From: "James F. Tims" <p00168@psilink.com>
Subject: Golf Etiquette Part 1/5
Organization: Semper Excelsior
Date: Sun, 27 Dec 1992 18:14:56 GMT
X-Mailer: PSILink (3.2)

Those golfers who have played but rarely, exclusively in golf leagues, or in
a weary fixed foursome year after year, often view the etiquette of golf as 
a highbrow nicety akin to raising one's pinky while sipping tea.  To them,
the practice of golf etiquette is contrary to having a good time.  If not 
outright scornful of it, they certainly feel no need to learn anything 
about it.  For others of us, the etiquette of golf is central to the 
game, and oddly under-represented in the magazines and instructional videos.
The formal waltz on the greens can ease away the thoughts of everyday, 
but the rhythm of a well-mannered foursome, sad to say, many golfers never 
sense.  Unlike love and baseball, golf dances to the beat of common courtesy. 
Playing well or poorly has little to do with golf etiquette -- it's the
thought that matters.  The best way to stay off each other's toes is to stay
in step.

A golfer who has a high handicap often fails to see the reason for
some of the more abstruse elements of golf etiquette: hovering next to the 
hole with the flagstick while the last player gags in a short putt;
casting a shadow over the hole while tending; moving to the next tee before 
everyone has holed out, and other seeemingly petty things.  Part of this
lies in the player of lesser skill not suffering a similar inconvenience
under identical circumstances; e.g. placing one's a shadow across the hole 
might not noticeably alter a 36 handicapper's perception of a 40 foot putt, 
but a scratch player very likely will arrange for the shadow to be removed.  
(The artistry of tact varies widely betweem individuals, and has little to 
do with our subject.)  How is possible to know what will bother another
player if one's awareness does not include such items?  "Velcro violence?
You mean my glove bothered you?"  I hope the following posts will give the
reader both a knowledge base of golfing etiquette and a feel for the 
philosophy of its design. 

One need not be a prima donna to be bothered by the audience talking during 
an opera, especially when you are singing an aria.  Golf has prima donnas, 
to be sure, who complain out of all proportion to their injury,
but golf etiquette tries to ensure that all players treat each other 
as prima donnas, as a matter of routine, whether they are complainers or 
not.  The goal of etiquette is to prevent complaints, not initiate them.

Golf etiquette appears to many to consist of a system of arcane taboos that 
disgrace, that embarrass, that threaten, that make the game
unpleasant.  These are the "obscure paths" that experts take, and wary
be the infrequent traveler who stumbles into their ambush. But the practice 
of golf etiquette is a game in itself, and when well executed, players move 
around the course with a minimum of interference and dead time.  One aspect 
of etiquette deals with bothering other players while they play their shots;
another revolves around being ready to play, so that other players are not 
faced with the universally recognized annoyance of unnecessary waiting;  
another shows how to take care of the course, so that those 
following will play the identical hole (not one with a freshly-crushed cup,
e.g.).  Naturally, there are aspects not so readily classified, and 
actions that combine all the above.

I hope the following posts will reveal not just the reasons for 
golf etiquette and the how of it, but also the some of the spirit of game.  


I.	Golf Etiquette Part 1/5 (This post)

II.	Interference and Distractions.

III.	Pace of Play. 

IV.	Caring for the Course.

V.	Other Considerations

   ,...,.,,
 /666;    ',    jim tims
////;    _~ -   p00168@psilink.com
(/@/----0-~-0
 ;'  . `` ~ \'
  , `    ' , >
;;|\..((   -C---->> So what's he bitchin' about? I was all the way
;;| >-  `.__),;;    on the other side of the green. Picky, picky!


Newsgroups: rec.sport.golf