- 2 years ago
In this video, Neil Tappin and Jezz Ellwood discuss the etiquette mistakes golfers most commonly make... and how to avoid them!
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00:00 Hello and welcome to Prince's Golf Club and this video on seven etiquette mistakes.
00:04 Now in the rules of golf, the word etiquette actually doesn't exist anymore.
00:08 Instead, it's covered off by the standards of player conduct, which is rule 1.2 in the book.
00:14 And it's all of those things that ensure that you're a joy for other people to play with
00:18 as you go around the course, but also that you're keeping the course in as good a condition
00:22 as you possibly can. Right, let's head out now and take a look at the seven
00:26 etiquette mistakes that are well worth avoiding.
00:30 This one is about where to stand and where not to stand when someone's about to hit a golf shot.
00:37 Now obviously, you don't want to get too close to anyone for obvious reasons, but then beyond that,
00:42 there are certain places that you can stand that could be slightly distracting for golfers.
00:46 Jess, what would be your advice for people here? Well, having played for a number of years,
00:49 I think most people on the tee would prefer you to stand over here where you're in there,
00:55 as long as you're not doing anything distracting, where they can see you.
00:58 I think it's when there's people lurking around behind you that people get a little bit edgy
01:03 about it. I don't know why. Maybe they think they're not quite sure how close you're standing,
01:07 and they worry about hitting you. But I think people would much prefer to see you in their
01:11 eyeline than not, as long as you're not doing anything, rummaging around in your bag for
01:16 another ball or zipping something up and doing anything distracting.
01:19 Yeah. One thing I would add to this is that if you're playing into the sun,
01:23 and your visibility down the fairway feels like it's a bit restricted, it can be useful to have
01:28 someone slightly more behind to be able to catch the fly to the ball a bit better. But on the whole,
01:33 we'd say for right-handers to the right of the golfer, left-handers to the left of the golfer,
01:37 it's probably the best option when it comes to standing right-first. Then once you're stood
01:41 there, Jess? Obviously, standing in this spot, you're in their eyeline, so make sure you're not
01:45 doing anything distracting. Don't rummage around for another ball or do a zip-up. Wait for the
01:50 player to play, and then it's your turn to do whatever you want to do then. Just give them a
01:55 bit of time to play their shot, and then do whatever you need to do.
01:59 Yes, it's about awareness, ultimately. A lot of this video is that, just having that awareness
02:03 for other people, making sure that you're not doing anything that's going to potentially
02:07 distract them from the shot they're about to hit. [music]
02:18 Jess, do you mind? Oh, yes, sorry.
02:21 This one is about shadows. You might not think it's a big deal, but actually, if you're trying
02:27 to play a golf shot and somebody else's shadow is in the way, it can be quite distracting, can't it?
02:33 It can be distracting, and people might think, "Well, golfers are quite fragile, aren't they?
02:37 They should be able to cope with that." This is a sport where you're starting the movement. It's
02:41 not a reactive sport. Anything that distracts your eyeline, just as you're about to take the club
02:47 back or take the putter away, can really throw you, can't it? We all know that.
02:51 It can. I think on the green, if you're trying to putt through shadows, it can be quite hard to
02:54 pick your line. Then in other areas of the golf course, if you've got your shadow there, and then
02:58 the head of Jess's putter here just moves slightly, that can really put you off. It's
03:02 just those small things. Like so many in this video, it's just having that modicum of awareness
03:07 for your surroundings, for other people, just to make sure that you're not doing anything
03:11 that's putting them off. [music]
03:17 Okay, so this one is about the condition of the golf course. Jess, what do people need to know?
03:20 Well, there is an obligation at the very start of the rules to care for the course. It's rule 1.2,
03:27 standards of player conduct. Part of caring for the course is to repair pitch marks and
03:33 repair divots, repair and replace and repair divots. We've all seen pictures on social media
03:39 of greens littered with pitch marks, haven't we? I think some clubs have even gone out and placed
03:44 a ball at the point of every pitch mark just to try and emphasize the point. That's quite a scary
03:49 picture when you see it like that, badly repaired pitch marks. A lot of clubs I've been at have a
03:55 big, enormous pitch mark repairman called MORT, which stands for Make One, Repair Two,
04:01 which isn't a bad philosophy. Yes, so even if there's a pitch mark here that my ball has made
04:06 when it landed on the green, I'll repair this. If I also see another one nearby,
04:11 I'll also repair that as well. It's just a good practice to get into because if you don't,
04:15 you will be leaving these little marks around the place that will just make the hole feel a little
04:19 bit untidy. Over time, if people keep doing that, it creates that buzz of discontentment about the
04:26 condition of the golf course when actually, the greenkeepers and the people working at the golf
04:29 club, it's not their fault. Yes, you've got to be particularly careful on short par 3s or holes
04:35 where a lot of people are playing short approach shot, a full wedge shot in. Those are the holes
04:40 to really look out for. Obviously, at time of year when conditions are soft, you've really got to be
04:45 on the ball with the pitch mark repair scenario. Yes, and also, let's not forget divots as well.
