Your most unpopular Golf opinions?

[Par4Nate]

28 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Yeah, I get that it's a lost ball, and that's how it has to be played. 

 

Losing a ball in the middle of the fairway is STILL one of the most infuriating things in the game of golf tho!

 

 

For sure.  I’ve been there.  Those autumn drives that hid under big leaves probably each took a week off my life expectancy.

[slocalifglfr]

On 3/12/2025 at 8:05 AM, Ranchobob said:

If you’re in a cart you’re not playing golf.  Sure, you’re going through the motions, but it’s not golf. 
 

Wearing a hoodie just makes you look like the FBI Unabomber sketch or a wanna-be gangsta rapper.  Dress like an adult.  

That's a "get off my lawn" post if I've ever read one.

[PuffyC]

On 3/11/2025 at 7:27 PM, Double Mocha Man said:

…A touring pro has every advantage... a coach, a nutritionist, a psychologist, a teacher, a massage therapist, marshals, spectators, rules officials and cameras.  They almost never lose a ball.  I think the average Joe deserves one or two of those advantages.  A small leveling of the playing field…

That’s the basis of a quality unpopularity golf opinion and we actually talk about it a lot when we play: how about making pros play one tournament a year where they play the same game most ams do? Because we all play the same game, right? That means:

 

- You get no help finding your ball. If you can’t find it on your own in 60 seconds or less the group behind you will be instructed to launch into you while a Marshall yells at you to pick up the pace.

- No two greens will ever stimp remotely the same, or roll true.

- Every other group will play a different genre of terrible music they think is awesome and it’ll be loud enough for anyone on an adjacent hole to hear.
- Pin placement on the side of a slope? TS.

- Random 10 minute stop downs because someone wants to order a mixed drink and chat up the cart girl.
- Carry your own bag, or bring your trolley.

- No on-course caddies/coaches offering you tips and reads. It’s just you out there competing without 3rd party hired help.
- No perfectly manicured fairways. In summer they can be up to 30% hardpan with the rest Bermuda, St. Augustine, weeds or some combination thereof. Play it as it lies.

- Hidden mud pits from leaking sprinkler heads will be a thing, and no you don’t get relief.
- Ground under repair not marked as ground under repair? So what, play it.

 

Call it The Commoners Open. I’d watch.

[Ranchobob]

1 hour ago, slocalifglfr said:

That's a "get off my lawn" post if I've ever read one.

Ever heard of Richard Feynman?  One autobiography of his was called “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”  

 

Continuing my unpopular opinions: The long putter is bullxxxx.  Ban them.  Your hands touch the club and nothing else. 

[Par4Nate]

12 minutes ago, Ranchobob said:

Ever heard of Richard Feynman?  One autobiography of his was called “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”  

 

Continuing my unpopular opinions: The long putter is bullxxxx.  Ban them.  Your hands touch the club and nothing else. 

 

Well as much as I hate the long putter and think it should be banned as well, your basis for arguing it is wrong, as most of them only touch hands, assuming you’re talking about the broomstick and not the arm lock putter.

 

The cart thing is wacky, but that’s why this is the unpopular opinion thread.

 

Reminds me of one time I was playing Pebble and a guy that I got paired up with made the same comment - this is how golf should be played; no golf carts.  Meanwhile he’s got a caddy carrying his bag… 😂

 

Edited March 14 by Par4Nate

[Ranchobob]

2 hours ago, Par4Nate said:

 

Well as much as I hate the long putter and think it should be banned as well, your basis for arguing it is wrong, as most of them only touch hands, assuming you’re talking about the broomstick and not the arm lock putter.

 

The cart thing is wacky, but that’s why this is the unpopular opinion thread.

 

Reminds me of one time I was playing Pebble and a guy that I got paired up with made the same comment - this is how golf should be played; no golf carts.  Meanwhile he’s got a caddy carrying his bag… 😂

 

How far back do you have to go before something is traditional enough?  Caddies date to the mid-late 1800’s.  I’d guess it predates that because language hadn’t caught up, but that’s speculation.  
 

Re: putters, yeah, I meant the broomsticks, but armlock still anchors it against your forearm which is still not just the hands as I understand the technique.  Pressing your hand against your chest is still bullxxxx even if you the butt of the club doesn’t touch your chest.  I kinda hope that Satan has an alternative place for the grip for those folks.  

[Par4Nate]

4 minutes ago, Ranchobob said:

How far back do you have to go before something is traditional enough?  Caddies date to the mid-late 1800’s.  I’d guess it predates that because language hadn’t caught up, but that’s speculation.  
 

