Your most unpopular Golf opinions?

[Bad9]

28 minutes ago, Shallowface said:

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/my-unpopular-golf-opinion-its-time-to-outlaw-four-balls

 

 

I don’t disagree with much of the article but mentioning not being able to play through in a club competition is idiotic.

 

in addition my club still does 10 minute tee times and play is still slow. Clubs can try to mitigate but slow players are 99% of the problem and until they get addressed directly nothing will change.

Edited July 13 by Bad9

[nsxguy]

4 hours ago, Shallowface said:

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/my-unpopular-golf-opinion-its-time-to-outlaw-four-balls

 

Anybody (else) see the irony in a publication originating in the UK, the home of golf, about game that has specific rules for match play( either 2 or 4 players in a group), 4-somes, and 4-ball competitions, not to mention a penchant for playing far more quickly than most other countries ( if social media posts are to be believed at all), to want to destroy all that tradition, and shrink the game ?

[WesternRacing]

5 hours ago, Bad9 said:

I don’t disagree with much of the article but mentioning not being able to play through in a club competition is idiotic.

 

in addition my club still does 10 minute tee times and play is still slow. Clubs can try to mitigate but slow players are 99% of the problem and until they get addressed directly nothing will change.

 

Why is it idiotic?  We have men’s club 2v2 matches throughout the year that self schedule on the tee sheet and everyone knows that if you get stuck behind one of them, you might as well just head straight to the bar, as it’s 4.5 hours at least.  And our club does not allow playing through those matches, as they’re considered sacrosanct. That’s what’s idiotic to me, I.e., that just because it’s a club four ball match they can basically play as slow as they like and back up the whole golf course.

 

I think the article itself is stupid because it’s just spitting into the wind.  Golf has a massive pace of play problem, but it’s not even trying to solve it (and if it was, reducing group size is probably the last thing a course would ever do), so getting upset about it is a total waste of energy.  Accept it, work around it, or go do something else.

[mshills]

10 hours ago, Shallowface said:

https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/my-unpopular-golf-opinion-its-time-to-outlaw-four-balls

 

 

Lawd I’ve read some dumb stuff on the interwebs….that is next level stupidity. 

[NoTalentLefty]

An American will win the British Open. 

[DavePelz4]

4 minutes ago, NoTalentLefty said:

An American will win the British Open. 

 

Maybe an American will win the Open Championship.

[Old Tom Morris]

I still call it the British Open because that is what it was called when I was a kid.

 

I also hit my ball into hazards and lateral water hazards.  Holes are still halved and not tied.  Tired of everything being dumbed down for the lowest common denominator.

[chinaski]

I'm sure its been posted here, but IMO carts should only be allowed for people who can't physically walk the course. Building courses that require carts is bad for golf.

 

[Double Mocha Man]

3 minutes ago, chinaski said:

I'm sure its been posted here, but IMO carts should only be allowed for people who can't physically walk the course. Building courses that require carts is bad for golf.

 

 

There's nothing like ruining an artificial landscape with an artificial cart path.  (Seriously, I'm not a fan of cart paths either)

[WesternRacing]

45 minutes ago, chinaski said:

I'm sure its been posted here, but IMO carts should only be allowed for people who can't physically walk the course. Building courses that require carts is bad for golf.

 

 

While I 100% loooove courses like Bandon with no cart paths, there’s no way you could define ‘physically walk the course’.  I’m 59 with severe back issues and carrying my bag for 18 is impossible, pushing is difficult and always a risk of putting me on the shelf for a month or, worse, into the hospital.  But technically I could do it.  Would I need to walk?  I’d argue, based on my experience, that many of the folks over 50 that golf are in a similar situation.

 

BTW, if you banned carts for anyone who could technically walk, you’d destroy the game of golf and half the courses, public and private, would go out of business.

[NoTalentLefty]

The Europeans will win the Ryder Cup

[retch10]

On 7/12/2025 at 10:30 AM, Double Mocha Man said:

 

The secret to my success is setting aside Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday to play golf with buddies. At a standing tee time of 10:00 a.m. . The other days of the week are for chores, errands, appointments and/or range sessions. This way everyone who wants to play can plan out their time well in advance. Those three days of the week for me are sacred and pretty much untouchable. For instance, today is Saturday and I'm going to pick up some brake fluid and buy a few groceries. And wash the car.

That sounds like a great setup you've got.  Good for you. I look forward to a day when I can have the same. That works if you all have that time.  But when you're all still working, one or two still have teenage kids, etc its next to impossible to have a standing tee time or even a standing day of the week to play golf. We try to schedule it. It works MAYBE 2-3 times a summer.

 

So for someone to say that you should never show up at a golf course as a single or to jump onto a group's tee time that is smaller than a 4, its not really practical.  It shouldn't be a requirement that you have available friends to play golf.  

 

 

[retch10]

So back to my original unpopular opinion on putters...I'm watching the Bryan Bros and Grant Horvat play Portrush, all with Lab putters. One is a (suspended) tour pro. The others are plus handicaps.  I've now seen all three miss putts and say they've pulled/pushed the putt.

 

I ask again...what is the point of investing more than $9 in a putter?  Haha.

[DavePelz4]

19 hours ago, Old Tom Morris said:

I still call it the British Open because that is what it was called when I was a kid.

 

I also hit my ball into hazards and lateral water hazards.  Holes are still halved and not tied.  Tired of everything being dumbed down for the lowest common denominator.

