If you were king for a day, what one golf rule would you change?

[Golferpaul]

I would reduce the 14-club limit to ten.  Over time, that would save golfers about 30% on clubs, encourage more shot making skills, encourage more walking by reducing the weight of a set, and only the equipment companies would object.

[sui generis]

I would permit free relief anywhere on or off the golf course for immovable obstructions (white OB stakes included). 

 

After all, free relief is available anywhere on or off the golf course for loose impediments and movable obstructions.

[nsxguy]

I'd have anybody who suggested divot holes be made ground under repair tied to an anthill.

 

 

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by nsxguy

[sui generis]

6 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

I'd have divot holes made ground under repair.

 

Dream on. The ruling bodies have made the difficulties with that very, very clear. 🙄

[Mr. Bean]

26 minutes ago, sui generis said:

 

Dream on. The ruling bodies have made the difficulties with that very, very clear. 🙄

 

But a king is mightier than any Ruling Body!

[teehilden]

39 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

I'd have divot holes made ground under repair.

 

Free relief from divots in the fairway gets my vote. Watching lee Westwood hit from a divot while going toe to toe with Bryson last year was frustrating.

[Newby]

6 hours ago, Golferpaul said:

If you were king for a day, what one golf rule would you change?

But please exclude any debate about divot holes

Edited January 23, 2022 by Newby

[Hawkeye77]

Goodbye E-5 and any option to use it.

[Golferpaul]

3 hours ago, Newby said:

But please exclude any debate about divot holes

Yes, that debate is beyond the "dead horse" stage.

[Golferpaul]

34 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Goodbye E-5 and any option to use it.

That would increase playing time, irritate lots of duffers, and lead to more golfers not playing by the rules.

[Hawkeye77]

4 minutes ago, Golferpaul said:

That would increase playing time, irritate lots of duffers, and lead to more golfers not playing by the rules.

 

I think your thread asked a simple question, I provided an answer.  If you want to argue with any answers you don't like you will unnecessarily increase the length of this thread, irritate people that answer the question and violate your own rules. 

 

If I get to be the King I don't have to answer to the peasants.

[Golferpaul]

1 minute ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

I think your thread asked a simple question, I provided an answer.  If you want to argue with any answers you don't like you will unnecessarily increase the length of this thread, irritate people that answer the question and violate your own rules. 

 

If I get to be the King I don't have to answer to the peasants.

Actually, I didn't say there are any thread rules.  So, debate is fine.  And increasing thread length is an admirable goal since it usually indicates elevated interest in the topic.

[Hawkeye77]

14 minutes ago, Golferpaul said:

That would increase playing time, irritate lots of duffers, and lead to more golfers not playing by the rules.

Yawn, let's argue then.

 

I doubt very many of the courses where most golfers aren't playing by the rules anyway even post the local rule so they are violating the rule when they use it, since most golfers don't play by the rules anyway they don't even know what it is and aren't inspired to generally play by the rules only those that give them an answer they like, "duffers" has little to do with why the rules exists and is demeaning to most golfers that enjoy this great game, declaring a provisional and hitting again and moving on takes less time than someone employing bad geometry and trying to figure out where to drop and likely in the wrong place, and from a philosophical point of view if you can't keep your ball on the golf course you shouldn't be entitled to a guaranteed shot out of the fairway and should bear the risk of hitting your 3rd and possibly your 5th out of bounds. 

 

The rule was one of the populist changes to the rules in the name of making some people happy while claiming (with no real evidence in theory or practice) it would speed up play.  Just "feel good" nonsense.

 

King summons knight errant to order cutting tongue out of the court jester. 

[sui generis]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Goodbye E-5 and any option to use it.

