Tina's Tips

YOU'VE BEEN ASKED TO PLAY - HERE'S HOW TO GET INVITED BACK!

Getting on the course to play a “real” round of golf can be intimidating. Will you know how to act on a golf course? Will you be unsure of yourself and the rules? Here's a quick primer of rules of etiquette - that can help make your first round of golf go easier. Remember, golfers really don’t care how well you play; they care about your pace of play and your attitude. Realizing that it’s just a game will help keep it in perspective. A positive attitude not only helps you play better, it helps your playing partners relax. So next time you’re invited to play, no matter what your ability, remember that practicing good etiquette will help you and your friends enjoy the round.

Make a Tee Time, Then be on Time For most rounds of golf you play, you'll want to reserve a tee time. You can get a tee time by calling the golf course the day before (or several days prior, depending on a course's policy) you want to play and requesting a specific time. Once your group has reserved a tee time, say, 10:14 a.m., it's really nice to actually make the tee time. Many golfers arrive about 45 min – 1 hr before their tee time to check in and spend the time wisely by hitting a few balls on the driving range, and putting on the practice putting green. If a tee time is missed, your group might lose its spot and have to wait around for another opening, which can take hours on a busy day. So while tee times are not always required, it's a good idea to have one. Note – If you’re treating the group to this round of golf, be sure to be the first to arrive or make arrangements with the pro shop in advance so there are no uncomfortable moments when your guests arrive. Same goes for F & B – if it’s your treat, make that arrangement known when you arrive.

Dress the Part Many golf courses have dress codes. Find out what the dress code is at the course you're playing and dress appropriately. A pair of khaki shorts or slacks and a collared golf shirt will almost always meet the requirements, but it's a good idea to check beforehand. Golf shoes are usually not required, and golf gloves are always up to the golfer, but both are good things to have and use.

Be prepared Think like a Boy Scout—do you have the equipment you need? Make sure you have plenty of tees and, most importantly, plenty of golf balls. After all, if it's your first time out, you'll probably be losing a lot of balls! When you hit your ball out of bounds, making a trip back to your bag for an extra ball takes unnecessary time, so keep an extra in your pocket. Slow play is the number one complaint golfers have about other golfers. If you’re a beginner, being prepared will go a long way toward helping you keep up with your playing partners. The rules place a limit of 14 clubs in each golfer's bag. There is no minimum number of clubs you must have.

Teeing Off Everyone talks about pace of play. What most golfers don’t realize is that the set of tees you play from determines the pace from the start. The golfer who insists on playing from the back tees, then spends ten minutes searching for his ball on every hole, does not impress anyone. There was a time when the “forward” tees were called the ladies tees; however, you will now find they are referred to as “forward, middle or back” tees. Play the course from the tee box that best suits your ability, not your gender. It doesn’t make sense to play from the back tees if your skill level doesn’t allow you to get the ball close to the green in regulation. On the teeing ground, you must place your ball between the tee markers, either even with them or up to two club lengths behind them, but never in front of them. Tee markers are usually small, colored cones or stones or some other similar indicator. For example, if you're playing from the white tees, look for markers painted white. As for who tees off first ...

Honors, Away and Ready Play Playing “ready golf” is acceptable in a friendly, recreational round. If a playing partner is “away” but not ready to hit (for example, he’s searching for his lost ball), volunteer to hit first. Of course, it’s always polite to ask, “Do you mind if I go ahead?” As long as no one is in danger of getting hit, you should focus on getting to your ball and being ready to play at the first opportunity. In most cases, if you wait until you’re playing partner has hit to walk to your ball, size up your shot and select a club, you’ve waited too long. Ready golf can be played when a group is trying to speed up the round. Just so you know, in a competitive environment, the player who has "honors" tees off first. On the first tee, this can be decided randomly (draw straws, play paper-rock-scissors, whatever). On ensuing tees, the player with the best score on the preceding hole goes first, the second-best score goes second, and so on. Ties carry over to the next tee box, so you keep your place in the rotation until you beat someone on a hole. "Honors" determines who tees off first; what about the order of play on shots from the fairway? He who is "away" (or "out") leads the way. The player who is farthest from the hole always plays first, from any position on the golf course other than the tee box.

Play It As It Lies If you’re new to the game and you are not keeping score, feel free to move the ball to a location that will make your next shot easy. Trying to play by strict rules will only create anxiety and make the game more difficult. Don’t worry, you’re allowed to “cheat” for a while. Just so you know, one of the most fundamental principles of golf - an idea that much of the Rules of Golf is built around - is "play it as it lies." What that means is pretty simple - don't move or touch the ball! Where it comes to rest, whatever state it is in, you most likely have to play it as is. There are exceptions spelled out in the Rules of Golf, but if you want to play by the rules, a good rule of thumb is this: Don't move the ball, don't touch it, don't pick it up unless you are certain that you are allowed to do so under the Rules. One exception that is always in place: You are allowed to pick up and clean the ball when it's on the putting green (place a ballmarker just behind the ball before picking it up on the putting green).

