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Mulligans are getting out of control.

Hacker67

Hacker67

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When I first started golf it was acceptable to take maybe one mulligan a round during casual play. Nowadays it seems folks are using the tee box as a driving range. I don't care about your fake score but c'mon taking 7 and 8 mulligans a round is ridiculous and making play for your partners and everyone on the course super slow. Take your bad shots like a man and deal with it, folks nowadays want to be coddled from their bad shots. Believe me you'll work much harder at your game if you have to deal with your bad shots instead of just avoiding them.
 
Better yet, if you need that many mulligans go to the range, not the course!
 
You know what the call a mulligan in Scotland?

Three off the tee.
 
If you're taking that many mulligans it's called a "practice round". I've done that. I turn off my shotscope, and don't even record the score. Just hit the ball around the course. This means trying different shots. It means doing anything I feel like as long as I don't hold up play. If I reach "net DB" I pick up.
 
I’ve been known to say to people that the range is that way. 👉 It just slows everything. Put your club away and go find it.
 
I have no problem with someone hitting a provisional when their first shot may be in trouble. And someone can do it multiple times a round. I do have a problem with people practicing when the course is busy. Just because you didn’t like the result of a fat wedge, don’t feel free to drop another ball and hit another shot while I am standing there watching. Go forward and play that bad wedge shot. Same with that 3 putt you had from 25 feet. I don’t want to watch you re-play that mess.
 
I find mostly the beginners don't understand the game and are trying to figure it out. Most experienced players I have played with are very courteous. I don't really have a problem with anything except loud music and when someone is making us slow to the point that people are waiting on us. I can't play golf when stressing about people behind me.
 
I played with a coworker who asked if we can do mulligans and I said "I don't care, like one per round or per 9 holes?" And he said "Oh, my friends play unlimited mulligans off the tee". I take that to mean one mulligan every tee shot, but it's still wild that people play that way and keep a score haha. That's potentially 8 tee shots every hole.

It has to be people who only play a few times a year, right?
 
Nobody I play with regularly takes mulligans. On a very rare occasion we will play two off the first tee if nobody had time to warm up but there are no mulligans after that.

If you just want to have fun I don’t see an issue with it but if you are trying to keep a handicap you can’t do that.
 
I guess I just don’t care enough about how others choose to enjoy the game.
 
As long as they're not slowing down the pace, I don't really care how many they take through the round. They're not hurting me at all. If they're slow about it, then it's a problem.
 
Guessing there's no money game involved..

Played in some groups that you get 1 mulli on the first tee, but thats it. Others not even that.

Playing with 2-3 buddies and somebody struggling and wants to hit another trying to work it out ... I've got not problem with that.
 
Jman said:
I guess I just don’t care enough about how others choose to enjoy the game.
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I’m this way. I’d rather have someone take 3 off the tee and play at a reasonable pace than the idiot that hits a ball potentially into the woods, takes a provisional and then spends the next 3 min looking for the 1st ball because the rule says he can.
 
The only time I’ve taken a mulligan in a non-practice round is when I’ve bought them at a charity golf event. Even then, most of the time, they go unused.

I don’t really mind beginners taking them if it’s not holding up things too much… golf is frustrating enough without the opportunity at least get a do over now and again.
 
You can take all the mulligans you want, you just can’t add up your score, you can’t expect to be in a competition, you can’t boast about any numbers. Take all the mulligans you want, seems like not much fun.
 
I don’t run into anything egregious much. It’s fairly rare, honestly. There has only been one group I was paired with that went beyond acceptable. They must have had a gallon ziploc bag filled with balls for all the mulligans they took. 3+ a piece of the tee for almost every hole and we got behind pace after 6. I’m surprised it took that long.

I’ll hit a practice shot here and there before scooping it and playing my original. Sometimes I just have to prove to myself that I can hit that shot. Mostly on pitches and chips. Thankfully excessive mulligans and mulligans in general aren’t really common. A few folks will hit that prove it to myself shot too. I don’t mind mulligans and practice shots as long as we’re keeping pace at worst.
 
No mulligans … no to these things called “ breakfast balls “ whatever they are … when you create latitude in rules people will stretch them extraordinarily… how then can you measure everyone equally ??
 
I'm not bothered by how many shots anyone takes. If a guy hits 4 balls off the tee to find the fairway, or 4 balls from the fairway to find the green, without drops, he's probably taking the same number of strokes. How he wants to score it is none of my business. I can only hope people are conscious of the bottle neck behind them (if there is one)
 
I don’t care what people do on the golf course as long as they’re having fun and not being dangerous. I’ve found that people are roughly in 1 of 2 categories:

1) Out there for fun, fresh air, exercising, socialising and golf. They might keep a score but there’s mulligans and rules bending involved. They don’t care what their handicap is and they don’t take their score seriously.

2) Out there to be the best they can be and keep a strict score. No mulligans, play by the rules and track their handicap, probably trying to reduce it.

It’s the people that try to have their cake and eat it that frustrate the Hell out of me. It you wanna use the 7th tee as a driving range and pick the best drive, improve your lie in bunkers, take mulligans and give yourself 3 footers that’s fine but don’t tell me about how great your score was afterwards because whatever number you’ve come up with is nonsense…
 
I don't care what anyone does, until we get to the OP's original point, the mega mulliganers were holding up the entire works. I have played multiple balls many times myself, but NEVER hold people up doing so. I also will not make repeated approach shots when doing on course practice. Freshly repaired ball marks are still less than perfect, and I will not pepper the green around the pin like it hasn't been moved around enough.
 
Don't slow the place down. Otherwise I don't care becasue a tree falling in the woods with no one around does not make any sound in my mind.

it is slowing the course down or our group, then it bothers me.
 
DaveGolfer15 said:
t’s the people that try to have their cake and eat it that frustrate the Hell out of me. It you wanna use the 7th tee as a driving range and pick the best drive, improve your lie in bunkers, take mulligans and give yourself 3 footers that’s fine but don’t tell me about how great your score was afterwards because whatever number you’ve come up with is nonsense…
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Hitsnmisses said:
No mulligans … no to these things called “ breakfast balls “ whatever they are … when you create latitude in rules people will stretch them extraordinarily… how then can you measure everyone equally ??
Click to expand...
If it’s not a tournament, why do we care how others enjoy golf?
 
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