Etiquette question about teeing off

[Noles]

I find it really amazing that so many in this thread find that a ball landing somewhere around you or people teeing off to be so bothersome. I don't play many courses where you leave the club house and every hole is in complete solitude. Most of the courses I play have holes side by side. There is always a chance of a ball landing around you from somewhere even if that happens to be in the adjacent fairway. It's not usual to hear someone teeing off somewhere or to hear balls hitting in the tree lines. Sure no one wants any distractions while in their swing but I feel other people hitting balls around you is part of the game. If no one is purposely hitting into you then I feel the ball noises are somewhat of a problem you have. Not with etiquette.

I agree. I'm constantly shocked at all the people that seemingly need a cone of silence in order to hit their ball.

 

The golf course is home to thousands of sounds from nature, wildlife, golfers, morons, traffic nearby, carts, clubs hitting balls, etc etc. Don't be that guy who blames his pull hook on "that loser that hit the gas in the adjacent fairway while I was swinging"!

I'm not sure who is advocating for a cone of silence, certainly not me. There is a difference between normal noise on a golf course and noise that will get your attention. If I hear a cart start that is nowhere near me, I won't be affected at all. But if that cart was 6 feet behind me and I hear it start, then I will turn and look. So noises are not always the same. So if I am over the ball and I hear a shot from an adjacent fairway, or a kid screaming in a neighboring yard, I would hardly notice. But if I'm over my second shot and I hear a tee shot from the tee that I just hit from, I am going to notice. I'm not good enough to hit that shot while wondering if that ball is headed right for me.

[tsecor]

Had a bit of an argument with a group on Sunday based on the following scenario:

 

Pace of play is ok but most shots you need to wait a short time for the group in front to clear. Group 1 is in the fairway now hitting their second shots to a par 4 after having waited a few minutes for the group in front to clear. Group 2 is on the tee of the the same par 4 but cannot reach group 1 with their drives. Should group 2 go ahead and start teeing off or should group 2 wait and allow group 1 to hit their second shots and drive away?

you have to wait...its simple

[hybrid25]

question:

who would be startled, while addressing the ball in the fairway, with a ball landing 50 yards behind you?

i hope nobody... 50 yards? Good grief....

I think you might be surprised. A ball landing 50 yards behind you is not that far, then the roll out! Personally, I think it would be infringing upon proper etiquette,especially when someone is addressing a ball.

 

[jdl]

Strange thread, people thinking there is some universal rule here that applies to all golfers and all situations.

 

I know....welcome to GolfWRX! :)

[Noles]

Strange thread, people thinking there is some universal rule here that applies to all golfers and all situations.

 

I know....welcome to GolfWRX! :)

Are you referring to etiquette?

[MountainKing]

We generally wait until the group is 50 yards ahead of our drives, if we're uncertain only slower days we've lasered the carts but we figure that's a safe distance ahead even from one of those crazy caught it perfect and it rolled just right once in a lifetime type drives. If you waited too long then you had a delay yourself in looking for golf balls you'll be making the backup worst behind you.

[QEight]

question:

who would be startled, while addressing the ball in the fairway, with a ball landing 50 yards behind you?

i hope nobody... 50 yards? Good grief....

I think you might be surprised. A ball landing 50 yards behind you is not that far, then the roll out! Personally, I think it would be infringing upon proper etiquette,especially when someone is addressing a ball.

 

50 yards is about the width of football (whatever variant) field/pitch. If it infringes them then re-address.

[chippa13]

We generally wait until the group is 50 yards ahead of our drives, if we're uncertain only slower days we've lasered the carts but we figure that's a safe distance ahead even from one of those crazy caught it perfect and it rolled just right once in a lifetime type drives. If you waited too long then you had a delay yourself in looking for golf balls you'll be making the backup worst behind you.

 

How about people stop searching forever and maybe we'll all get around a little quicker. You're not looking for King Solomon's Mines, you know.

[tsecor]

We generally wait until the group is 50 yards ahead of our drives, if we're uncertain only slower days we've lasered the carts but we figure that's a safe distance ahead even from one of those crazy caught it perfect and it rolled just right once in a lifetime type drives. If you waited too long then you had a delay yourself in looking for golf balls you'll be making the backup worst behind you.

 

How about people stop searching forever and maybe we'll all get around a little quicker. You're not looking for King Solomon's Mines, you know.

agreed....but the funny thing is a lot of amateurs who struggle to break 90 use prov1's and other premium balls which cost over $4 per ball so it fells like they lost a piece of gold when they hit it into the woods,

[jdl]

Strange thread, people thinking there is some universal rule here that applies to all golfers and all situations.

 

I know....welcome to GolfWRX! :)

Are you referring to etiquette?

 

Etiquette, pace of play, safety, all aspects.

[Sean2]

Wait. If you time it you will see you are only talking about a couple of minutes. Not to mention there is always the chance someone will hit that one pure drive they never hit before. Why risk it over a couple of minutes?

[hybrid25]

Wait. If you time it you will see you are only talking about a couple of minutes. Not to mention there is always the chance someone will hit that one pure drive they never hit before. Why risk it over a couple of minutes?