Re: putters, yeah, I meant the broomsticks, but armlock still anchors it against your forearm which is still not just the hands as I understand the technique.  Pressing your hand against your chest is still bullxxxx even if you the butt of the club doesn’t touch your chest.  I kinda hope that Satan has an alternative place for the grip for those folks.  

 

They’re not allowed to have their hand against their chest though.  I don’t care about those things on the Champions Tour, but they never should have allowed them on the regular tour.

 

I don’t have any issue with carts.  I know a lot of great golfers who cart all the time.  Walking or riding is irrelevant to me.  Nothing anyone else chooses to do is of concern to me, as long as they play quickly.

 

Edited March 14 by Par4Nate

[mshills]

5 hours ago, Par4Nate said:

 

I don’t have any issue with carts.  I know a lot of great golfers who cart all the time.  Walking or riding is irrelevant to me.  Nothing anyone else chooses to do is of concern to me, as long as they play quickly.

 

Agreed. 
 

I like golf, and there are lots of ways to play. Most days I want to carry. Some days I push. Still others, my body does not feel up to it but I still really like golf and want to play, so I ride.

 

Here is what I don’t like: the moral superiority of the militant walker. You’re not better than someone riding and you have no idea why that guy is riding. You’re not “playing the game as intended.” This hilly golf course inside a housing development with a quarter mile from green to next tee looks like it was intended for carts to me. Get off your high horse and get in the cart, or play somewhere else. 😂

[david.c.w]

11 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Usually it's over the crest of  a hill and you really tagged the ball.  You want to get to the ball to discover it's your long drive record for that hole... but instead, NUTHIN'.

 

Our first hole crests a hill.  Good drives roll over and can keep on going way down.  Have played hole 100's of times and am still surprised when dead center drives wiggle right while rolling and end up just off the fairway to the right, 20 yards right of where they "should" be.

[dugue4]

13 hours ago, Par4Nate said:

 

Yup, but,  in our reality, your ball obviously bounced somewhere and was lost.  Maybe it hit sprinkler head and shot into some trees.  Either way it’s the randomness of golf and, as such, it’s a lost ball.

 

The issue with allowing drops on obviously good shots is that golfers would push the envelope.  If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone who hit a shot just in the edge rough say ‘it should be right here’ when they can’t find their ball, even though the ball obviously just kept going into the caca, I’d have a ton of nickels.

 

FYI: a ton of nickels would be $9,072

[klebs01]

2 hours ago, mshills said:

golf course inside a housing development with a quarter mile from green to next tee

Those courses should not exist. Fill them with houses and create real core golf courses. 

[bigred90gt]

On 3/12/2025 at 10:05 AM, Ranchobob said:

If you’re in a cart you’re not playing golf.  Sure, you’re going through the motions, but it’s not golf. 
 

Wearing a hoodie just makes you look like the FBI Unabomber sketch or a wanna-be gangsta rapper.  Dress like an adult.  

I played a scramble last week at a conference I went to for work. 1/2 way through the front 9, the wind (and rain) changed directions and started blowing out of the north. In about 5 minutes, it dropped every bit of 15 degrees, and sustained winds well over 20 (gusts around 40). I went to the pro shop at the turn to buy a sweater, and the only option was a hoodie. Only time I've ever worn one on a course. I did not wear the hood up on my head, which leads me to why I personally don't like them. In the wind we had, the hood was blowing all over the place, over my shoulder, slapping me in the face while I was lining up to putt or hit a shot, just generally annoying the daylights out of me. I don't have a problem with hoodies in general, and I own several. I could not care less if someone else wears them on a golf course personally, but I hope to never experience that again. 

 

But for the best part of this post.......

When you took this picture of me teeing off at Oak Quarry in 2015, we were in a cart🤣

 

Edited March 14 by bigred90gt

[Double Mocha Man]

3 minutes ago, bigred90gt said:

I played a scramble last week at a conference I went to for work. 1/2 way through the front 9, the wind (and rain) changed directions and started blowing out of the north. In about 5 minutes, it dropped every bit of 15 degrees, and sustained winds well over 20 (gusts around 40). I went to the pro shop at the turn to buy a sweater, and the only option was a hoodie. Only time I've ever worn one on a course. I did not wear the hood up on my head, which leads me to why I personally don't like them. In the wind we had, the hood was blowing all over the place, over my shoulder, slapping me in the face while I was lining up to putt or hit a shot, just generally annoying the daylights out of me. I don't have a problem with hoodies in general, and I own several. I could not care less if someone else wears them on a golf course personally, but I hope to never experience that again. 