 

I miss the Bing Crosby Clambake at Pebble, The Glen Campbell LA Open and the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic.

[st1800e]

3 minutes ago, DavePelz4 said:

 

I miss the Bing Crosby Clambake at Pebble, The Glen Campbell LA Open and the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic.

Don’t forget the Canon Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open……..

[RoverTiger]

1 hour ago, st1800e said:

Don’t forget the Canon Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open……..

It seems that fewer and fewer people remember the Abe Vigoda Duluth Invitational. 

[st1800e]

1 hour ago, RoverTiger said:

It seems that fewer and fewer people remember the Abe Vigoda Duluth Invitational. 

They don’t call it that anymore.  
 

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/good-day-for-favorites-in-northland-invitational

[WesternRacing]

5 hours ago, retch10 said:

So back to my original unpopular opinion on putters...I'm watching the Bryan Bros and Grant Horvat play Portrush, all with Lab putters. One is a (suspended) tour pro. The others are plus handicaps.  I've now seen all three miss putts and say they've pulled/pushed the putt.

 

I ask again...what is the point of investing more than $9 in a putter?  Haha.

 

All the guys that I know at my club that are sporting new LAB putters are, to a man,…poor putters.  And the LABs don’t seem to be making them putt any better.  But they’ll all spend ten minutes telling me how awesome they perform.  Which is less time than I’ve seen any of them on our practice putting green working on their putting, ever, combined.  Good putting is about the Putter, not the putter.

[RoverTiger]

3 hours ago, st1800e said:

They don’t call it that anymore.  
 

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/good-day-for-favorites-in-northland-invitational

Abe was robbed!

[chinaski]

6 hours ago, retch10 said:

So back to my original unpopular opinion on putters...I'm watching the Bryan Bros and Grant Horvat play Portrush, all with Lab putters. One is a (suspended) tour pro. The others are plus handicaps.  I've now seen all three miss putts and say they've pulled/pushed the putt.

 

I ask again...what is the point of investing more than $9 in a putter?  Haha.

I’ve paid $900+ for a putter but you couldn’t give me a lab putter for free on the condition I had to play it.

[blonded]

Every muni should be lined to the gills with red stakes. ANY area with fescue or trees or anything other than normal rough should pretty much be red staked since no one at munis is hitting provisionals or taking stroke and distance anyways.

[mshills]

Not as unpopular as it would have been a couple years ago….I don’t get The Buck Club. Buying expensive gear from a make-believe club is not for me. 

[retch10]

10 hours ago, chinaski said:

I’ve paid $900+ for a putter but you couldn’t give me a lab putter for free on the condition I had to play it.

Did you really pay that much for a putter? 

 

I think there should be a new stat...Strokes gained per equipment $.   Your score in relation to the dollars spent on your bag. And the longer you keep the same equipment helps your stats. Every 12 foot putt made with the off the rack K-Mart putter you bought 14 years ago for 11.99 drives you further up the leaderboard in the category!  😉

[mat562]

1 hour ago, retch10 said:

 

I think there should be a new stat...Strokes gained per equipment $.   Your score in relation to the dollars spent on your bag. And the longer you keep the same equipment helps your stats. Every 12 foot putt made with the off the rack K-Mart putter you bought 14 years ago for 11.99 drives you further up the leaderboard in the category!  😉

 

My powers are fading, but I reckon I'd still rank highly in this category, despite my now mediocre play.

[MidwestHacker]

3 hours ago, mshills said:

Not as unpopular as it would have been a couple years ago….I don’t get The Buck Club. Buying expensive gear from a make-believe club is not for me. 

I'll join in on this theme: wearing youtube golfer branded gear is lame AF, especially if you're 40+ and wearing good good apparel (and not getting paid to do it like some pros). 

[MidwestHacker]

12 hours ago, blonded said:

taking stroke and distance anyways.

Every golfer I've ever played with at the several muni's around me is taking stroke and distance for lost balls anywhere on the course (or they're not keeping score at all), no one is playing provisionals in casual play and they're definitely not going back to the tee that probably already has the next group (or two) waiting to tee off. 

[mshills]

18 minutes ago, MidwestHacker said:

I'll join in on this theme: wearing youtube golfer branded gear is lame AF, especially if you're 40+ and wearing good good apparel (and not getting paid to do it like some pros). 

The only exception I make to that is CPG. Don’t tell me the NET 5 hat isn’t good.  😁

[MidwestHacker]

Just now, mshills said:

The only exception I make to that is CPG. Don’t tell me the NET 5 hat isn’t good.  😁

[TiScape]

2 hours ago, retch10 said:

*Did you really pay that much for a putter? 

 

I think there should be a new stat...Strokes gained per equipment $.   Your score in relation to the dollars spent on your bag. And the longer you keep the same equipment helps your stats. Every 12 foot putt made with the off the rack K-Mart putter you bought 14 years ago for 11.99 drives you further up the leaderboard in the category!  😉

Is that a serious question? 
You get out & read the other subs at all??

Lots of guys here drop that and more on putters on the reg. Not saying it’s right or wrong (I mean it’s their $ and prerogative so…) Just saying if you get around on here I can’t imagine you’re seriously questioning it/surprised. 😊

 

*are there actually still K-Marts??? 

[TiScape]

26 minutes ago, MidwestHacker said:

I'll join in on this theme: wearing youtube golfer branded gear is lame AF, especially if you're 40+ and wearing good good apparel (and not getting paid to do it like some pros).