watching, but usually lack of warming up. When if they just swung smooth and tried to get it in play they would usually hit an adequete shot.

 

I had not hit a 2nd ball off of #1 in years and someone suggested we do it the other day because we rushed from our cars and no one was behind us waiting. We all hit crappy shots, the next week the same thing happened and someone suggest we take two, I said NO! we didnt and we all hit pretty good shots. IMHO, just play golf and your game will be better for it in the long run.

[AltusBeliever]

I remember when I first moved to NC in the mid 70s the habit was for people to hit 2 off the first tee. This was never done in MN where I grew up. I labeled it the "friendly Southern rule" and tried to incorporate it in the summers when I went north. It met with resistance. When I go north it is 1 off the tee. Here at home in NC it is 2 off the tee unless it is a tournament. I try to play the second play but must admit that I do on occassion. Bad practice but it is what it is, as the new saying goes.

[captpat]

[quote name='AltusBeliever' timestamp='1236390022' post='1537072']
I remember when I first moved to NC in the mid 70s the habit was for people to hit 2 off the first tee. This was never done in MN where I grew up. I labeled it the "friendly Southern rule" and tried to incorporate it in the summers when I went north. It met with resistance. When I go north it is 1 off the tee. Here at home in NC it is 2 off the tee unless it is a tournament. I try to play the second play but must admit that I do on occassion. Bad practice but it is what it is, as the new saying goes.
[/quote]


I know this thread is old, but what gives when a player on the first tee tees up a ball, then deliberatly hits into the woods for a practice shot??