How often do you hear this question on a casual Wednesday stableford. I’m amazed at how often it happens and find low markers the worst offenders… others?

yep i’m hearing you. It doesn’t bother me to be honest, but its surprising that guys claim to be unaware of this rule. i played two top lads on the weekend, one of which said to me “what did you hit there?” after i put one on on a par3. He plays off 9. The other guy said to him, you’re not allowed to do that, and this guy seemed to honestly be unaware. funny, because he knew every other rule in the book though!

is this for real? am I not allowed to ask my fellow golfer about the club they just hit during comp? wow I didn’t know this.

rule 8! 2 shot penalty or loss of hole in match play. Technically you shouldn’t do it in a 2BBB with an individual in conjunction either. I’m not a rules nazi btw. I reckon this is the most breached rule in golf & at times it does irk me

thanks for clarifying it aidan … but so far during comp no one seems to care or aware of the the breach when I asked the question. It doesn’t bother me if someone ask me this question. But seriously I’ll be hated if I enforce this rule.

It’s only if he asks you before he plays his shot. If he asks you after everyone has hit, that’s okay and entirely up to you if you wish to tell him.

Brett

I know what you mean when it’s common practice you wouldn’t feel right… maybe you should just refrain from asking others, then you won’t get any nasty surprises when some-one decides to enforce the rule on you.

The point I’m making I guess is are some of the rules “negotiable” or aren’t they? My view is a rule is a rule but like you I don’t “call” people on this one – having said that I won’t just ask a guy what he hit in a comp the same way I won’t ask some-one which way a putt breaks. I try to be independent.

I get asked that a lot as well. Most of the time its after I hit into a par 4 or 5 as most of the guys I play with wouldn’t ask me on a par 3 until after they’ve hit themselves.

You’d be amazed how much ‘tipping’ goes on even at the very highest levels – I’ve seen guys do it in scratch cups!

If someone asks me and I’m not interested in telling them I make up a name of a club.

e.g.

“What did you hit there?”
“Oh, I used my nurdling iron”

:)

right thanks brett … ok I get it … I’m normally the first person to tee off then I watch everyone in my group complete their tee shots. I normally ask them as we walk onto the fairways. “Nice shot mate, what did you hit?”

Another crazy rule I learnt not so long ago was You can’t hold the flag while putting. is this true?

yeah i try to observe the rules if I am aware of them. When I started playing in comp I used to ground my sand wedge in sand bunkers then realised it’s forbidden.

last year I asked a tour player after he hit gir on 185 m par 3 during Australian Open. His caddy replied “6-iron”

You can hold the flag, but it cannot be touching the ground!

okay … that makes more sense, you are more stable if the flag is grounded.

Ok so the rule says you are not allowed to ask for advice during a round of golf. Advice is defined;

“Advice
“Advice’’ is any counsel or suggestion that could influence a player in
determining his play, the choice of a club or the method of making
a stroke.
Information on the Rules, distance or matters of public information, such
as the position of hazardsor the flagstickon the putting green, is not
advice.”

So my interpretation of that is I can ask you what club you played after I have played my shot as well, there is no way anyone could say having that knowledge is going to influence the way I am playing my game. That part of the game is already over.

i thought it was against the rules to ask at any time, but if i ask i say “how many eggs did you have for breakfast” and the response will be something like “pitching wedge eggs”

This is a standard given. The rule is old, how old I don’t know, but you aren’t allowed to ask for any information (except from a partner) that might have a bearing on your choice of clubs or how you might hit a shot. This means after you have played your shot you can ask anything you like, the shot is played.

And this thread should be in the rules section.

A young guy at my club DQ’d his father a couple of months ago. Apparently his dad asked him what he hit on a par 3, he said “you can’t ask me that” and proceeded to penalise him two shots, his dad thoguht he was joking and didn’t penalise himself and submitted an incorrect scorecard!

That rule featured in the club newsletter the next week!!

A young guy at my club DQ’d his father a couple of months ago. Apparently his dad asked him what he hit on a par 3, he said “you can’t ask me that” and proceeded to penalise him two shots, his dad thoguht he was joking and didn’t penalise himself and submitted an incorrect scorecard!

That rule featured in the club newsletter the next week!!

you’re joking! that is ridiculous!.. was the son young?- ie. was he still living at home with his parents?

A young guy at my club DQ’d his father a couple of months ago. Apparently his dad asked him what he hit on a par 3, he said “you can’t ask me that” and proceeded to penalise him two shots, his dad thoguht he was joking and didn’t penalise himself and submitted an incorrect scorecard!

That rule featured in the club newsletter the next week!!

How can a question about a club hit on a previous hole influence a players choice of club or how to play a shot?

The committee needs a rocket up it….

A young guy at my club DQ’d his father a couple of months ago. Apparently his dad asked him what he hit on a par 3, he said “you can’t ask me that” and proceeded to penalise him two shots, his dad thought he was joking and didn’t penalise himself and submitted an incorrect scorecard!

I’m presuming it was before his dad hit.

Good on the kid. Maybe he’d had his Xbox confiscated the night before. ;-)

You can hold the flag, but it cannot be touching the ground!

Not true. The requirement is just that you can’t use the flag for support to aid you in making your stroke.

Dad should have known better, I wouldn’t ask my son/daughter what he/she was going to hit if we were playing comp….they’d most likely lie anyway… ;-)

they’d most likely lie anyway… ;-)

Bear in mind that it is just as much a penalty to purposely mislead.

There are relevant Decisions on all these issues: 8-1/6, 8-1/7, 8-1/8 and 8-1/9.

Regarding asking about which club was used AFTER you have hit or on a previous hole, Decisions on the Rules 2008-09 refers:

Decision 8-1/6 Asking Opponent or Fellow-Competitor What Club He Used at Previous Hole

Decision 8-1/7 Asking Opponent or Fellow-Competitor What Club He Used at Previous Hole. No breach

The R&A St Andrews has a great website for rules, decisions and a nice rules quiz. http://www.randa.org/

I think the whole concept stinks personally. Over bearing application of the “rules” tends to happen regularly at the club level. At the end of the day who cares, you still have to hit the shot!!

You can just as easily go look in their bag and see which iron they have!! There is no rule against this and you still get the info you are desiring. Sometimes application of the rules goes too far where it really doesn’t count!!

I don’t think it’s an ‘overbearing’ application…it’s a rule isn’t it?
It’s the same as you can’t hit from in front of the markers or COR limits otherwise where do you draw the line?

You can look in a players bag to see what he’s hitting at anytime, but if he’s put a towel or something over them it’s a penalty to remove whatever’s covering them to look.
I’m pretty sure both players can be penalised; both the ‘asker’ and the ‘askee’ but only if it’s before any of them plays their shot.

Once when caddying at the Jacobs Creek I was chipped by my player because I was about to look through one of the Tee block officials’ binoculars at a Blonde in the distance.
He told me he would have been penalised by the Tour body for outside assistance as I could technically have seen the flag position and aided in his club selection.
Apparently if you use a compass to locate the flag if cutting a dogleg you can be penalised also, I don’t how this rule goes with some Tour’s now allowing GPS usage when playing.