Golf Etiquette

So today a Friend and I went golfing and had good time.  The weather was great and I actually did pretty good. But what I want to talk about is golf etiquette and how some just don't understand or care about it. 

The front nine we were cruising along, talking about who knows what, but having a good time.  Every time we got on the green we would fix our ball marks along with a few others, and of course we would comment of how people just don't care about the course or the etiquette of the game.  Then we come to a sand trap, that my ball just happened to be in, and there had been at least 3 other people in the trap that did not rake it out after they hit.  So we raked it all out and the grounds keeper actually thanked us for doing it.  Now these may be little things, but it is apart of golf to rake the sand or fix your ball mark.  With that being said those things did not really bother me that much.

There were only two of us so we figured we would come up on some people eventually.  That happened on about hole 7 and at first it was not a big deal.  We finish out 7 and then went number 8 which was a par 3.  This is when we started getting a little frustrated.  There were two women in front of us when we got to the tee, and we sat there for 15 minutes watching them.  Now mind you they had already teed off before we drove up to the tee.  Not only could they not hit the ball very well, they did not have a clue about the etiquette of the game.  They would not leave each others side even though their balls were not close to each other. Then when we thought they were on the green the cart was a good 35-40 yards away from the green.  The problem with that is they were both on the green looking at lord knows what, and one of them walked back to the cart to get a club and then back to the green.  Then she puts and misses, she then walks over to the cart to move it and then goes to finish the hole.  Now take your time if you want but when people are waiting then hurry up.  Anyway they finished finally and moved to number 9 so we teed off (2 balls apiece), finished the hole and then had to wait to tee off the next hole because they were just then getting off the tee. 

Our plan was to pass them at the turn but they did not go in the club house long enough for us to do that.  So we figured we would go up behind them on number 10 and they would just let us go, but no, they did not even acknowledge us.  So we went back to the club house and got a drink then back to 10 and we still had to wait.  So we just picked our balls up and skipped the hole.  Most people wouldn't care but the one lady started yelling at us saying we can't do that, but we had already talked to the starter and let him know we would be passing them.   Anyway she pulled up beside us and started yelling so we just ignored her.  We then played through another group ahead of us with no problem, just as it should be.  A few holes later a different starter came up to us because the lady had called and complained and was yelling at him. We told him what we did and said ok, laughed and drove off.  Then another ranger comes up and we told him the same thing and he just chuckled and said have fun.

The point is, if you are going to golf or learn to golf then learn the etiquette of the game also.  Fix your ball marks, rake your sand traps and let faster groups play through.  This is not a new concept, it has been this way for as long as I have been playing and my dad for that matter.  So enjoy the game and respect the game, the courses, and the other people out there.  I am not even going to go into controlling your temper while out there, because my own brother is the worst when it comes to that, but he does fix his ball marks and lets faster players, if there are any, play through. 

If you are a golfer I don't believe you would disagree with my opinion but hey stranger things have happened.