Etiquette Question

[migolfke]

Chipping on tee box...

The muni I often play is brutally slow. Like 2:45 minutes for 9 holes, late (6pm) in the afternoon. It actually does not really bother me all that much though because it beats the hell out of doing a lot of other things. But, to pass the time, I often chip on/ around the tee box, or if the group is real slow behind us, I will chip around the green we just played until the group behind us is walking of the tee.

Any etiquette problem with either?

[Jack Mac]

Just make sure you are not holding up anyone behind you. What I like to do is just take a really long time reading my putts and make the wait not as long. And as the old saying goes hurry up to slow down.

[OpusX20]

We've all done it. As said before, as long as you're not holding anybody up, go for it. If your chipping on the previous green, I wouldn't hit flop shots, sand shots or anything like that, but regular chipping/pitching is fine. You're more patient than I am. I would probably go fishing if I knew it was going to take me 2:45 to play 9.

[Auditor_Kevin]

I'd fear for my life if I finished up a hole and continued to chip around the green while there was someone waiting on me to leave the green so they could hit their approach shot.

 

Chipping around the tee box, however, should be encouraged during slow play. Practice is practice. Who cares where you get it or how, just as long as you're getting it.

[HoosierGolfer]

Offical round, no. Weekend round.....as long as you are not doing damage to the course with the practice shots.

[migolfke]

Thanks guys. Thought it was okay - just was not 100% sure

 

I'd fear for my life if I finished up a hole and continued to chip around the green while there was someone waiting on me to leave the green so they could hit their approach shot.

 

I will never chip on the green if there is someone in the fairway behind. Only if they are still on the tee box. Can't stand when people loiter around the greens to fill out score cards. Would really annoy me if someone just started chipping as I was waiting to hit.

[dukedsp]

Offical round, no. Weekend round.....as long as you are not doing damage to the course with the practice shots.

 

Why not during an official round too? It is allowed in the rules of golf. As long as you are not holding people up I say go ahead.

[OpusX20]

Offical round, no. Weekend round.....as long as you are not doing damage to the course with the practice shots.

 

What do you mean by "official round"? Unless there is a specific local rule prohibiting the practice (i.e., PGA Tour), he is fine according to the Rules of Golf.

[Bomb and Gouge]

I chip on the tee box & in the fairway.

 

I like to hit flop shots over my golf cart. Kinda sucks when I skull one into the side of the cart though- he he he he!

[ZBigStick]

Perfectly fine and within the rules of golf. :yes: (not out of hazards though)

 

Can you rival Tiger with wedge juggling? (bouncing, stalling, flipping ball on wedge)

[HeadonaStick]

I thought it was allowed during match play but not during stroke play. Could be wrong of course.

 

I do it all the time as well. As long as you are not holding anyone up, interfering with your partners play or damaging the course it should be fine.

[SemperFi91]

Offical round, no. Weekend round.....as long as you are not doing damage to the course with the practice shots.

 

Why not during an official round too? It is allowed in the rules of golf. As long as you are not holding people up I say go ahead.

 

I would take this as during a club tournament like club championship or member/guest where there is going to cash and prizes at the end. You are not allowed to practice during the round.

[HoosierGolfer]

I ask this question to our club pro/owner. His opinion is, not during "official" play ie tournaments, league play etc. Most courses have driving/practice ranges.

He continued to say he feels it violates etiquette to do it anytime on the course and it is not what tee boxes were built for.

As for the question on whether it is allowed say on the PGA Tour, a few of you better read up on the rules. When was the last time you watched Tiger or Phil pratice putting after they just missed one, resetting the ball and giving it another go, or chipping around the tee box while waiting?

[jaskanski]

Offical round, no. Weekend round.....as long as you are not doing damage to the course with the practice shots.

 

What do you mean by "official round"? Unless there is a specific local rule prohibiting the practice (i.e., PGA Tour), he is fine according to the Rules of Golf.

 

 

Not so fast.

According to the rules of golf - decision 7-2/2 - "Putting on the fairway while waiting to play to green".

Q: While waiting to play to the putting green, a player dropped a ball on the fairway and struck it several times with his putter. When questioned, he stated that he not practising but was "killing time". What is the ruling?

A: The player was in breach of Rule 7-2.

An example of pratice during the play of a hole - it could be the same for chipping while waiting too.

 

BUT!! :fool:

 

Rule 7-2 also states:

the player may practise putting or chipping on or near the putting green of the last hole played, any practise putting green or the teeing ground of the next hole to be played in the round, provided such practise is not played from a hazard and does not unduly delay play (Rule 6-7). :hi: Phew.

In the case of the OP, while waiting on the tee is fine. The only time it is frowned upon on some courses is to prevent damage to the course or teeing ground. Some courses even prohibit practice swings on the tee - no kidding. :lol:

[OpusX20]

I ask this question to our club pro/owner. His opinion is, not during "official" play ie tournaments, league play etc. Most courses have driving/practice ranges.

