Etiquette and Don’t Be That Guy

Don’t be the guy who disappears in the weeds looking for lost balls, only to reappear on the green (as the rest of the group has putted out and walking off) expecting us to wait, watch him 3-putt.

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Don’t be the Guy who; Spits on the Putting Green!

It was Never a good look and is a Way bigger No No during a Pandemic!

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Few months back, I got joined up with a group who had a dude who used chewing tobacco and had hocking a big loogie of it as part of his pre-shot routine, including putts. After the first nine, I said I was going to wait for a (non-existent) buddy and they could go ahead. Any more holes of that and I might have bashed the guy with my putter.

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Or after you hit a bad shot, oh I know what you did wrong guy and then continues to give lessons to everyone the rest of the round.

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Welcome to the forum! Yes that guy is very annoying. I can’t handle playing rounds when people try to tell me what I’m doing wrong. I also don’t hand out any advice either. If someone asks I might give them some kind of tip usually a mental tip and it’s never technical.

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Easy - tactfully remind them to take a 2-stroke penalty for giving advice during a round :rofl:

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I wish we even had cart girls here… :unamused:

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No slur on you, but I’ve always wondered, if a player doesn’t just go home after breaking a club, how they finish a round without it…

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Break a 7 iron? Hit a hard 8 or soft 6. Break a driver? Hit 3 wood off the tee. Break a putter? Putt with a wedge or wood. Breaking clubs is all about being adaptable.

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Yep, I had a bad putting day in a tournament once in high school, and hit my bag with my putter. Stepped up on the next tee and took a practice swing and the driver shaft was broken in the grip. I hit 3 iron the rest of the day and hit every fairway and green over the last 12 holes. Still couldn’t putt, but actually played better tee to green after that. Probably should have putted with a wedge :joy:

I head off all instruction talk at the pass. It is a total non-starter for me.

“I appreciate you trying to help, but I’d rather not talk about my swing during a round”

If it continues, I will flat out say “let me give you some advice. 99% of golfers do not want swing tips from other golfers during a round. Don’t do it again”

…btw lots of people think I’m a bit of an a**hole!

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Have you not seen Tin Cup? All you need is a 7 iron!

(Also, you should watch Tin Cup!)

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Sunflower seeds. Effing sunflower seeds on the green. Don’t do it! I like to put a mouth full of seeds in my mouth during a hot summer day, keeps from getting a dry mouth. Plus it helps me not to focus on the swing or heat. However, when I see sunflower seed shells on the green, I flip out. Who does that?!

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If it helps, its actually a penalty to ask what another player just hit. So if this guy asks you warn him that he will occur penalty strokes so best that you dont tell him!

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I dont get the drinking beer while playing thing. Any other sport that people drink during? Do you see any good players doing this? Have a drink in the bar afterwards (when they reopen)

Benefits - none (tastes nice)

Drawbacks -dehydration, impaired hand eye coordination, poor judgement, relying on someone else to take you home.

Guess the game its purely social for these guys and the don’t care about how well or badly they play.

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Or the guy that has to be different from everyone else. I prefer to leave the stick in, but if everyone else in the group is pulling it I’m not going to be the guy that asks for it to be replaced while I’m putting (or vice versa).

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  • Don’t offer swing advice; solicited or not.
  • Don’t give me the stroke-by-stroke of your previous round because; a) I probably have enough going on with present round, b) I really don’t care and c) you’re not paying me caddie fees to make me care.
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I think if someone asks for swing advice, it’s OK, but I think the key to doing it well (unless you really know what you are talking about) is to keep it general and focus on what you are doing and thinking about…

If someone tells me they are a bad putter, and wants to know what to do differently, I’ll talk about how I’ve spent the last 3 months working on tempo and not much else… just rolling the ball consistently and trying to get speed control down my better tempo. I have nothing helpful to tell them about grip, stance, ball placement or anything else… but I can say my putting has improved as I’ve focused on tempo.

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When we get the occasional add-on player when we are down a man in our foursome, we do give advice when they are a “new player”, OR someone that says, “I usually play better than this” (as we look at them and see they are a “new player” to the game.) AND it can be frustrating when they are all over the yard, or topping them, or whatever. Here is our offered advice… RELAX, have fun, you’re not on tour, we don’t care how you play, not interested in you showing off, just interested that you are having a fun walk in the park. Slow it down and just make contact…we aren’t judging you, we have enuff to worry about in our own right…LOL… they actually usually play better too! We do make comments about ball direction…even me…anyone catch the general direction when I mishit…as I am blind as a bat

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The PRO at our course, put up signs “NO SUNFLOWER SEEDS” Anyone caught spitting shells on the course will be asked politely to leave…you have been warned! He’s as serious as a heart attack about that!

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