04:49 You don't get relief from divots, as you know, when playing golf. If you've made the divot and
04:54 it's clearly visible and you've got it there, take the time to put it back. It makes all the
04:57 difference, doesn't it? It does. The last thing you want is to end up in a divot knowing that
05:01 you're going to have to play it. Yes. I'm going to repair this pitch mark here,
05:05 and then I'm going to hit my putt.
05:07 I'll see that.
05:30 Okay, so when it comes to etiquette, this one is probably up there with the most important
05:34 things you need to know, and that's about the pace of play. If golfers have one thing in common,
05:37 it's that they don't enjoy playing really slow rounds of golf where the pace of play
05:42 grinds to a hawk chest. What can people do to make sure that doesn't happen?
05:44 Well, there's a very long list of things you can do, which we've investigated before,
05:50 but we don't want to go into all of those here. If I was to pick out one that particularly bugs me,
05:54 maybe it would be the group gets the next tee, the person who should be playing marks his scorecard,
05:59 works out what everyone else took on that hole before actually getting up and hitting their shot,
06:04 and that just slows the whole thing down. There's plenty of time after that person's played their
06:08 shot to then sort the scorecard out. Yes, and then there's things like ambling
06:12 around the golf course. No one's asking you to race around the course, but just be aware of those
06:15 around you. Then I think the one that bugs me is when people watch a playing partner hit,
06:20 and then they start figuring out how far they've got to go to the flag, what the wind's doing,
06:25 et cetera, et cetera. It's small things like that. It might not seem like a big deal, but the more it
06:30 happens, the slower play becomes, and actually that causes a knock-on effect. Just be aware,
06:35 try and keep the pace of play up, and it shouldn't be a problem.
06:37 Yes. What?
06:48 Is that a bit-- Quite a loud zip, isn't it? Sorry about that.
06:53 Point here is about making noises when somebody else is about to play, whether that's a zip or
06:58 clanging coins or keys or tees in your pocket, something like that. Be very careful.
07:03 Very careful. People like to concentrate on their shot as much as possible. It's only a few seconds,
07:10 and I don't think it's too unreasonable to be as quiet as possible while they're doing so.
07:15 Yes. I can understand the point that people are making when they're thinking, "Well, golfers can
07:18 be a bit precious in this scenario," but it would be different if there was a constant amount of
07:22 noise in the background, but so often there isn't, and then a sudden noise can put you off.
07:27 Make no mistake, Jez, if you did that when we were playing, I think I'd probably blame
07:30 you if I hit a poor shot in that scenario. Any excuse.
07:33 Okay, Jez, this one is another one about the condition of the golf course,
07:43 in particular bunkers, which I appreciate during COVID times, this is tricky.
07:47 What's the advice, do you think, for people here? Well, I think the advice is to try and
07:51 leave the bunker in the kind of condition you'd hope to find it in. Although we haven't got rakes,
07:56 I think some clubs are issuing players with portable rakes, aren't they, but not many.
08:01 It's just do the best you can do with what you've got at your disposal. For me,
08:06 I think smoothing with the feet is usually the best option in most kinds of sand.
08:11 Which I think is probably what's happened here. I have to say, in the current climate that we're
08:16 playing in at the moment, I'm pretty happy with this lie here. Whoever has been here before me
08:21 has done their best to make sure that anyone coming after is going to get a fairly good lie.
08:25 I've got a fairly good lie and no real excuses there. You haven't, so I'll give you 12 feet
08:31 would be a good shot still from here. Slight downslope. That's it. Well, come back down the
08:39 slope. Might do. No, in the summer it might have done, but that's not a bad effort from there,
08:44 is it? That's obviously so much easier to play than if that had been in a
08:48 filthy great foot markers you've got just behind you there.
08:51 Exactly. Now I need to do my part.
08:52 Okay. Another one that relates to pace of play, Jez, what are we talking about here?
09:04 We're basically talking about slower groups letting faster groups through.
09:08 You're slow for whatever reason that day, you're paired with a couple of guys who aren't the
09:12 quickest or one of you is having a complete howler, it's backing up behind you. Just let
09:17 the group behind through. They'll be on their way and happy. You'll feel less pressured and it's
09:21 just a better situation for everybody. Okay. Really simple advice. If you're in a slower
09:25 group, let the faster group through. There you have it. That's our look at seven
09:30 etiquette mistakes. As we said quite a lot in this video, it's all just about having an awareness,
09:34 having an awareness for what you're doing and for the players around you just to make sure that
09:39 you're enjoyed to play with and that you're keeping the golf course in as good a condition
09:42 as you possibly can. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.
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