He continued to say he feels it violates etiquette to do it anytime on the course and it is not what tee boxes were built for.

As for the question on whether it is allowed say on the PGA Tour, a few of you better read up on the rules. When was the last time you watched Tiger or Phil pratice putting after they just missed one, resetting the ball and giving it another go, or chipping around the tee box while waiting?

 

Unfortunately, your club pro/owner is incorrect. See below Rules of Golf Rule 7-2 below. It is specifically allowed on the teeing ground in fact. The reason you never see Phil and Tiger not doing this, is because the PGA Tour has a specific local rule against it. But, Tiger did it all the time during his US Amateur days.

 

<H5 class=gray>7-2. During Round</H5>A player must not make a practice stroke during play of a hole.

 

Between the play of two holes, a player must not make a practice stroke, except that he may practice putting or chipping on or near:

(a) the putting green of the hole last played,

(b) any practice putting green, or

© the teeing ground of the next hole to be played in the round,provided a practice stroke is not made from a hazard and does not unduly delay play (Rule 6-7).

Strokes made in continuing the play of a hole, the result of which has been decided, are not practice strokes.

[jaskanski]

Echo.

[ZBigStick]

Echo.

:lol:

 

I should be noted twice as the responses where to a quote from a "club pro/owner". Said pro's professional status should be revoked until they can pass a rules test. :black eye:

[HoosierGolfer]

Like our pro told me, you can also chip with a wedge across the green on a long putt, just don't let him catch you doing it.

I was once waiting with my group at the tee, along with a second threesome, waiting to tee off and I was sitting in a cart talking, when one of the bone heads in the other group, while practicing his chipping, chipped a ball into the cart and hit the guy next to me in the head. The tee box is not the time or the place for this for this very reason.

[jkd9977]

Sometimes I'll throw open the little sand box and try to chip it in there or try and run it up to the tee markers. Makes the wait seem semi-productive.

[Tmiller72]

I ask this question to our club pro/owner. His opinion is, not during "official" play ie tournaments, league play etc. Most courses have driving/practice ranges.

He continued to say he feels it violates etiquette to do it anytime on the course and it is not what tee boxes were built for.

As for the question on whether it is allowed say on the PGA Tour, a few of you better read up on the rules. When was the last time you watched Tiger or Phil pratice putting after they just missed one, resetting the ball and giving it another go, or chipping around the tee box while waiting?

 

 

I doubt the club pro/owner is a PGA Professional. If he was, he would have given you a correct answer.

[Pepperturbo]

The muni I often play is brutally slow. Like 2:45 minutes for 9 holes, late (6pm) in the afternoon. It actually does not really bother me all that much though because it beats the hell out of doing a lot of other things. But, to pass the time, I often chip on/ around the tee box, or if the group is real slow behind us, I will chip around the green we just played until the group behind us is walking of the tee.

 

Any etiquette problem with either?

 

I chip around tee boxes all the time if waiting of slow bozo's in the fairway... but seldom chip around greens because I don't want it to "appear" to those behind I am contributing to slow play. Appearances are everything at times, to see just read some of the junk that gets posted on this board.

 

 

In refererence to the idiot that hit another guy in the head while he setting his cart - that jerk shouldn't be on the course!

[HoosierGolfer]

I doubt the club pro/owner is a PGA Professional. If he was, he would have given you a correct answer.

:lol: :cheesy: :lol: :cheesy: :lol:

 

USGA Rules aside, every course owner has the right to apply and enforce local rules. The course rule, with a sign stating such, is "No Practice Allowed on the Course". There is also a rule stating "Only one ball may be played on the course". These rules were put in place many years ago along with a couple of others which were voted on by our clubs board (which I happen to be a member of) and the membership. We also have dress code rules, which are enforced to a large degree but it recently was brought up by some members that the enforcement is not strict enough and we have been discussing it.

As for the hitting of wedges on the green...the rule clearly states that you have the right to do so. It would be a very rare situation where you would ever need to do it, and I think you need to justify the damage you would do in making that swing.

Bottom line is everyone including me, has at one time or another, missed a close putt, placed the ball back in position and hit the putt again for whatever reason. However, it is not OK to go on the course and hit fifty sixty balls onto a green with a lob wedge, the same as it is not OK to hack up the grass around a tee box doing the same thing. Pretty simple stuff. Having a little respect towards the course goes a long way.

[migolfke]

Bottom line is everyone including me, has at one time or another, missed a close putt, placed the ball back in position and hit the putt again for whatever reason. However, it is not OK to go on the course and hit fifty sixty balls onto a green with a lob wedge, the same as it is not OK to hack up the grass around a tee box doing the same thing. Pretty simple stuff. Having a little respect towards the course goes a long way.

 

Funneling water can cause death!

 

I don't think anyone is advocating dropping 50 or 60 balls and hitting them onto a green with a lob wedge.

[hack]

If things are slow...which is usually the case, we'll just have little chipping contests from one point to another. We take care to avoid damaging anything, but it really helps kill time and fine tune those short shots.

