One of the first rules we are taught when we venture onto the golf course is the rule of how we should behave, and a ‘clip around the ear’ by my father, when we first played together, made me understand how important this essential rule is. Etiquette includes repairing divots and ball marks, raking bunkers, and being mindful of other players by remaining quiet and still when they are playing. Also included in our game’s etiquette guidelines is to be mindful of maintaining a good pace of play and allowing faster groups to play through.
Allow me to mention that etiquette was missing from the recent Ryder Cup matches with many past players turning over in their graves at how many spectators (and several players) behaved. The bad taste left after the dust settled will last until the next 2027 match in Ireland. As we all know the hardest thing to learn in our game is to remain smiling and friendly after a triple bogey but this is one of the reasons golf is unique — as it teaches you very quickly to keep our emotions under control.
When your golf ball is in an unplayable lie, you can choose from three options, each with a one-stroke penalty. The options are: playing again from your previous spot (stroke and distance), dropping a ball on a line with the hole and where the ball lies back as far as you wish, or dropping within two club lengths of where your ball lies but no closer to the hole (lateral relief).
Out of Bounds: One of the funniest things that I, and my playing partners, witnessed one day was to see a miserable and unloved member, who was unfortunately paired in our group take a drop and lose his ball. This was in the day when you had to drop over your shoulder. He was wearing a jacket with an attached hood which was just hanging loose at the back. The ball fell into the hood and disappeared. When he turned around, he was astonished not to find his ball on the ground. Needless to say, we were all in hysterics watching him and delayed telling him what had happened for as long as we could.