Golf Etiquette Basics

Do:

  • Have fun. It’s just a game! Keep a positive, pleasant attitude toward your opponents.
  • Commit to your shots. Aim small, miss small.
  • Keep up with the group in front of you. More than one hole behind? Pick up & move on. Or, let the player(s) behind you play through.
  • Have the player farthest away from the pin hit first. Be ready to hit if you are up next.
  • The winner of the previous hole has the honors to tee off first. But, play “ready golf” to keep up the pace of play.
  • Count a stroke if the swing after your practice swing misses the ball completely.
  • Keep up with the number of strokes you are hitting as you are hitting them on each hole, so you don’t have to try to remember the # of shots you took after you sink the putt.
  • Add 2 strokes if you double hit the ball.
  • Replace the ball on the tee without penalty if it falls off the tee while addressing it.
  • Play the ball where it lies if you make a swing and the ball falls off the tee. You’ll be laying 1, hitting 2.
  • Put another person’s ball back where it was lying on the green, if it was not marked & you hit it from off the green. If you were on the green & hit a ball on the green, take a 2 stroke penalty & put the ball you hit back where it was originally.
  • Mark your ball once on the green. If it’s in a player’s line, put the marker down behind it, put your putter head to the right or left of the marker depending on the direction to move it, pick a landmark to align your putter with so it goes back in the same place, & then place the mark behind the putter head.
  • Remove a loose impediment without penalty unless the object & the ball are in, or touching the same hazard.
  • Take a 2 stroke penalty if you hit the wrong ball.
  • Pick up & clean your ball when it’s on the green, after it is marked.
  • Take the flag out when everyone’s on the green.
  • Tend the flagstick & remove it after a player hits the ball, if the player is not able to see the hole when they’re putting on the green.
  • Repair ball marks, replace divots, and rake bunkers.
  • Help others look for a lost ball.
  • Ask another player to move if you fear hitting them.
  • Enter every score in the computer for handicap purposes as long as there is one other person with you who is able to verify your score.
  • Respect the rules & regulations of the course you are playing.
  • Compliment your partners’ good shots.
  • Yell “fore” when your ball is headed toward another person or group.
  • Turn your cell phone ringer off during play.
  • Bring enough drinks/snacks to share with the other players.

Don't:

  • Take too much time preparing to hit. Before the round, pick one or two fundamentals and only focus on them. Limit yourself to one practice swing.
  • Step too close to someone hitting the ball.
  • Stand behind a player that is hitting.
  • Move or talk while someone in your group is hitting the ball (or about to hit).
  • Talk on your cell phone when it’s your turn to hit.
  • Walk across or stand on the line of another player's putt.
  • Spend more than a couple of minutes looking for a lost ball.
  • Hit your shots until the group in front of you is well out of range.
  • Let your club touch the sand before hitting the ball out of a sand trap.
  • Scream obscenities, throw clubs, or pitch tantrums over a bad shot.
  • Ever play when lightning is in the area.
  • Hold up other players.

Ball Position

  • Driver inside left heel for right handers & inside right heel for left handers
  • Keep left ear behind ball for right handers & right ear behind ball for left handers
  • Iron – wedge middle of stance
  • Fairway wood/hybrid halfway between the driver ball position & the iron ball position

Stakes on the course

  • White boundary stakes on the right & left sides of the rough are out of bounds markers
  • Yellow – 250 yard marker
  • Blue – 200 yard marker
  • White – 150 yard marker
  • Red – 100 yard marker

Meaning of the flag colors on the green

  • Red flag – placement is the front of the green
  • White flag - placement is the middle of the green
  • Yellow flag - placement is the back of the green

Penalties

  • Out-of-bounds – ball is out of bounds if it cannot be seen on the fairway side between 2 out-of-bounds markers. 1-stroke penalty plus distance. Replay the ball from where it was just played (or tee up again if it was your first shot).
  • Unplayable lie – 1-stroke penalty. Drop the ball within two club lengths of the original spot, no closer to the hole. Or, drop the ball as far back as you want as long as you keep the original unplayable lie point between you & the hole. You may also return to the spot from which you played your original shot, if you prefer.
  • Water hazard (yellow stakes) – 1-stroke penalty. Play the ball as near as possible to the place from which the original shot was hit. Or, drop a ball behind the water, as long as you keep the point at which the original ball crossed the edge of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped. There is no limit to how far behind the water hazard you go with the ball.
  • Lateral water hazard (red stakes) – 1-stroke penalty. Drop ball outside the lateral hazard within 2 club lengths or where the ball went in, but not closer to the hole. Or, keep a point on the opposite edge of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

Basic Thoughts

  • Keep your grip light. On a scale of 1-10, your grip pressure should be a 5.
  • When taking your stance, grip the club in front of you to ensure that the clubface is square, not open (pointing right of the target), and not closed (pointing left of the target).
  • The follow-through is just as important as the backswing.
  • During the downswing, your weight should shift from the right side to your left foot for right handed players, and from the left side to your right foot for left handed players.
  • Three traits of professional golfers: 1) balanced swings, 2) right heel off the ground for right handed golfers and left heel off the ground for left handed golfers at the completion of the swing, 3) belt buckle at the target.

Difficult Golf Shots

  • Commit to your shots. Aim small, miss small.
  • Ball above feet – use more club, choke up, shoulders parallel to slope, weight naturally shifts to back leg, ball forward, off big toe, aim right of target.
  • Ball below feet – use less club, grip the end, shoulders parallel to slope, weight on front leg, ball back toward the middle of your stance, aim left of target.
  • Side hill lie – ball above your feet – lean into the hill and choke up on the club.
  • Side hill lie – ball below your feet – lean back to retain your balance. Grip the end of the club.
  • Keep the ball low - a mid-iron or hybrid is usually low enough loft for most situations. Take a narrower stance & grip down. Play the ball slightly back in your stance, weight on front side. Open your stance & hold off on your follow through as though you’re punching the ball forward.
  • Sand – open stance, open face of club, ball forward in stance, aim credit card length behind ball, use bounce of club to slide through sand, follow-through.
  • Flop shot – use a high lofted wedge, grip it with face slightly open, position the ball in the middle of your stance, aim left of the target, and take a full swing.
  • Shaping shots
  • Draw – move the ball from right to left – close the face of the club, then take your grip. Align your feet/shoulders where you want to start the ball and point the club where you want the ball to end up.
  • Fade – move the ball from left to right – open the face of the club, then take your grip. Align your feet/shoulders where you want to start the ball and point the club where you want the ball to end up.
  • Slice – typically caused by shoulders & face of club being open
  • Putting - never allow the wrist on your lead hand to bend when putting. Keep feet, knees & shoulders square to the target. Pick a spot about 6 inches to a foot in front of your ball that the ball needs to follow to get to the target.
  • Think “straight back, straight through”.
  • Practicing long putts - don’t aim for a hole. Think about distance, not direction. Throw balls down on the practice green and putt to the far fringe.
  • Practicing short putts – use a string to putt straight back & forward or use a board and keep the putterhead at 90 degrees to the board so the putter moves on the straight-back-and-straight-through path.
  • Speed - visualize what you want to happen. Optically preview the putt’s roll from its stationary point to a resting place near the hole.