[Baxpin]

When things are going slow, rather than chip on the tee box, I usually take the opportunity to fire some broken tees at my playing companions with my driver. Really makes those waits fly right by.

[Bobbers]

The OP specifically asked about chipping around the tee box, note the word "around", and further stated it was at his local muni on those occasions where play was brutally slow. How that question, properly answered by several posters, gets 'morphed' into hitting 50-60 lob wedge shots at a private club sort of escapes me. One can create a set of circumstances that would make a particular behavior outlandish and inappropriate, what OP said in the original post didn't rise to that level, imo. Chips Ahoy!

[teejaywhy]

I chip on the tee box & in the fairway.

 

I like to hit flop shots over my golf cart. Kinda sucks when I skull one into the side of the cart though- he he he he!

 

While the OP's question about chipping on the tee box or around a just completed green has been answered (legal), practicing shots in the fairway as you describe IS NOT.

[Tmiller72]

I doubt the club pro/owner is a PGA Professional. If he was, he would have given you a correct answer.

:lol: :cheesy: :lol: :cheesy: :lol:

 

USGA Rules aside, every course owner has the right to apply and enforce local rules. The course rule, with a sign stating such, is "No Practice Allowed on the Course". There is also a rule stating "Only one ball may be played on the course". These rules were put in place many years ago along with a couple of others which were voted on by our clubs board (which I happen to be a member of) and the membership. We also have dress code rules, which are enforced to a large degree but it recently was brought up by some members that the enforcement is not strict enough and we have been discussing it.

As for the hitting of wedges on the green...the rule clearly states that you have the right to do so. It would be a very rare situation where you would ever need to do it, and I think you need to justify the damage you would do in making that swing.

Bottom line is everyone including me, has at one time or another, missed a close putt, placed the ball back in position and hit the putt again for whatever reason. However, it is not OK to go on the course and hit fifty sixty balls onto a green with a lob wedge, the same as it is not OK to hack up the grass around a tee box doing the same thing. Pretty simple stuff. Having a little respect towards the course goes a long way.

 

You simply don't understand the rule.

[HoosierGolfer]

You simply don't understand the rule.

What rule do you think I don't understand? Playing golf on any course is a privilege first off. As such you are obligated to follow the course rules. The course has the right to both apply and enforce rules to maintain order, pace of play, safety and to protect the course from damage.

Our course has a simple sign in the clubhouse that says "Please turn off cell phone while on the course or practice range".

Our course has a couple of signs on the first and tenth tee "Groups should keep up with the group in front. If you can not keep up, allow faster groups to play thru" All carts use cart path's where provided" "No practice on the course" "One ball in play per player".

At the par three tee's and around the green "Please repair all pitch marks" Around the course "PLease repair all divots"

All of these signs are in place for a reason and fully within the right of the club to apply and enforce. To say our PGA Professional does not know the rules of golf or have the right to apply and enforce course rules is both childish and rather boring.

A large number of players and some of you here have this attitude that because you pay to play someplace that you have the right to do as you choose on the course. Playing is a privilege and not a right. Showing some respect for the other people on the course and the course itself is the reason these rules are in place and enforced.

[OpusX20]

You simply don't understand the rule.

What rule do you think I don't understand? Playing golf on any course is a privilege first off. As such you are obligated to follow the course rules. The course has the right to both apply and enforce rules to maintain order, pace of play, safety and to protect the course from damage.

Our course has a simple sign in the clubhouse that says "Please turn off cell phone while on the course or practice range".

Our course has a couple of signs on the first and tenth tee "Groups should keep up with the group in front. If you can not keep up, allow faster groups to play thru" All carts use cart path's where provided" "No practice on the course" "One ball in play per player".

At the par three tee's and around the green "Please repair all pitch marks" Around the course "PLease repair all divots"

All of these signs are in place for a reason and fully within the right of the club to apply and enforce. To say our PGA Professional does not know the rules of golf or have the right to apply and enforce course rules is both childish and rather boring.

A large number of players and some of you here have this attitude that because you pay to play someplace that you have the right to do as you choose on the course. Playing is a privilege and not a right. Showing some respect for the other people on the course and the course itself is the reason these rules are in place and enforced.

 

This is getting a bit hard to watch. You (and your club pro) answered the original question incorrectly. Most people when confronted with making this type of obvious error, say, "My bad" and move on. There's no shame in not knowing every rule in the book. But, you keep answering questions that were not asked, such as whether a course can allow cell phones, or if golfers should be allowed to damage the course.

 

This was a straight forward question and answer. It was answered correctly (a couple of times) and you chimed in with an incorrect answer. Like I said, no big deal there. We've all done it, or at least I have. But the constant posting of answers that are not relevant to the question isn't helping anyone. This thread has nothing to do with the sign at your club. The pro/owner at your club is probably a good guy and I'm sure in general he does know the rules. But, he got this one wrong.