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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00:00Hello and welcome to Prince's Golf Club and this video on seven etiquette mistakes.
00:04Now, in the rules of golf, the word etiquette actually doesn't exist anymore.
00:08Instead, it's covered off by the standards of player conduct, which is rule 1.2 in the book,
00:14and it's all of those things that ensure that you're a joy for other people to play with
00:18as you go around the course, but also that you're keeping the course in as good a condition
00:22as you possibly can. Let's head out now and take a look at the seven
00:26etiquette mistakes that are well worth avoiding.
00:30This one is about where to stand and where not to stand when someone's about to hit a golf shot.
00:38Now, obviously, you don't want to get too close to anyone for obvious reasons,
00:41but then beyond that, there are certain places that you can stand that could be
00:45slightly distracting for golfers. Jess, what would your advice be here for people?
00:48Well, having played for a number of years, I think most people on the tee would
00:52prefer you to stand over here where you're in there, as long as you're not doing anything
00:56distracting where they can see you. I think it's when there's people lurking around behind you that
01:02people get a little bit edgy about it. I don't know why. Maybe they think they're not quite sure
01:06how close you're standing and they worry about hitting you, but I think people would much prefer
01:11to see you in their eyeline than not, as long as you're not doing anything rummaging around
01:15in your bag for another ball or zipping something up and doing anything distracting.
01:19Yes. One thing I would add to this is that if you're playing into the sun
01:23and your visibility down the fairway feels like it's a bit restricted, it can be useful to have
01:28someone slightly more behind to be able to catch the fly to the ball a bit better. On the whole,
01:33we'd say for right-handers to the right of the golfer, left-handers to the left of the golfer,
01:37it's probably the best option when it comes to standing in the right place.
01:41Then once you're stood there, Jess? Yes. Obviously, standing in this spot,
01:44you're in their eyeline, so make sure you're not doing anything distracting,
01:47so don't rummage around for another ball or do a zip-up. Wait for the player to play
01:52and then it's your turn to do whatever you want to do then. Just give them a bit of time to play
01:56their shot and then do whatever you need to do. Yes, it's about awareness. Ultimately,
02:01a lot of this video is that just having that awareness for other people, making sure that
02:05you're not doing anything that's going to potentially distract them from the shot they're
02:08about to hit. Jess, do you mind? Yes, sorry. This one is about shadows. You might not think
02:25it's a big deal, but actually, if you're trying to play a golf shot and somebody else's shadow
02:30is in the way, it can be quite distracting, can't it? It can be distracting and people
02:35might think, well, golfers are quite fragile, aren't they? They should be able to cope with
02:38that, but this is a sport where you're starting the movement. It's not a reactive sport and
02:43anything that distracts your eyeline just as you're about to take the club back or take the
02:48putter away can really throw you, can't it? We all know that. It can. I think on the green,
02:52if you're trying to putt through shadows, it can be quite hard to pick your line. Then,
02:55in other areas of the golf course, if you've got your shadow there and then the head of Jess's
02:59putter here just moves slightly, that can really put you off. It's just those small things.
03:04Like so many in this video, it's just having that modicum of awareness for your surroundings
03:08for other people just to make sure that you're not doing anything that's putting them off.
03:18So this one is about the condition of the golf course. Jess, what do people need to know?
03:21Well, there is an obligation at the very start of the rules to care for the course. It's rule 1.2,
03:27standards of player conduct. Part of caring for the course is to repair pitch marks and
03:33repair divots, repair and replace and repair divots. We have all seen pictures on social
03:39media of greens littered with pitch marks, haven't we? I think some clubs have even
03:44gone out and placed a ball at the point of every pitch mark just to try and emphasize the point.
03:49It's quite a scary picture when you see it like that, badly repaired pitch marks.
03:53A lot of clubs I've been at have a big, enormous pitch mark repairman called MORT,
03:59which stands for Make One, Repair Two, which isn't a bad philosophy.
04:02Yes. So even if there's a pitch mark here that my ball has made when it landed on the green,
04:08I'll repair this. But if I also see another one nearby, I'll also repair that as well. It's just
04:13a good practice to get into because if you don't, you will be leaving these little marks around the
04:18place that will just make the hole feel a little bit untidy. Over time, if people keep doing that,
04:23it creates that kind of buzz of discontentment about the condition of the golf course when
04:27actually the green keepers and the people working at the golf club, it's not their fault.
