Please don’t tell them how to play a shot if you are not partners

Golf is an art – not a science. What is most important? Is it being able to hit the golf ball a mile or is it being able to chip the ball to within a few inches of the hole from 50 yards?

I would take accuracy over distance any day. It is not possible to conquer the entire course without first conquering the six inches between your ears.

The mental aspect of the game is never the first thing that new golfers encounter. The initial fixation is distance, especially for the male golfers who have been watching the likes of Henrik Stenson teeing off with a three-wood and out-driving many.

A common theme that flows like an endless river through the history of golf is the search for the tonic for “the swing”. The quest to find the right grip,

the ideal shoulder turn, the correct weight shift, has developed a whole industry of teaching the game.

At the apex of the golf instruction food chain are the handicap twenty-something golfers who are always at hand to tell you how to keep your head

down. These sages, who’ll repeat almost verbatim advice from Butch Harmon videos, will always seem to have an excuse for their own mishit.

“aargh… that ball has lost all compression…” or “that was a great shot, it’s only that I was misaligned”. They know what is going wrong with everyone else’s game but they cannot fix their own game.

A few weeks ago I played in four ball that included a greenhorn in the game. This was his maiden round on a golf course. His caddie had the look of the serpent immediately after tricking Adam and Eve. He was always at his side giving him “lessons” and I am sure that he was expecting a good pay at the end of the round. What was most surprising was how the other gentlemen were quick to give advice to supplement what the greenhorn was receiving from his caddie.

“Don’t raise your eyes from the ball until you have struck it” “slow down on your back swing…” “follow through…” were the words uttered by these benevolent high handicappers. The advice was flowing generously. The poor greenhorn was inundated with unsolicited advice and try as he may, the game only got worse. The only piece of advice that was kosher was when they pointed out to the greenhorn that he could not ground his club in a bunker.

The Rules of Golf prohibit us from giving advice on the golf course. I thought that I would let everyone be, as I always do, and take them aside after the game to let them know about the breach.

However, when I realised that they were going to traumatise the greenhorn with instructions, I gifted one of them a rule-book and opened the page

which talks about advice. The rest of the game was peaceful. I was marking the greenhorn’s card and did not follow up to find out if they added two stroke penalties for the advice they had been giving.

No matter how much you would like to help a person who is having a bad day on the golf course, please don’t tell them how to play a shot. The only time that you are allowed to do so is when you are partners. At any other time, only tell them about the rules, the position of hazards or the direction of play. Never about how to improve the game. This kind of talk should be left for the 19th hole.

I know some are wondering if I was right in ignoring a breach of the Rules of Golf. Should I be a rules hunter and penalise everyone who breaks any rule? I used to, but not anymore.

I once played with three gentlemen. Let’s call them Tom, Dick and Harry. We had an informal four ball match going as we played in a stroke play

competition. Tom was my partner. Dick and Harry were a bubbly pair and they kept making fun of each other as they lost to us. On 17th green, they

were 2 down to us and Dick had an uphill putt to win the hole. Harry told Dick to hit the ball a bit more firmly than he was used to as he had an uphill putt. Dick made the putt and won the hole. As I was marking for Harry in the stroke play competition, I promptly added a two-stroke penalty for giving advice.

After the game, Dick called me aside and told to ease up on the rules hunter attitude. I heeded his advice. Today I hear of all the rules hunters and cringe at the thought that I was headed that route at some point.

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The author is a KGU Executive