One Rule You Ignore

For me, I'll flip this the other way. The only rule I FOLLOW is have fun!

All of them, usually.

I'm not any good. I'll never play in a tournament. Hell, I'm not even that concerned about counting strokes anymore.

It's a headspace that makes me happy and makes the game I play more enjoyable, and I understand the game I play is not golf.

Pretty much the same here. I'm flexible. We play to have fun. It's not my job. Scoot the ball out of a divot and get yourself a nice lie, drop back in the fairway when OOB or on cart path or rocks. I don't care. Just have fun.
 
I typically do my best to play by rules as best to my knowledge, but when I'm just out with the guys or random people nothing on the line,

1. Not hitting off of roots/stones/cartpath

2. Typically won't mind if putts are given to avoid the whole am i stepping on someone's line or do i mark it awkward dance.

that's really it. If someone hits is OB or lost ball, we take full advantage of the new Local rule of drop in the closest part of the fairway and hit 4. easy peasy.
 
We always allow 2 tee shots (if needed) off the first tee only. We aren't really range people before regular rounds. Some of the courses don't even have ranges.
 
Provisional balls or walking back to the tee. Based on our league rules we determine where the ball goes into the out of bounds and play from there (like a hazard) because of pace of play. Most of my rounds are played like this as well including those for money. Only really play this rule in tournaments.

Same here
 
Only rule we follow is to smile at least once per hole.

If us hackers had to follow the rules of golf, we most likely would have quit a long time ago. We go by the philosophy that, we paid a pretty penny to play whatever course (also for our golf bats), so if you want to Foot wedge/Lift clean Place/Take 1 stroke and drop for OB/Mulligan 5 different tee boxes/Change balls each swing/ect it's 100% cool with us, just smile and laugh while doing it.
 
For me, I'll flip this the other way. The only rule I FOLLOW is have fun!

I dont think people who want to play by rules are not having any fun. I mean if that's how they chose to play then that's part of their fun...no?

I play because I like to play. I play to be as good as I can and I admit its more fun when I play better. But its still something I like to do by the rules as fair as I can just for my own sake.
 
I dont think people who want to play by rules are not having any fun. I mean if that's how they chose to play then that's part of their fun...no?

Totally agree, which is why I lead with "for me" :act-up:
 
Totally agree, which is why I lead with "for me" :act-up:

but to be fair (as indicated) playing by riules can make the game more/less fun when one does better/worse....lol. Overall its a frustrating, but fun, annoying but pleasant addiction which can be fun (or not) at times...lol Its a crazy thing this recreation we choose to play :)
 
I'll use different ball types. Not strategically, just grab whatever is in the bag when I need to drop or reload.

I don't mind shooting a bad score as much as I would mind shooting a low one and knowing that I took a few bad drops or neglected to count all the strokes. I just wouldn't want to tell my golf buddies, "I shot a 72 this morning." Leaving out that I kicked a ball off a tree root in the woods without penalty and that I knocked one OB and didn't hit a provisional. IMO, the only way to get better is to know how good you are(n't).
 
I try to play by the rules as much as possible. I don't have a lot of tree roots where I play but if I did (or if I end up on gravel/rocks), I'd bump it out with my 3H (it's the sole reason I carry the club because otherwise it's nothing but a hook machine for me). The only rule that I knowingly violate is posting single rounds. There may be rules that I break out of ignorance but not deliberately.

I have no issues with how others play the game. It's our form of entertainment. Enjoy it any damned way you please. I rarely play with other golfers (unless I'm paired at the course or we're joined by slow play) so I don't really play with anything on the line. I refuse to play with anyone I've never golfed with for money, so there's no issues there.

To be fair, I haven't had to deal too much with issues that a lot of posters in this thread have cited (i.e. plugged golf balls in a fairway, roots, etc.) so I may play it different if I encountered those conditions. I try maintain my cap integrity by playing by the rules. That may sound laughable as a guy with a 26+ handicap but I do it, mostly, to track how well I'm actually improving. I'm absolutely certain that I could reach my goal of breaking 90 and playing within 3-5 strokes of that every single round if I bumped/foot wedged some of my lies but the only person I'm cheating in that scenario is myself. I would never be able to HONESTLY say that my score was legit. So it's a nope for me.

Now, if I get paired with a group and they have a set of "silly rules" they play by, I'll play along and just have fun. But there's no way I'm posting that score.
 
It's not a big a problem as it used to be, but I'm tamping down a spike mark...
 
I haven't kept score in years, so I totally appreciate this vibe!

It's all about the shots nowadays. I forget where I heard it, but the idea of "The creating of the art is the art." resonates for me, in my approach to golf. If I concentrate on the shot creation, and not the score, it's much more of a pleasant experience.
 
Pretty much the same here. I'm flexible. We play to have fun. It's not my job. Scoot the ball out of a divot and get yourself a nice lie, drop back in the fairway when OOB or on cart path or rocks. I don't care. Just have fun.

Now we'll just need a fourth for the round.
 
Only rule we follow is to smile at least once per hole.

If us hackers had to follow the rules of golf, we most likely would have quit a long time ago. We go by the philosophy that, we paid a pretty penny to play whatever course (also for our golf bats), so if you want to Foot wedge/Lift clean Place/Take 1 stroke and drop for OB/Mulligan 5 different tee boxes/Change balls each swing/ect it's 100% cool with us, just smile and laugh while doing it.

And, here's our fourth!
 
The conceded putt....when it is knocked back to me before I can say something.
 
The biggest violation would be for a 'lost ball' that you saw land and just knew was easily located right next to a green or fairway. Sometimes happens right down the middle during leaf season. No reason to hit a provisional because there's no expectation it's lost. I'm not doing the walk of shame for that one. We always give free drops when there's a real risk of damage or injury too.

The gallery rule! If there were spectators, ball wouldn’t be lost!
 
And, here's our fourth!

I'm in! as long as if we walk there is a random foot race up a hill for a $1, or if we ride there is at least one cart drag race. maybe throw in a "closest to the 3rd fairway over from tee box".
 
Generally if there’s something that is going to risk injury (roots, rocks, etc) I’ll take a club length to gain some relief and provide the same to others.

And for casual rounds only, if im feeling kind ill allow one mulligan per side, tee shots only and only if it’s obviously out of play and outside of a persons general game.....like if you drop kick it off the tee 20 yards in front of you, then you’re playing that, but if all of a sudden you yank one 200 yards left over the train tracks because the 5th beer kicked in, then I’ll allow a redo. But ill remind you of the asterisk. For me, I don’t make this a habit because I post all my scores and this is obviously a handicap issue, but for my buddies who don’t keep a cap and don’t play in tournaments then just have fun bro.


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I may not know all the rules, but I try to follow them. I only post rounds where I’ve followed them to the best of my ability.

The crappy conditions (and courses) that we play in, lots of times we’ll play LCP but I don’t post those rounds.

So longish answer LCP is the rule that I break the most.
 
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