04:31Yes. You've got to be particularly careful on short par threes or holes where a lot of people
04:36are playing, short approach shot, a full wedge shot in. Those are the holes to really look out
04:41for. Obviously, time of year when conditions are soft, you've really got to be on the ball with
04:46the pitch mark repair scenario. Yes. Also, let's not forget divots as well. You don't get relief
04:50from divots, as you know, when playing golf. If you've made the divot and it's clearly visible
04:55and you've got it there, take the time to put it back. It makes all the difference, doesn't it?
04:58It does. The last thing you want is to end up in a divot knowing that you're going to
05:02have to play it. Yes. I'm going to repair this pitch mark here and then I'm going to hit my putt.
05:06I'll see that.
05:30Okay. When it comes to etiquette, this one is probably up there with the most important things
05:34you need to know. That's about the pace of play. If golfers have one thing in common,
05:38it's that they don't enjoy playing really slow rounds of golf where the pace of play
05:42grinds to a halt. Jess, what would people do to make sure that doesn't happen?
05:45Well, there's a very long list of things you can do, which we've investigated before,
05:50but we don't want to go into all of those here. If I was to pick out one that particularly bugs me,
05:54maybe it would be the group gets the next tee, the person who should be playing marks his scorecard,
05:59works out what everyone else took on that hole before actually getting up and hitting their shot
06:04and that just slows the whole thing down. There's plenty of time after that person's played their
06:08shot to then sort the scorecard out. Yes. Then there's things like ambling around the golf
06:12course. I mean, no one's asking you to race around the course, but just be aware of those
06:16around you. Then I think the one that bugs me is when people watch a playing partner hit
06:21and then they start figuring out how far they've got to go to the flag, what the wind's doing,
06:25et cetera, et cetera. It's small things like that. It might not seem like a big deal,
06:29but the more it happens, the slower play becomes and actually that causes a knock-on effect.
06:34Just be aware. Try and keep the pace of play up and it shouldn't be a problem.
06:47Yes. What? Oh, it was that bit. Quite a loud zip, isn't it? Sorry about that.
06:53Point here is about making noises when somebody else is about to play, whether that's a zip or
06:59clanging coins or keys or tees in your pocket, something like that. Be very careful.
07:04Very careful. People like to concentrate on their shot as much as possible. It's only a few seconds
07:11and I don't think it's too unreasonable to be as quiet as possible while they're doing so.
07:15Yes. I can understand the point that people are making when they're thinking, well,
07:18golfers can be a bit precious in this scenario, but it would be different if there was a constant
07:22amount of noise in the background, but so often there isn't and then a sudden noise can put you
07:26off. Make no mistake, Jez, if you did that while we were playing, I think I'd probably
07:30blame you if I hit a poor shot in that scenario. Any excuse.
07:40Okay, Jez, this one is another one about the condition of the golf course,
07:43in particular bunkers, which I appreciate during COVID times, this is tricky.
07:47What's the advice you think for people here? Well, I think the advice is to try and leave
07:51the bunker in the kind of condition you'd hope to find it in. Although we haven't got rakes,
07:56some clubs are issuing players with portable rakes, but not many. It's just to do the best
08:04you can do with what you've got at your disposal. For me, I think smoothing with the feet is usually
08:09the best option in most kinds of sand. Which I think is probably what's happened
08:14here. I have to say, in the current climate that we're playing in at the moment, I'm pretty happy
08:18with this lie here. Whoever has been here before me has done their best to make sure that anyone
08:23coming after is going to get a fairly good lie. I've got a fairly good lie and no real excuses.
08:28You haven't, so I'll give you 12 feet would be a good shot still from here. Slight downslope.
08:37That's it. Well, come back down the slope.
08:40Might do. No, in the summer it might have done, but that's not a bad effort from there,
08:44is it? And that's obviously so much easier to play than if that had been in a filthy
08:49great foot markers you've got just behind you there.
08:51Exactly, so now I need to do my part.
09:01Okay, so another one that relates to pace of play. Jez, what are we talking about here?
09:04We're basically talking about slower groups letting faster groups through.
09:09You're slow for whatever reason that day. You're paired with a couple of guys who aren't the
09:12quickest or one of you is having a complete howler. It's backing up behind you. Just let
09:17the group behind through. They'll be on their way and happy. You'll feel less pressured,
09:21and it's just a better situation for everybody. Okay, so really simple advice. If you're in a
09:25slower group, let the faster group through. There you have it. That's our look at seven
09:30etiquette mistakes. As we said quite a lot in this video, it's all just about having
09:34an awareness, having an awareness for what you're doing and for the players around you,
09:38just to make sure that you're enjoyed to play with and that you're keeping the golf course
09:41in a good condition as you possibly can. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.