What's the DUMBEST Rule in golf?

[OKHC]

Big Shooter, you've misinterpreted the rule.

[Clipless]

If you hit it on the fairway you "should" get to hit it off fairway grass and I think it is a horrible rule. It happens very rarely I agree but if it happens to you in a match on the 18th and your are tied its tough to swallow.

It is however a rule that we must all play by in a sanctioned event.

[rulie]

If you hit it on the fairway you "should" get to hit it off fairway grass and I think it is a horrible rule. It happens very rarely I agree but if it happens to you in a match on the 18th and your are tied its tough to swallow.

It is however a rule that we must all play by in a sanctioned event.

Well stated, and, in fact, in every round (unless you choose not to play by the Rules, and the choice is yours to make)

[xrox]

Not specifically rules and some have been changes for while but I've always felt the following:

Dumbest rule for me:

#1 is signing an incorrect scorecard (obsolete for pros)

others:

TV viewer call ins
Hitting out of a divot
Ball moving on the green (whatever reason, wind, accident....etc)
Ball hitting yourself
Stroke and distance (OB, lost ball...etc)

[ColinL]

Not specifically rules and some have been changes for while but I've always felt the following:

Dumbest rule for me:

#1 is signing an incorrect scorecard (obsolete for pros)

others:

TV viewer call ins
Hitting out of a divot
Ball moving on the green (whatever reason, wind, accident....etc)
Ball hitting yourself
Stroke and distance (OB, lost ball...etc)

Obselete for pros? The same rules apply throughout the game from amateur rabbit to World No 1 pro.

Be of good cheer; the future is bright:

There is now a local rule available which removes the penalty for accidentally moving the ball on the green. That will become part of the rules next year.

Next year there will be no penalty for the ball hitting yourself, your equipment or your caddie.

Next year there will be a local rule available allowing you to drop a ball near where it went out of bounds or was lost at a cost of 2 strokes.

[xrox]

Obselete for pros? The same rules apply throughout the game from amateur rabbit to World No 1 pro.

If I can look up the 100% accurate leaderboard online, for every PGA tournament, in real time, there is no need for this asinine rule IMO. Hence the "obsolete for Pros".

[aaagc]

If I'm falling as I enter a bunker to play my shot, and I use my club to break my fall, is that really "testing the sand"

No. And there is no penalty for doing so. Perhaps it would be worth checking the rule

[aaagc]

If I can look up the 100% accurate leaderboard online, for every PGA tournament, in real time, there is no need for this asinine rule IMO. Hence the "obsolete for Pros".

The guys who record the scores for the leaderboard are not official markers. They are often not aware of penalties incurred. Leaderboards are not always right at the time.

[Soft Hackle]

You're much more likely to end up with a good lie in the rough vs getting a bad lie in the fairway.

I don't like the lost ball rule. If you hit a ball that you're virtually certain will be found - say just off the fairway in the first cut. It finds its way in to clover patch and you can't locate it. On most public courses, by the time you realize the rules are sending you back to the tee, there is already the next group waiting there. 2 strokes, 3 strokes? I don't really care, I just want to finish my round within the rules.

[Fredk]

You're okay with playing out of a few centimetres, but not out of an inch?

You need a refresher on measurements, then we can get back to talking about rules!

You may want to re-read the other scenarios I gave, as I don't think you understood the contradictions with your approach.

I'll also toss out that you generally don't have to play out of a divot on the tee.

Read centimeters, thought millimeters. Whatever. Shallow divots are not a big deal. Huge gouges are, regardless of how they are measured.

[Benz]

If I'm falling as I enter a bunker to play my shot, and I use my club to break my fall, is that really "testing the sand"

No, it isn't, therefore it's not a penalty.

[Benz]

Next year there will be a local rule available allowing you to drop a ball near where it went out of bounds or was lost at a cost of 2 strokes.

I was aware of the new rule (assuming that a given course employs the appropriate local rule) regarding a lost ball. However, I am not sure whether said rule applies to a ball which comes to rest out of bounds.

[ColinL]

I was aware of the new rule (assuming that a given course employs the appropriate local rule) regarding a lost ball. However, I am not sure whether said rule applies to a ball which comes to rest out of bounds.

It will.

[Benz]

It will.

Understood.

I hate nothing (not even loud music on the course) more than slow play. That said, this particular new rule was not necessary and will be severely abused, therefore IMO it qualifies as somewhat 'dumb'.

Most players don't play by the rules anyway. Those that do play by the rules usually have the presence of mind to hit a provisional ball (thus maintaining pace of play by eliminating the need to return to a spot to replay a stroke). So, rather than adding new rules, why did the governing bodies not simply adopt a campaign to enlighten and encourage use of existing rules that were designed expressly to accomplish the stated goals of the new rules?

I would expect that many players will not check to see if the course on which they're playing has adopted the appropriate local rule. Instead, they will simply assume that the new rules apply everywhere at all times.

The fact that the rule allows the player to 'approximate' (my term) where the original ball lay and then take relief based on said approximation is just going to be widely abused in favour of the player. As mentioned earlier in this thread, how many times have we all seen someone searching for a ball in an area nowhere near where the ball was ultimately found. Why would a player not 'approximate' that his ball was 50 yards further down the fairway if he knows that he will get a better drop by doing so? This rule has made facts (i.e. ball IS lost or ball IS out of bounds) irrelevant in favour of an estimate made by the player himself.
Introducing this approach makes the concept of the rigour that has been applied to 'KVC' somewhat quaint.

It will be years (if ever) before players realize that proper application of this rule includes a two-stroke penalty, not one. For example, after dropping a ball for a lost tee shot, the player will be making his fourth stroke (not his third) from the fairway. So, unless the specific requirements of this rule (i.e. procedures and penalty) are made clear, then there is a risk of a perception taking root that the new penalties for lost and OB are the same as those for a lateral hazard (i.e. point of entry and one stroke).

Finally, as I have stated when this new rule was announced, I believe that its true goal is to make the game easier by 1) limiting the impact on a player's score of a lost ball or a ball out of bounds, and 2) allowing a player to use his own judgement rather than facts to determine how he should proceed under the rules. If nothing else, the fact that the new rule specifies that a player gets to drop in the fairway would indicate that it's more about 'ease of play' rather than 'pace of play'. Just sayin'.

[Galted]

I have never seen golf rules lean toward ease of play. Most are trying to make rules more important than actual strokes taken. Ease of play would have made it one stroke penalty like other hazards.