 

 

 

Just have a buddy tuck it in.

[Par4Nate]

5 hours ago, mshills said:

Agreed. 
 

I like golf, and there are lots of ways to play. Most days I want to carry. Some days I push. Still others, my body does not feel up to it but I still really like golf and want to play, so I ride.

 

Here is what I don’t like: the moral superiority of the militant walker. You’re not better than someone riding and you have no idea why that guy is riding. 

 

My club has a number of these guys, type A passive aggressive grumpy types.  They often slow play you if you’re in a cart behind.  I caught up to one of them on Tuesday on 18 at our club.  He was in the fairway when I got to the tee box.  Saw me and purposely took forever to hit his approach, a weak shot short of the green, then slowly cleaned his club and slowly started walking.  I hit my tee ball and then went to it in the fairway.  He purposely took forever to chip up and three putt out, then forever to clear the green and start his walk up the hill to the clubhouse.  I did what I always do, I waited until he was about eight feet off the green and hit my approach shot into the green so he could hear it land behind him.  I caught him at the club barn attached to the pro shop and just smiled at him and his grumpy countenance.  If he opened his mouth I was gonna suggest a laxative.

[Argonne69]

2 hours ago, Par4Nate said:

 

My club has a number of these guys, type A passive aggressive grumpy types.  They often slow play you if you’re in a cart behind.  I caught up to one of them on Tuesday on 18 at our club.  He was in the fairway when I got to the tee box.  Saw me and purposely took forever to hit his approach, a weak shot short of the green, then slowly cleaned his club and slowly started walking.  I hit my tee ball and then went to it in the fairway.  He purposely took forever to chip up and three putt out, then forever to clear the green and start his walk up the hill to the clubhouse.  I did what I always do, I waited until he was about eight feet off the green and hit my approach shot into the green so he could hear it land behind him.  I caught him at the club barn attached to the pro shop and just smiled at him and his grumpy countenance.  If he opened his mouth I was gonna suggest a laxative.

 

No idea what a player/group would want someone on their tail if there's room ahead. The "wave through" gesture is guaranteed not to damage one's shoulder. 

 

[Par4Nate]

1 hour ago, Argonne69 said:

 

No idea what a player/group would want someone on their tail if there's room ahead. The "wave through" gesture is guaranteed not to damage one's shoulder. 

 

 

Yeah, but every club’s got those guys.  Kinda mad at the world, always looking for a confrontation.  Just gotta live with it.  I like to kill ‘em with happiness.  Hit greens right behind them as they walk off, smile a lot, sit near them in the bar afterwards and just be a generally outgoing happy person.  Drives them nuts.

 

[Jayjay_theweim_guy]

21 hours ago, PuffyC said:

That’s the basis of a quality unpopularity golf opinion and we actually talk about it a lot when we play: how about making pros play one tournament a year where they play the same game most ams do? Because we all play the same game, right? That means:

 

21 hours ago, PuffyC said:

Call it The Commoners Open. I’d watch.

Awesome idea.  Needs its own thread.

 

I'll add:  Bunkers are both fluffy and hardpacked, sometimes in the same bunker.  (Think Sierra Cement for those of you in SkiLand.) 

Fairways have (unmarked) GIR, and stimp maybe 4, vs the 9-10 most Tour fairways would run.

Weed stench is.  Everywhere.

Random Marshal harassment, even if you're right up on the group in front.  (You did touch on that.)

 

Love it.

 

I would love to treat divots as embedded balls in the fairway (in the rough?  Go pound sand.)  A la Wyndham Clark's brouhaha.  One club length, no closer to the hole, drop.  

I'm not a Calvinist, and don't need my entertainment to punish me, or reassure me of God's indifference to my welfare.  I have a divorce for that...  I hit it in the fairway, give me a fairway lie.

[Double Mocha Man]

44 minutes ago, Jayjay_theweim_guy said:

 

Awesome idea.  Needs its own thread.

 

I'll add:  Bunkers are both fluffy and hardpacked, sometimes in the same bunker.  (Think Sierra Cement for those of you in SkiLand.) 

Fairways have (unmarked) GIR, and stimp maybe 4, vs the 9-10 most Tour fairways would run.

Weed stench is.  Everywhere.

Random Marshal harassment, even if you're right up on the group in front.  (You did touch on that.)

 

Love it.

 

I would love to treat divots as embedded balls in the fairway (in the rough?  Go pound sand.)  A la Wyndham Clark's brouhaha.  One club length, no closer to the hole, drop.  

