Who plays stroke-and-distance?

[Nick B.]

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2 strokes +distance is more acceptable.

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???

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i just meant 2 strokes and drop by the stake.

[TripleH68]

The thing here is if there is some doubt that your ball is out of bounds you should be hitting a provision ball. If you are not aware of provisional ball procedures it is a simple rule that helps out a lot.

Now I understand there are times where you think your ball is in the rough near some trees on the right. You walk 200 yards up to the spot and after searching for two or three minutes, no ball. In a casual round I have no problem with dropping a ball near where you think it should be and taking two strokes(or taking no penalty).

[K-Slay]

If I know or think it went OB I always re-tee/re-hit/play a provisional. If I can't find a ball, I do not go back to the tee or back to my last spot because that slows up the whole group.

[tiger_hall]

casual rounds are their too improve your game..
by not playing to the rules is hardly ruining your handicap..

[Warik]

If I hit a ball that I think might be OB I'll hit a provisional. If I hit a ball that I DON'T think is lost or OB, but I can't find it when I get to where it's supposed to be (happened twice in my last round), I'll drop and take a 2 stroke penalty as opposed to just 1 stroke.

I'll then most likely score a 9 on the hole and it won't matter what I did.

[tiger_hall]

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If I hit a ball that I think might be OB I'll hit a provisional. If I hit a ball that I DON'T think is lost or OB, but I can't find it when I get to where it's supposed to be (happened twice in my last round), I'll drop and take a 2 stroke penalty as opposed to just 1 stroke.

I'll then most likely score a 9 on the hole and it won't matter what I did.

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PERFECT

[Acein8ter]

Hit a provisional

[Weatherhead03]

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Hit a provisional

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This is the clear winner.

[JavaNut]

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OP, anyone who answers yes always is a liar or mistaken. No one knows all the rules well enough to answer "always".

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Sorry but you are not 100% correct. I have played 1,000+ rounds of golf without ever being close to infringing the rules. How you may ask? By playing the ball where it lies, not improving lies, hitting a provisional when needed and allowed etc. It does help that in most of Europe your handicap is based on stableford points, so that you have the option of picking up the ball if one hole gets too messy.

As for not knowing the rules in every detail, you don't have to, but if you want to extract every little bit of advantage out of the rules you are right, then only very few people can do that by heart.

I agree though that most players in general have no idea of the most basic rules and how they work, so they are in fact inable to play every round by the rules.

How I can be sure of the statement above about me always playing by the rules? I have a certification in the rules, and I know how to spot a situation where there can be doubt, and how to avoid it. (ie if your ball is under a low tree where you will not be able to take a stance fairly without breking branches, why not get a better lie by dropping according to the rule about unplayable lie? Or playing backhanded sideways?).

Whenever I am refereeing a golf match, I will need to look into the decisions to find the right answer as any PGA tour official always will do. Why make a mistake when you might find the right answer in your book?

[Poker CPA]

"casual rounds are their too improve your game..
by not playing to the rules is hardly ruining your handicap."

And when you play in tournaments your only respond is "everyone is a sandbagger". One or two shots is big.