Five Etiquette Rules To Follow On The Golf Course — You’ll Love Number Four

If you are just embarking on your journey in the game of golf you might be confused by some of the rules around etiquette on the course.

Some people think these rules can be pretty “stuffy” and not bother, but we’ll spell out five rules of etiquette that are worth following and can actually benefit you when you play.

Number 1: Rake bunkers

You’ve hit your shot into the bunker (or trap if you prefer). You’re angry that you’ve ended up in there and you’re now faced with a shot you hate. Happens more often than you think — even to the professionals!

However many attempts you take to get the ball out remember to rake every inch of the bunker where you’ve been.

This includes all the splash attempts — hopefully, you didn’t remove so much sand that it’s just earth left where the ball once was!

It also includes your footprints as well — we get it, bunkers can be really big but how would you like it if your ball ended up in the heel mark of somebody’s size 13s?

Number 2: Repair pitch marks

Do you or the golfers you play with complain about the condition of the greens you play on?

Is it always the greenkeeper’s fault?

It could be that there are a bunch of pitch marks on the green that would make the surface of the moon seem like a billiard table!

It’s always good to repair your pitch mark and one other on the green.

It’s quick, and easy to do and you can get a nice collection of pitch mark repairers along the way.

Number 3: Let people play through

A major bugbear for most golfers.

There’s nothing worse than getting paired with or stuck behind a group where the priority is to set a new record for the slowest round of golf ever.

But you and your group don’t need to be “those golfers”.

Things happen in a round of golf and that’s fine but if you need to take a bit more time whilst you look for a misbehaving golf ball take a second to cast your eye back up the hole.

If there is a group waiting, let them play through — everybody wants to get around the golf course in a reasonable time.

Number 4: Shout fore!

You’re going to knock the cover off the golf ball. You’re going to hit this next drive so far your playing partners will need a telescope to see where it landed.

The reality is your shot is going sideways and your playing partners will need their telescopes to see how far left or right your ball is going.

This is the moment as you see your ball sail away in the opposite direction to where you intended to open your lungs up and shout “FORE!”

Not only are you informing people on the adjacent hole they could be in danger but think of it as a stress reliever — shouting “Fore” can get all the bad blood and anger of hitting the sideways shot out of your system and it’s a little bit nicer than shouting another four letter word that begins with “F”!

Number 5: Repair divots

We’re all familiar with the idea of the cool box on the side of the buggy where if you are of age you can keep your adult beverage cool but there is another device attached to the buggy some golfers have no idea exists.

This device is a bottle containing sand with a funnel which you use to fill out the huge divot you’ve just taken.

Like the unraked bunker, there is nothing that gets a golfer’s blood pressure going in the wrong direction than hitting a career-best drive straight down the middle of the fairway to then it in a divot that hasn’t been repaired.

It only takes a few seconds to pour some sand into the divot you’ve just taken and it will help the course in the long term.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our little tour through some of the etiquette rules to follow on the golf course.

Follow these rules and you will achieve angelic-like status on the golf course.