I couldn't agree more, waiting an extra minute or so is the right and safe thing to do. By hitting too soon I don't think you are saving anytime at all, I think it's a misconception that you save time. In the process of hurrying you can interfere with the folks in front of you or even cause injury by hitting them.

[Greenie]

Wait. If you time it you will see you are only talking about a couple of minutes. Not to mention there is always the chance someone will hit that one pure drive they never hit before. Why risk it over a couple of minutes?

 

Waiting 2 minutes is now adding 36 minutes to your round if you wait 2 minutes on every hole. Now add in looking for balls in the rough or ob shots and now how much time have you added to your round and how much of a back up is there behind you? I think it's simple. If it safe to do so swing away. Spend that 2 minutes looking for your ball or getting to your ball and be ready to hit when safe to do so for your next shot.

[Hot Rod 71]

Wait. If you time it you will see you are only talking about a couple of minutes. Not to mention there is always the chance someone will hit that one pure drive they never hit before. Why risk it over a couple of minutes?

 

Waiting 2 minutes is now adding 36 minutes to your round if you wait 2 minutes on every hole. Now add in looking for balls in the rough or ob shots and now how much time have you added to your round and how much of a back up is there behind you? I think it's simple. If it safe to do so swing away. Spend that 2 minutes looking for your ball or getting to your ball and be ready to hit when safe to do so for your next shot.

 

And then you spend two minutes standing in the fairway waiting for the green to clear.......what's the difference?

 

When its slow, its slow. Groups that are one or two behind the group causing the slow play are the only ones that may make a difference in these situations. They can push a little. Groups that are 6-8 groups behind the slow group have no effect by pushing.

 

Hitting tee shots and then standing in the fairway for several minutes does nothing to help pace. Sure, it may speed up things for the group behind you, but the fix is only temporary.

[flog2]

wait till they are out of 'your' range AND walking AWAY from you.............can't get more simple than that!

[tsecor]

the fact that this is even a debate is baffling...

[Dpavs]

the fact that this is even a debate is baffling...

 

One thing I have learned is that there is no subject anyone can post that GolfWRX'ers will not polarize on and beat until there is no horse meat left on the bone.

[Carl Spackler3]

Here's the thing, once Group 2 starts "pressing forward" then it starts pulling Group 3/4/5 etc along and before long you've got 3-4 groups on a single hole and the course comes to a grinding halt.

 

Here's the thing, once Group 2 starts "pressing forward" then it starts pulling Group 3/4/5 etc along and before long you've got 3-4 groups on a single hole and the course comes to a grinding halt.

but not if group 1 is keeping pace

[Greenie]

Wait. If you time it you will see you are only talking about a couple of minutes. Not to mention there is always the chance someone will hit that one pure drive they never hit before. Why risk it over a couple of minutes?

 

Waiting 2 minutes is now adding 36 minutes to your round if you wait 2 minutes on every hole. Now add in looking for balls in the rough or ob shots and now how much time have you added to your round and how much of a back up is there behind you? I think it's simple. If it safe to do so swing away. Spend that 2 minutes looking for your ball or getting to your ball and be ready to hit when safe to do so for your next shot.

 

And then you spend two minutes standing in the fairway waiting for the green to clear.......what's the difference?

 

When its slow, its slow. Groups that are one or two behind the group causing the slow play are the only ones that may make a difference in these situations. They can push a little. Groups that are 6-8 groups behind the slow group have no effect by pushing.

 

Hitting tee shots and then standing in the fairway for several minutes does nothing to help pace. Sure, it may speed up things for the group behind you, but the fix is only temporary.

 

The difference is that now you are waiting in the fairway ready to hit your second shot. You are ready to go. Teeing off you are more likely to use that 2 minutes searching for balls, hitting mulligans or whatever. I"ll agree hitting tee shots and standing in the fairway does nothing for pace but it does do something when you are not hitting fairways and looking for balls.

[nsxguy]

Wait. If you time it you will see you are only talking about a couple of minutes. Not to mention there is always the chance someone will hit that one pure drive they never hit before. Why risk it over a couple of minutes?

 

Waiting 2 minutes is now adding 36 minutes to your round if you wait 2 minutes on every hole. Now add in looking for balls in the rough or ob shots and now how much time have you added to your round and how much of a back up is there behind you? I think it's simple. If it safe to do so swing away. Spend that 2 minutes looking for your ball or getting to your ball and be ready to hit when safe to do so for your next shot.

 

And then you spend two minutes standing in the fairway waiting for the green to clear.......what's the difference?

 

When its slow, its slow. Groups that are one or two behind the group causing the slow play are the only ones that may make a difference in these situations. They can push a little. Groups that are 6-8 groups behind the slow group have no effect by pushing.

 

Hitting tee shots and then standing in the fairway for several minutes does nothing to help pace. Sure, it may speed up things for the group behind you, but the fix is only temporary.

 

The difference is that now you are waiting in the fairway ready to hit your second shot. You are ready to go. Teeing off you are more likely to use that 2 minutes searching for balls, hitting mulligans or whatever. I"ll agree hitting tee shots and standing in the fairway does nothing for pace but it does do something when you are not hitting fairways and looking for balls.

 

So then your 2*18=36 additional minutes is "exaggeration for effect" then, yes ?

[hybrid25]

the fact that this is even a debate is baffling...

yes, I agree.