Beginner FAQ....Tips and Drills Inside-All Levels - Page 2

Butcho22 · #11 06-18-2007, 06:05 PM

Without getting too complicated here, no your friend cannot just hit another ball from the tee as his 2nd shot.

Butcho22 · #12 06-18-2007, 09:06 PM

Learning how to score

One of the things that helped improve my game the most was the two month period where I would only play from the ladies tees.

When you play from that short of a distance, you really get used to facing birdie putts. I remember shooting in the 60's my first time and even though it was from the ladies tees, it still gave me the confidence of knowing that I can put together a low round like that.

Now, obviously you won't step back to the tips right away and still be shooting the same types of scores, but there is something to be said for simply knowing you've shot a really low score (relative to your handicap/usual scores)

You will face many more birdie putts than you usually do, and that will help you get more comfortable standing over them. So even when you move back in distance, hopefully that confidence you've gained from playing shorter courses will help you score better than before.

rjoefish · #13 06-19-2007, 03:29 AM

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Without getting too complicated here, no your friend cannot just hit another ball from the tee as his 2nd shot.

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Would he score the 2nd shot off the tee as his 3rd? We're bad and play one free 'redo', but only on a drive, per round to make us feel a little better. We try to not do this when people are behind us (which is rarely because we play really fast, which is probably a reason we, or maybe just I, are bad) but I've seen people right ahead of us, that are slowing us down, retee and drive 3 or 4 times and I want to kill them since they aren't letting us through. I should be pissed at these people, right? What is the proper ettiquette here? Should you ever retee up and drive if its a playable ball?

Butcho22 · #14 06-19-2007, 02:47 PM

The USGA actually allows one mulligan off the first tee for rounds used for your handicap.

Other than that, no you shouldn't ever hit another tee shot if your first ball is playable.

And if people are hitting extra tee shots in front of you, you have every right to get pissed. Especially if there is room to play through them. That is a major no-no.

As for your first question...if you hit a tee shot, and you can find it, you can't just go back to the tee to hit another one.
This happened to Mickelson a few years back...he hit his tee shot in some deep brush. He then tried to make sure nobody would look for the ball, because he wanted to play his provisional ball that he had already hit from the tee. However, they found his ball so he had to take an unplayable lie, which left him with a much tougher shot.

Soooooo....

If your friend hooks one into the rough, and doesn't want to play from there, his only legal option is to take an unplayable lie using the rule posted above.

Evan · #15 06-19-2007, 03:01 PM

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As for your first question...if you hit a tee shot, and you can find it, you can't just go back to the tee to hit another one.
This happened to Mickelson a few years back...he hit his tee shot in some deep brush. He then tried to make sure nobody would look for the ball, because he wanted to play his provisional ball that he had already hit from the tee. However, they found his ball so he had to take an unplayable lie, which left him with a much tougher shot.

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There's a decent chance I'm wrong, but that was not my understanding of the rule. The reason Mickelson didn't want anyone to look was because it would invalidate his provisional, not the act of hitting a second ball all together. You can pretty much always take a stroke and distance penalty and replay your last shot, or so I thought. Once Mickelson found the first shot, his provisional (played in case the first shot was lost) was no longer in play. However, he could still take an unplayable from the first shot, that he found, and rehit it from the tee, for his third shot.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Butcho22 · #16 06-19-2007, 03:05 PM

But he has to keep the line between the original ball and the hole when taking an unplayable, which more often that not rules out hitting another from the tee, which was the case with the Mickelson scenario.
Also, if you can go back to the tee keeping a line between the original ball and the hole, you cannot place your ball on a tee, you must drop it and hit it off the ground.

EDIT: I'M REALLY SLOW TODAY, PLZ DISREGARD THIS NONSENSE AND SEE EVAN'S POST BELOW

Evan · #17 06-19-2007, 03:14 PM

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But he has to keep the line between the original ball and the hole when taking an unplayable, which more often that not rules out hitting another from the tee, which was the case with the Mickelson scenario.
Also, if you can go back to the tee keeping a line between the original ball and the hole, you cannot place your ball on a tee, you must drop it and hit it off the ground.

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Okay here's what I'm saying. You take an unplayable and you have these options:

1) 2 clublengths
2) keep the point between you and the hole go as far back as you want
3) rehit the previous shot

To my knowledge, 3 is a valid option. You seem to be saying it's not, correct?

Cornboy · #18 06-19-2007, 03:19 PM

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The USGA actually allows one mulligan off the first tee for rounds used for your handicap.

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Really? Can anyone show me where this might be in the rulebook? That'd be nice - I doink my first drive of the day more often than would be healthy.

Butcho22 · #19 06-19-2007, 03:24 PM

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The USGA actually allows one mulligan off the first tee for rounds used for your handicap.

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Really? Can anyone show me where this might be in the rulebook? That'd be nice - I doink my first drive of the day more often than would be healthy.

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I'll try to look it up, but one of my older golf buddies swears by this rule everytime he tees it up, and he's an honest guy.
I guess I should've verified it before posting, but like I said, he's not the lying type.

Butcho22 · #20 06-19-2007, 03:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But he has to keep the line between the original ball and the hole when taking an unplayable, which more often that not rules out hitting another from the tee, which was the case with the Mickelson scenario.
Also, if you can go back to the tee keeping a line between the original ball and the hole, you cannot place your ball on a tee, you must drop it and hit it off the ground.

[/ QUOTE ]
Okay here's what I'm saying. You take an unplayable and you have these options:

1) 2 clublengths
2) keep the point between you and the hole go as far back as you want
3) rehit the previous shot

To my knowledge, 3 is a valid option. You seem to be saying it's not, correct?

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[censored] me, I'm a work so please forgive me being an idiot today. Yes, 3 is a viable option.

The reason Mickelson didn't want to find his ball, was because he had already hit a perfect provisional shot, which he wouldn't be able to use because the ball hadn't been deemed unplayable as of yet.
If they never found the ball, he could play his provisional which is what he was hoping to do when he asked others to not look for it.

I'll go back and edit my post...