Hank Haney’s 12 rules of etiquette for golf.
Golf has seen a massive boom as people look for safe outdoor activities to participate in during the COVID-19 pandemic. While all of these new players are great for the game, the need for basic golf etiquette education is at an all-time high. Below, I’ve covered the essential pieces of golf etiquette to help you and everyone else on the course have more enjoyable playing experiences.
1) Maintain Appropriate Pace
My number one pet peeve on the golf course is when a group significantly slows down the groups behind them.
If there’s nobody ahead of your group and there’s a group constantly waiting behind you, your group should almost always play faster or let the group behind you play through.
The best way to improve your group’s pace is to play “ready golf” and avoid spending too much time looking for balls – the maximum time allowed is three minutes.
We all despise that golfer who takes too long looking for a ball they cannot find. Don’t be that player!
Ready Golf
Generally, the player farthest away from the hole is supposed to hit their next shot. However, when playing casually with friends, you can all agree to let the player be ready to hit first (ready golf). My golf buddies and I almost always adhere to ready play, regardless of whether groups are behind us. Before doing that, however, could you check with the people in your group to make sure they’re all fine with this?
Don’t Spend Too Much Time Looking for Balls
If you think you might not be able to find your tee shot and it would demand a “retee,” go ahead and take a provisional shot so you don’t have to walk back to the tee.
Any golfer, especially those new to the game and high handicappers, can play by their own drop rules in a casual round of golf with nothing on the line. The rules of golf can get complicated, but if you’re new to the game, I’d recommend just dropping the ball where you think your ball went out of bounds and adding a penalty stroke to your score. This won’t necessarily allow you to keep an ‘official’ score, but you can still understand your improvement if you always follow the same ‘rules.’ Once you’ve developed your game, you can strictly adhere to the official rules.
Help Others Find Their Ball
When playing with other golfers, help them find their ball if yours is further than theirs or they’re next to hit. You should also help look for where other players’ shots travel when they hit them. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one.
Don’t Sacrifice Your “Pre-Shot Ritual”
While keeping a reasonable pace is crucial, you shouldn’t need to forego your “pre-shot ritual” or otherwise hurt your golf game. Unless you have some crazy routine before every shot, you should be able to cut out enough time through the above tips.
2) Repair Your Ball Marks on Greens
A few of my favourite local public golf courses’ greens have been destroyed this year due to the increase in new players. While more traffic will always put greenskeepers to the test, unrepaired pitch marks are significant in this golf green massacre.
Unrepaired or poorly repaired ball marks can lead to missed putts and surfaces that take weeks to recuperate.
You should always find and fix your ball marks on the green. It’s straightforward to do at an individual level, and when everyone helps maintain the green, all golfers benefit.
3) Replace or Fill Divots
When you take divots on the tee box or fairway, you should either retrieve and replace the divot or fill the divot with sand/mix.
Generally, either of these options is fine unless the course favours one option over the other.
4) Minimize Divots
You don’t need to take a divot on your practice swing and should strive to avoid doing so. If everyone took three divots on each shot, the course would quickly be in shambles.
With that said, even some of the best golfer occasionally take a divot by mistake on their practice swing. If you do this, could you be sure to replace or fill it?
If hitting an iron or wedge from the tee box, you can set your ball behind another divot to avoid making a new one.
5) Maintain Sand Bunkers
This rule may no longer stand during the pandemic, but under normal conditions, you should always rake the sand to fix footprints or other imprints you made in it. Even if you are not using the rake because of the pandemic, do your best to smooth it with your feet or something safe to touch.
It would help if you also prevented causing excessive change to bunkers in the first place. Enter a bunker to hit your ball from the shortest line.
6) Silently Stand Still and Out of the Way
When another golfer in your group hits their shot, do not distract them. Always be silent and stand still out of view and out of the line of their putts.
It would help if you also avoided distracting golfers in other groups. If other golfers are close to you, stay quiet and avoid walking or driving past them.
7) Follow All Golf Cart Rules
Even under normal playing conditions, golf courses limit where you can drive a cart. You should never drive the cart on or near tee boxes, greens, bunkers, or water hazards.
Often, golf courses will implement a 90-degree rule. Leaving the cart path towards your ball would be best when a 90-degree turn would get you there. It’s a middle ground between no restrictions and cart path only.
Sometimes, most often after heavy rain, golf courses will require you to stay on the cart path. This is typically described as “cart path only.” Some individual holes on golf courses may always be cart paths only for various reasons.
Always follow your golf course’s cart rules, including those for the particular day you play.
8) Don’t Hit a Ball Into the Group Ahead of You
Never hit a ball when there’s a group ahead of you within your distance. This is the time you should use those exaggerated distances you tell your buddies you can hit a particular club.
It’s always best to err on the side of caution.
9) Always Yell “Fore” When an Errant Ball is Hit Towards Other People
“Fore” is a term commonly used in golf that essentially means “duck and get to cover.”
If you or someone in your group hits a shot that could potentially hit another golfer, always yell, “Fore!”
Remember that just because you can’t see someone doesn’t mean there isn’t someone in your ball’s path. For example, if you slice a ball towards another hole, yell “Fore!” even if you can’t see the other hole.
It can be difficult to remember to do this in the moment, so be sure to yell this if you see someone else hit a dangerous ball.
While it’s rare for someone to be hit by a ball, it does happen. Depending on where the ball hits someone, they can get seriously injured or even die.
If you’re ever ahead of someone in your group, be sure to be as far out of their potential ball path and pay attention to their shot.
10) Don’t Drink Too Much
At least in the United States, it’s common for adults to drink beer or other alcoholic beverages during a round of golf.
If I’m golfing on the weekends or for a special occasion, I’m likely drinking my fair share of beer during my round.
While I have no problem with drinking during golf and do it myself, it’s important not to drink too much!
First of all, I’ve seen people have medical issues that were likely a result of too much drinking out in the heat.
Beyond that, it can be obnoxious when someone drinks too much on the golf course. There’s no appropriate place for some of the behaviour I’ve seen from drunk golfers, but the golf course is one of the least appropriate places.
If nothing else, drinking too much will likely annoy you and your golf buddies as your game degrades.
Lastly, always be sure to have a safe way to get home. Don’t drink at the course and then drive home!
11) Don’t Play Loud Music While You Golf
I’ve already discussed that you should try to stay reasonably quiet on the golf course, but loud music needs to be fixed.
Listening to music quietly through a speaker in your cart is not a problem, but if the golfers on the next hole can hear it, that’s a big problem.
If you’re listening to music, keep it at a volume that can’t be heard more than 5-10 feet from your cart. Be sure members in your group don’t mind, and turn it off if you’re close to them during a shot. If you get close to another group, turn the music off until you get away from them.
Finally, make sure listening to music complies with the rules at your golf course.
12) Dress Appropriately
I think it’s best to look up the dress code online or call ahead before getting to the course.
Wrapping Up
While golf is often thought of as a game played only by “stuffy” people, you should be fine if you follow these simple golf etiquette rules.
In general, be friendly and personable to other golfers. When dealing with other groups or the course, think about what you’d want other golfers to do.
Could you be sure to help maintain the golf course? If we all do it, we’ll all have much better playing experiences.