Keep Up the Pace New golfers are already nervous and worried about holding people up so it is important to just relax. Being prepared and trying to use your time wisely will go a long way in speeding your pace of play. Don't wait until it is your turn to figure out which club to use, or to determine the line of a putt; use the time while others are hitting to make those decisions, so that when it's your turn you can step right up and play. Should you take a practice swing or not? YES, it’s okay to take one or two (max). This relaxes you and gives you “feel” for the swing you’re trying to make. To just step up and swing without any preparation will probably produce a poor shot, hence making you play slower. A pre-shot routine that takes 10 – 12 seconds is acceptable. Anything longer will become annoying to your playing partners. Your goal is to keep pace with the group ahead of you. That means that you are hitting your tee shot when the group ahead has just completed hitting their second shot. As they are walking off the green, you’re arriving at your second shot, etc. If you are “on pace”, relax. If you’re not, find ways to speed up – if score isn’t an issue, either pick up your ball and advance forward (if score isn’t an issue) or play a scramble for a couple of shots/holes. If your group is slower than the group immediately behind yours - if your group is holding up another group - it's good etiquette to allow the faster group to play through. Not all groups will want to do this, but many will, and all that do will be very grateful for your show of etiquette.

Realize You’re Not Alone It’s easy to get so focused on your own game that you forget to pay attention to anything else. But watching where your own shots and your playing partners’ land will help keep the game moving and earn your playing partners’ gratitude. If someone hits a shot out of bounds, learn to mark the place where the ball exited the course, so you have a starting point to look. And please, don’t get too attached to your golf balls. If you can’t find a ball within a few minutes, abandon the search so you don’t hold up the other players. I promise you will find plenty to make up for your lost ones.

Mind Your Greenside Manners This is good advice everywhere on the course, but etiquette is most noticeable on the green, when players are close together. Once everyone in your group is on the green, the person closest to the pin should mark his or her ball, and ask if the others can see the hole. If so, pull the flagstick and place it well out of the way. Get to your ball as soon as possible, avoiding anyone else’s putting line, and start lining up your own putt. After you’ve putted your ball, if you’re within a few feet of the hole, go ahead and putt out—this helps speed play. In a friendly game, you can “give” putts inside the leather. When all players have putted out, exit the green quickly, get in your cart and, holding your putter, drive to the next hole. Wait until you arrive at the next tee box to write your score down, you will be surprised at how much time it will save.

Out of Bounds & Lost Balls Rule for new golfers: If you hit your ball in an area where it is unlikely to be found, don’t spend much time worrying about it. You probably aren’t keeping score anyway so drop one and keep going. Just so you know, out-of-bounds should be clearly marked around the golf course, usually through the use of white stakes or white lines. The penalty for OB is stroke-plus-distance; that is, add one stroke to your score, then go back to where you hit the shot from and hit it again. Of course, that takes time. At busy golf courses you won't have that time because there is likely to be a group behind yours waiting to play. So when you think you've hit a ball out of bounds, you'll need to play a second ball (called a "provisional ball") off the tee so you won't have to retrace your steps if the first ball really is OB. Make sure to announce to your playing partners that you are hitting a provisional, then re-tee after everyone else has hit and play your provisional tee ball. If you find your first ball and it is actually in bounds, then you play the first ball. If you can't find your first ball, or find it out of bounds, then play your provisional ball (in which case your provisional ball off the tee counts as your third stroke, so your next shot will be your fourth). The same applies to lost balls. If your shot goes deep into the woods, the penalty for a lost ball is stroke-plus-distance, so hit a provisional. (Balls hit into water or a hazard are treated differently, see Hazards below.)

Hazards Water hazards should be clearly marked on golf courses. Yellow stakes or lines indicate a water hazard; red stakes or lines indicate a lateral water hazard (a lateral water hazard is a water hazard that runs alongside, rather than across, the line of play). You can try to play a ball that is in the water, but that's generally a bad idea. Instead, for "regular" water hazards, take a 1-stroke penalty and drop a ball at any point behind the spot where your original ball crossed into the water hazard, but on the same line of play (think of it this way: look at the flag, and look at the spot where your ball crossed into the water hazard; now imagine a straight line drawn back from the flagstick to that spot; then imagine that line extending back behind you - that's the line on which you must drop). For lateral water hazards, drop within two club lengths of the spot where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard (no nearer the hole), or on the opposite side of the hazard at an equidistant spot.

Course Care and Safety Golf courses are there to be enjoyed by all golfers, so part of your responsibility is taking care of the course while you are on it. If you are using a golf cart, always observe the posted cart rules. Never drive a golf cart close to or through a hazard (bunkers, ponds, etc.) or within 50 yards of a putting green. Always repair your ballmarks (also called pitch marks) on the green. Ballmarks are indentations sometimes made in the putting green when a ball thumps to the surface. Always repair your divots in the fairway. Divots are the scrapes or chunks of turf sliced off (or dug up) by iron shots. Repairing a divot might mean pouring sand or seed into the spot of the divot. If sand or seed are provided by the course (usually in a container that rides on the golf cart), that's what they want you to do. Always rake sand bunkers after you've hit your shot to smooth out the sand so that ensuing golfers don't have to play out of your footprints. (And by the way, another basic rule to know is that, when in a bunker, you are not allowed to ground the club; that is, your club must not touch the sand except in the process of making the stroke.) And always be aware of other golfers on the course, especially during your swing. Golf clubs can do serious damage if they strike another golfer, and so, too, can golf balls at close range. Don't play your shot until the group ahead is out of range.

Tip When Necessary As for tipping: Yes, you might have to tip at some golf courses. At municipal courses tipping is almost never an issue. If playing a private, semiprivate or upscale public course, bring some extra bills to tip the "cart jockeys" (the guys or gals who might greet you on arrival with a cart, or carry your clubs to and from your car) and the beverage cart drivers (the guys or gals who sell drinks around some courses from a well-stocked golf cart).