I can't resist chiming in here.
I play with a regular group of guys . . . roughly 14 to 16 at any given day,
and we abide by the Rules of Golf . . . with two glaring exceptions. "In the
leather" putts, which in this group doesn't mean within the length of the
grip. Rather, "gimmee's" are good within the length of the steel putter
shaft. This is a practice with which I strongly disagree, to no avail.
Second thing I disagree with is "mulligans" on the first tee. It makes no
sense to me if a guy has just hit a bucket of balls on the range and then
needs to hit an extra shot from the tee without penalty. Other than those
two exceptions, we play to the letter of the rules. No "rooties", no winter
rules, no tamping down spike marks, no brushing sand from the collar of the
green, etc.
In fact, during a recent Team Match Play competition, my opponent tamped
down a scuff mark in front of his ball. I called a loss of hole. The guy
said his team captain and another team captain at an earlier match agreed to
waive the rule against tamping spike marks. That in itself requires
disqualification. Players may not agree to waive the rules. That's
specifically prohibited.
I guess the reason for playing the way we play is to determine accurately
how well or how poorly we perform. Another way some guys keep score is the
good old, "ah, gimmee a 7 here, that's all I can take." The guy's got two
ball O.B. and he's putting for a 9. The rules say, mark down the 9, add up
the scores at the end, and adjust for posting. How else can one know
accurately what he scored?
Ah well, I could go on, but you get my point.
TFlan