I'm not a Calvinist, and don't need my entertainment to punish me, or reassure me of God's indifference to my welfare.  I have a divorce for that...  I hit it in the fairway, give me a fairway lie.

 

To add, the tournament has to be played on the course as it lies.  No trying to fix up the course to PGA tournament standards.  No closing the course to golfers the week prior.  Nope.  Tour pros play it just like we find it everyday.  Matter of fact, the course shouldn't even know until the evening before to keep it all honest.  The course would be selected via a lottery system, with maybe 500 public courses already in agreement with this arrangement.  Like a pop-up tournament.  A certain number of pros would be required to play in it.

[Double Mocha Man]

4 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

To add, the tournament has to be played on the course as it lies.  No trying to fix up the course to PGA tournament standards.  No closing the course to golfers the week prior.  Nope.  Tour pros play it just like we find it everyday.  Matter of fact, the course shouldn't even know until the evening before to keep it all honest.  The course would be selected via a lottery system, with maybe 500 public courses already in agreement with this arrangement.  Like a pop-up tournament.  A certain number of pros would be required to play in it.

 

As soon as I typed all this I realized it couldn't work this way.  A spot has to be found in the PGA Tournament schedule.  It has to be publicized.  The course needs time to prepare for parking and concessions.  The PGA needs to set up stands and the lucky TV Network needs time to set up TV towers and cameras for the broadcast. 

 

So, Plan B, a small contingent from the PGA arrives 3-4 weeks in advance to oversee things.  That is when the course is notified.  This PGA contingent, maybe with a few GolfWRX members in tow, is there to guarantee the course doesn't hire one more greenskeeper, or buy one more ounce of seed, or increase work hours by one more minute.  The course must be kept in its current condition.

 

Afterwards, the course/municipality receives their hefty check from the PGAT.

[Ranchobob]

8 hours ago, bigred90gt said:

I played a scramble last week at a conference I went to for work. 1/2 way through the front 9, the wind (and rain) changed directions and started blowing out of the north. In about 5 minutes, it dropped every bit of 15 degrees, and sustained winds well over 20 (gusts around 40). I went to the pro shop at the turn to buy a sweater, and the only option was a hoodie. Only time I've ever worn one on a course. I did not wear the hood up on my head, which leads me to why I personally don't like them. In the wind we had, the hood was blowing all over the place, over my shoulder, slapping me in the face while I was lining up to putt or hit a shot, just generally annoying the daylights out of me. I don't have a problem with hoodies in general, and I own several. I could not care less if someone else wears them on a golf course personally, but I hope to never experience that again. 

 

But for the best part of this post.......

When you took this picture of me teeing off at Oak Quarry in 2015, we were in a cart🤣

 

Oak Quarry is unwalkable.  Sheesh. 
 

Looked that place up recently.  60-75 minutes each way.  And about $175 greens fee.  FMH. 

 

8 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Just have a buddy tuck it in.

He’s rock solid at tucking.  Doesn’t need help from me.  

 

8 hours ago, Par4Nate said:

 

My club has a number of these guys, type A passive aggressive grumpy types.  They often slow play you if you’re in a cart behind.  I caught up to one of them on Tuesday on 18 at our club.  He was in the fairway when I got to the tee box.  Saw me and purposely took forever to hit his approach, a weak shot short of the green, then slowly cleaned his club and slowly started walking.  I hit my tee ball and then went to it in the fairway.  He purposely took forever to chip up and three putt out, then forever to clear the green and start his walk up the hill to the clubhouse.  I did what I always do, I waited until he was about eight feet off the green and hit my approach shot into the green so he could hear it land behind him.  I caught him at the club barn attached to the pro shop and just smiled at him and his grumpy countenance.  If he opened his mouth I was gonna suggest a laxative.

I don’t get the “manly man no one can go past me” bullxxxx.  My masculinity isn’t in question if someone plays through.  If I’m riding the a** of the group ahead?  No, you can’t play through. There’s nowhere to go. No one ahead?  Knock yourself out.  But don’t slow me down after I let you play through.  

[DJDJ]

I played with a pro a long time ago on a commoners course. 9 hole muni cow pasture. Hard pan fairways, rock hard greens. He still torched it and he was a ‘barely keep his card’ pro.

[bigred90gt]

9 hours ago, Ranchobob said:

Oak Quarry is unwalkable.  Sheesh. 
 

Looked that place up recently.  60-75 minutes each way.  And about $175 greens fee.  FMH. 

I’m just giving you a hard time brother. I certainly enjoyed the round and while I doubt I will ever make it back to socal (long story), I would definitely try to get a round in with you again, walking or riding. 
 

and that course would be a miserable walk. I doubt they would even let someone walk it. When we played it 10 years ago, I think it was $100 or so, maybe even a touch more. 