Booo! There are several good arguments in favor of E-5 and next to no valid arguments against E-5, except, "I just don't like it." 😀

[Hawkeye77]

4 minutes ago, sui generis said:

Booo! There are several good arguments in favor of E-5 and next to no valid arguments against E-5, except, "I just don't like it." 😀

Well, my opinions aren't "I just don't like it" but wasn't looking for an argument, lol, just playing the monarch and identifying a rule I'd like to change --- now back to my chamber!

 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Hawkeye77

[dugue4]

I would require netting on the right side of the fairway. 

[Hawkeye77]

5 minutes ago, dugue4 said:

I would require netting on the right side of the fairway. 

A man that understands king for a day!

[amace04]

All holes collect the ball like it's an 18th hole at a mini-putt course.  This is your tribute to me.

[jvincent]

I'll take some heat for this, but I would take away ALL free relief from obstructions, etc.

 

The only relief allowed is under the unplayable rule.

[NJBigFish22]

I’m shooting at least 18 under, cause as the king, the rules would be adjusted in real time to fit the situation. 

[DaveLeeNC]

3 hours ago, Golferpaul said:

Yes, that debate is beyond the "dead horse" stage.

How about requiring  that all balls be placed in the closet divot not nearer the hole in the interest of fairness 😀. dave

[rogolf]

3 hours ago, jvincent said:

I'll take some heat for this, but I would take away ALL free relief from obstructions, etc.

 

The only relief allowed is under the unplayable rule.

I think, in practicality, you'd want to include penalty areas and penalty area relief?  Or is a ball in a lake just a lost ball?

[Mr. Bean]

4 hours ago, Golferpaul said:

Actually, I didn't say there are any thread rules.  So, debate is fine.  And increasing thread length is an admirable goal since it usually indicates elevated interest in the topic.

 

But the problem is that any time the thread is lenghtened by your posts it is not worth while as you do not seem to respect neither the Rules of Golf nor the others' opinions, you simply want to debate.

[caniac6]

14 hours ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

But a king is mightier than any Ruling Body!

And, it’s good to be the king.

[MtlJeff]

Lost balls or OB would all play as red stake. Drop, penalty stroke and be done with it.

[Halebopp]

6 hours ago, sui generis said:

Booo! There are several good arguments in favor of E-5 and next to no valid arguments against E-5, except, "I just don't like it." 😀

 

It's extremely unfair to anyone who can find their ball on the course. They have no guarantee of getting their balls to as good a lie with two additional strokes as the ones who made arguably worse strokes as they can't even locate their balls on the course, or it's OB.

[Golferpaul]

2 hours ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

But the problem is that any time the thread is lenghtened by your posts it is not worth while as you do not seem to respect neither the Rules of Golf nor the others' opinions, you simply want to debate.

Look in the mirror.

[Golferpaul]

6 hours ago, jvincent said:

I'll take some heat for this, but I would take away ALL free relief from obstructions, etc.

 

The only relief allowed is under the unplayable rule.

That would certainly make the rules consistent.  

[Halebopp]

3 hours ago, rogolf said:

I think, in practicality, you'd want to include penalty areas and penalty area relief?  Or is a ball in a lake just a lost ball?

 

I'd like to see S&D being the only relief option for a while, for everything. If you can't play the ball as it lies, go back and try again. The two things that should happen is players putting more emphasis on keeping the ball in play (which might actually lead to lower scores on average) and a newly-found appreciation for all the relief possibilities provided within the current set of rules.

 

In a perfect world it would move people from thinking about the rules being stupid for penalising player for "everything" to a more positive mindset of the rules providing the possibility to get away from very bad situations at the cost of just a single stroke. Even for free occasionally.

[jvincent]

4 hours ago, rogolf said:

I think, in practicality, you'd want to include penalty areas and penalty area relief?  Or is a ball in a lake just a lost ball?

 

Drops from penalty areas aren't free relief, so they stay as is. It's just free relief that I'm getting rid of.

 

Don't want to hit off a cart path? No problem, take an unplayable.  Garbage can, that was there when you hit your tee shot, in the way? Take an unplayable.