Golf Etiquette

For those of you that don't know me very well, I am a RULE FOLLOWER - always have been, always will be. Perhaps some of you may find that to be rather boring and uninteresting, but living my life according to the rules has worked quite well for me. My motto is, "Rules were meant to be followed". This philosophy has served me well throughout my lifetime and has helped me to avoid unnecessary trouble. I prefer to live life under the radar, so to speak.

Well, enough about that. I did however need to set the stage for you to help you understand my slight irritation with my first golf outing of 2008. If anyone is NOT a golfer, the following information may prove to be rather BORING. Those of you that are non-golfers; however, may want to continue reading in case the following blog contains any amusing anecdotes.

I decided to hit the links around 5:00 p.m. because it is a perfect time to golf because the course is typically pretty empty. I was pleased to find that this was the case. I got on the course right away and was able to golf alone - alone is the key word in that phrase because I really wasn't in the mood for idle chatter with a complete stranger. I wanted to work on my golf game and not be distracted. The other bonus of being alone was that this was my first time out and I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of someone else. (I know, why should I care what someone else thinks about my golf game...unfortunately it does matter to me. Pride + Perfectionism= EMBARRASSMENT. Being a competitive person by nature, embarrassment is the last thing that I want to experience while participating in a sport).

Broken rule #1 -things were going fine until I happened upon a 5-some which is something that one should NEVER see on a golf course. The highest number of golfers allowed in a group is 4. Sidenote...the 5th member of the group looked like she was about to go into labor on the golf course - I'm not quite sure why a pregnant lady would be out golfing that far along in her pregnancy....

Broken rule #2 - hitting an additional tee shot because your 1st shot went about 25 yards. If you have someone breathing down your neck like I was, you NEVER EVER take another tee shot regardless of how far your 1st tee shot went.

Broken rule #3 -The group in front of me obviously was not familiar with the concept of "ready" golf. It never dawned on them to go to their own individual ball while the rest of the group was trying to locate their individual golf balls.

Broken rule #4-finally, it is common courtesy (a.k.a. Golf Etiquette) to let a single play through. While it may not be officially listed in the U.S.G.A. rule book, as far as I'm concerned, it should be. Everyone (except these folks) knows this and lets a single person continue on so as not to delay him or her on every hole. It wreaks havoc with your tempo when you have to wait and wait and wait and waaaaait........................

Aside from the complete lack of respect for the game of golf exhibited by the group in front of me, I managed to enjoy my round. I didn't lose any balls, I managed to avoid the sand traps, I didn't get anything higher than a 6 and I was overall pleased with my performance. Anyone up for a game of golf with me??????? It's really not as bad as it sounds!!!!!!!