Should Bad Etiquette Result In Shot Penalties?

One of the things I love about golf is that it’s almost always played in the right spirit. Generally, players go about their golfing business displaying total integrity and full consideration for fellow competitors and opponents.

There are few sports in which participants display a comparable level of honesty, fairness, understanding and camaraderie.

The exceptions to this fact prove the rule, as instances of cheating or inexcusable behaviour are so rare in golf that they are worthy of mention and become well known in the golfing circles within which they have occurred.

Golf is sometimes criticised for its outdated concept of etiquette and there are some elements of it that are a touch “old school.” I’m not one who thinks we should still have to wear knee-high socks with shorts or be castigated for changing our shoes in the car park.

But I do think golf’s unwritten codes of expected behaviour include important pointers.

Things like not talking on a player’s backswing, letting faster groups pass, shouting fore if you hit a wayward shot towards others. This is the way you would like playing partners or others on course to behave and, therefore, it’s how you should behave.

There are no specific Rules on etiquette, but the very first Rule – Rule 1 – is worth noting as it covers “Standards of Player Conduct.”

It basically says that a player can be disqualified by the committee if they act contrary to the “spirit of the game” to the extent that the committee finds them to have committed serious misconduct.

That might include, obvious cheating – confirmed by observers, attacking a fellow player with a pitching wedge, hacking up a green in a fit of pique… Those sorts of things.

If a player is found guilty of serious misconduct, they can be disqualified under Rule 1.2.

Then, there’s Rule 1.2b which covers "Code of Conduct." Committees may adopt a Local Rule that sets standards of expected player conduct and it can include penalties for breaches of those standards (a one-stroke penalty or a general penalty for instance.)

The Local Rule is covered in committee procedures 5L… It’s pretty complicated, but that’s where it is if you want to look…

In summary, though, it allows a committee to set a code of conduct that potentially penalises players for unacceptable language, damage to course or equipment, lack of consideration for others – those sorts of things.

So, there is already an opportunity for players to be penalised shots for not adhering to a code of conduct, but the things that code of conduct covers are more to do with bad behaviour than “bad etiquette.” More hurling abuse at an opponent than playing a drive while someone is putting out.

A minefield

I don’t think you can penalise players shots for what we might construe to be bad etiquette. Jangling tees in a pocket and, perhaps, causing a distraction, for example – “They were constantly doing it….”; “No, I wasn’t…"

That’s all a bit school playground in my opinion. We don’t want to create a situation where club committees are inundated with “He said, she said” situations.

I do, of course, think that players should be subject to disqualification if they behave unacceptably on the golf course though.

At any level, there is no excuse for seriously damaging the course or club property or for attacking/abusing a fellow competitor. Players who do that sort of thing should be disqualified and then face further action depending on the severity of their poor behaviour.

At a lower level of demeanour, say a player has one little tantrum and strikes the ground in anger, causing minor damage. They are not guilty of serious misconduct. That is where a stroke penalty could potentially be applied if 5L is in use.

When it comes to the pro game, I think that could be enforced. Would we hear less swearing if it cost players shots if they were caught out on camera? I reckon so.

Would fewer players snap or throw clubs in anger, setting a better example for young golfers if they knew it could mean a penalty and not just a fine? Yes, surely.

At elite level, when players are being closely monitored and representing our sport on a wider level, consistent and repeated poor behaviour should result in shot penalties.

Do I think that’s a good idea at club level? Not really. It would be so difficult to police… 'Was it a first offence? Did chucking the club deserve a one stroke or general penalty, or was it merely tossed casually back towards the bag?'

'How bad do you consider the word allegedly uttered to be? They say it was gentle banter, you think it worthy of sanction…'

A minefield.

Committees would be swamped with complaints and counter-complaints, one person’s word against another’s.

We must trust our players to behave and to be self-policing when it comes to low-level disagreement or displays of petulance.

Hand the judiciary element on all levels of on-course behaviour over to a committee that hasn’t witnessed the event/incident in question, you could start to get into very muddy waters of conjecture, accusation and denial.

Should bad etiquette in a golfing context result in shot penalties? No. You shouldn’t be penalised for not doffing your cap to an ex-captain or for changing your shoes in the car park when signs say not to.

Should bad behaviour result in penalties? Yes. Very bad behaviour should lead to disqualification and further action at all levels.

I think lesser examples of poor/abusive or destructive behaviour should be penalised (shot penalties) in elite golf (according to a clear code of conduct).

At a club level those type of behavioural breaches should be monitored and dealt with as a disciplinary matter and not via shot penalties.