Every game has it’s own set of RULES and golf is no exception, in fact there are so many rules it can be very overwhelming and trying to remember and decipher the official rules can get in the way of having a good time.
When there is nothing on the line but having fun, recreational golf should be an enjoyable experience and Golfaround does not play by rules. Having said that it is important that rules be followed for competitive play where there are prizes. In addition, if you want to keep an official handicap I am sure you will want to follow the rules of play but this doesn’t need to affect the people you may be playing with. It has been suggested that recreational golfers follow a ‘relaxed set of rules’ and I guess many of us do this. They are really common sense practices for avid amateurs.
MAXIMUM SCORE: Double par (i.e. 6 on par 3s, 8 on par 4s….)
PENALTIES: All are one stroke, including out of bounds, water and lateral hazards, lost ball and unplayable lie. Drop a ball near where the original was lost and play on
SEARCH TIME: Two minutes to look for your ball. If lost, proceed as above
UNFORTUNATE LIES:, Balls may be dropped out of divots or footprints, away from tree roots and any other dangerous lies
CONCEDED PUTTS: Putts may be conceded but they count as one stroke
EQUIPMENT: No restrictions, including number of clubs but more clubs mean heavy bag
COMMON SENSE: When in doubt, use common sense and fairness
It is important that we are aware and have some knowledge of the more well known rules so we will try to do this during the season. If any of you have a specific question about scoring, rules or etiquette please let us know and we will get the answers for you.
Have you ever been teeing your ball up and it falls off the tee and someone says “that’s one”? They are kidding but we may wonder is this correct? well this is the first rule definition we will tackle.
If a ball falls off a tee or is knocked off a tee by the player before you address it may be re-teed, without penalty. However, if a stroke is made at the ball in these circumstances, whether the ball is moving or not, the stroke counts, but there is no additional penalty stroke. Meaning you only count one not two extra strokes.