Dear Molly: I play with a couple groups that observe casual rules. These tend to include preferred lies anywhere, treating OB and lost balls like a penalty area (one stroke penalty, no loss of distance) and a maximum score of triple-bogey. And we might allow a mulligan or other casual breaches of the rules.
Should I be posting those scores to GHIN, for handicap purposes? One member of my club's Board of Directors insists that I shouldn't, but these scores, in general, mirror those of my competitive rounds and are a fair representation of my potential. Believe it or not, some of my worst rounds are from these casual environments!
If I don't post these, almost all my posted scores would come from tournament rounds at my home club, and that seems like a different problem. Thanks! -- Filthy Casual :D
The company line from the United States Golf Association and, thus, our Colorado Golf Association, would be that all golfers post every round played by the Rules of Golf, and that all golfers should play by the Rules of Golf.
But Filthy, I have a feeling you’re the rule, not the exception. In fun, recreational rounds, gimmes are more common than knee-knockers and other modifications such as mulligans and your relaxed OB-lost ball policy help move play along on our busy courses. In my experience with players of every level, including pros, only elite amateurs -- conscious of benchmarks that allow them to enter certain CGA and USGA championships -- take care to play even their fun rounds strictly by the rules.
Two seasons ago I delved into this for “Real Vs. Rec,” in the CGA Monthly. I found that golf’s human overseers understand, accept and – when it comes to moving play along – may even endorse your adaptation of the rules, but the entity itself hasn’t officially addressed it. Therefore the CGA and other regional associations have no common-sense answer for you.
So my very unofficial suggestions here, not endorsed by USGA or CGA rules or handicap officials, will be to find ways you can have your fun and still in good conscience post a score. After all, I am the CGA consultant on fun, not rules.
Alternatively, you could leave those holes blank and let GHIN assign your score differential based on how you played that day. To accomplish this in the app, after you choose the golf course you played, opt for entering “Hole-By-Hole Score.” At the top of the page where you select which tees you played, you can see options for Number of Holes Played: 18, 9 or 10-17. Choose 10-17 (provided you played at least 10 holes by the Rules of Golf) and leave blank the boxes for the holes you did not play by the rules. When you’re ready to post, the app will observe that you left some scores out but will let you proceed.
However, if you have more than one or two blanks, I suggest you fill in double par. That’s because if the rest of your scores are pretty good and you have four or five (or, with your casual approach, six or seven!) where you feel you have to break the rules to keep pace, the system might assign you better scores on those holes than you deserve.
I emphasize: This is not official, but it’s reasonable. Your club’s board should find this acceptable, especially if it allows posting in cases where, say, lightning or an emergency shorten a round. Unless of course no one on your board has ever posted a round with a mulligan or a gimme!
As I look back through these ideas, which I believe would bring you reasonably into compliance with the rules of handicapping, it seems most sensible for you to keep two scores, the one for your (no-doubt big money) game with your friends and the one you are going to post.
Try this a few times and revisit the topic with your board. What you’re trying to accomplish isn’t devious. You’re not trying to get rid of your bad scores so that you have a vanity handicap, or forgetting to post your good scores so that you can be a sandbagger. You’re trying to build a handicap that accurately represents the best you can play.
However, if you really want to win club tournaments, I suggest you make a point of playing by the rules, at least occasionally.
Do you have a question about golf etiquette, golf relationships or the culture of golf in Colorado? Email it to Molly McMulligan, the CGA’s on-the-course advisor on how to have more fun on the golf course, and follow @MollyMcMulligan on Instagram. Her creator, researcher and writer is golf journalist and CGA member Susan Fornoff.
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