[AngryGilmore]

On 3/12/2025 at 10:05 AM, Ranchobob said:

If you’re in a cart you’re not playing golf.  Sure, you’re going through the motions, but it’s not golf. 
 

Wearing a hoodie just makes you look like the FBI Unabomber sketch or a wanna-be gangsta rapper.  Dress like an adult.  

Hoodies comprise the bulk of my fall/winter/early spring wardrobe.  The weather sucks and it's easy to throw on a hoodie.

[AngryGilmore]

On 3/11/2025 at 8:15 PM, Par4Nate said:

 

I gotta ask, what is the gallery rule?  Never heard of that.

 

And how do you lose a ball in the center of the fairway?

 

Puddles, leaves, I was playing a round with a few people that I was placed with by the course.  We were driving to one of their balls and literally WATCHED a squirrel run onto the fairway and take one of their balls and run up a tree with it.

[Ranchobob]

3 hours ago, bigred90gt said:

I’m just giving you a hard time brother. I certainly enjoyed the round and while I doubt I will ever make it back to socal (long story), I would definitely try to get a round in with you again, walking or riding. 
 

and that course would be a miserable walk. I doubt they would even let someone walk it. When we played it 10 years ago, I think it was $100 or so, maybe even a touch more. 

Oh I know. Just prodding you back. 😄

 

I’m sure they wouldn’t let anyone walk.  The hike from the par 3 14th to 15 is long and uphill all the way.  Great course and utterly unwalkable.  
 

It does amaze me how stupidly expensive greens fees have gotten.  

 

32 minutes ago, AngryGilmore said:

Hoodies comprise the bulk of my fall/winter/early spring wardrobe.  The weather sucks and it's easy to throw on a hoodie.

I hate how the hood is deadweight tugging the front of the neckline against my throat.  You either have to constantly be tugging the front of the thing back down or just have the hood up.  Hate them.  

[PedronNiall]

Hoodies are a hate 'em or love 'em for golf. They do tend to be comfy but I don't get the point when I've yet to see anyone actually use the hood for a single second before, during, or after the round. 

[jda]

As a whole, golfers are likely the most soft athletes in the world.  Cannot talk, whisper, move, have a bird squawk, deer move in the woods or a butterfly rip a fart or else they cannot execute.  Middle/high school kids have fans blowing air horns in the stands when they attempt free throws... or other student sections waiting to yell.  Then, they feel that their preferences for quasi-rules, etiquette and attire are the only ones that matter... like for real, not just on a stupid golf message board.  There is no defense and the ball does not move.  Nobody is trying to beat you - everybody can shoot 59 in the same day.  Most golfers don't want to get better - they want their welfare that they did not earn that you have to give them because you practiced more, are smarter or just are a better athlete... but nearly none of them will give an actual dollar to people who could really use it.

 

Weak minded emotionally, mentally and athletically: golfers.  If not, then who is worse?

 

If I posted this before, then I apologize.

 

BTW - I feel that most who are into hoodies have yet to dive into vests.  They are not restrictive, have pockets in front, just as warm and do not choke you.  ...and chicks dig 'em.  Vests > hoodies.

[Double Mocha Man]

12 minutes ago, jda said:

BTW - I feel that most who are into hoodies have yet to dive into vests.  They are not restrictive, have pockets in front, just as warm and do not choke you.  ...and chicks dig 'em.  Vests > hoodies.

 

I have a golfing friend who has a battery powered heated vest he uses on those wintry golf days.

[Jayjay_theweim_guy]

1 hour ago, PedronNiall said:

Hoodies are a hate 'em or love 'em for golf. They do tend to be comfy but I don't get the point when I've yet to see anyone actually use the hood for a single second before, during, or after the round. 

Rain?  Other than that, yeah, right there with you.  I have a rain jacket that doesn't have a hood for it, which seems ridiculous. Probably why it was on sale...  It does fit snugly in all the right spots though and is breathable.

 

OTOH, I love, love, love cold windy weather.  So usually a vest is as much overclothing as I need.  If you get cold easily, I'm sure a hoodie is great.

[Par4Nate]

I own all types of pullovers and jackets and find that I prefer whichever fit me best.  Right now that’s the Peter Millar hoodies.  Love them.  Warm, fit just right so I can swing easy, and they don’t sag at all.  And I don’t know how the hood on it would ever interfere with my swing.  Mine stays put just fine.  I don’t use the hood much, but it keeps my neck warmer than my other pullovers.