Common Sense Golf Rules For The Everyday Player

The words “common sense” and “golf rules” don’t always go together, do they?

Yes, the Rules of Golf are sacred and exist for good reason. The rules are the last stand against chaos, anarchy and, God help us all, golf balls that go too far.

But what about our “friendly” matches? Do we really need to be Rules Nazis? Are there some common sense modifications that can not only make the game a little more fun but maybe even help move along pace of play?

 Here are a few that we’ve used over the years. And as long as everyone agrees ahead of time, or even agrees during the round itself, the legendary adage applies.

No harm, no foul.

Common Sense Golf Rules: Cousin Paul and Me

My cousin Paul and I play friendly matches. We don’t play for money. We play for family pride. After all, it’s important to us to know which side of la famiglia Barba can hold its head high with pride: The witty, good-looking and intelligent side – or Paul’s.

For starters, we don’t give strokes. My handicap is lower but, as we established years ago, Paul is a Level II sandbagger. Instead, we give strokes based on who won the last match. For instance, when I win, Paul gets a stroke the next time we play. When I win again, Paul gets another stroke. If Paul wins, I get a stroke back and we drive to the nearest airport to watch the flying pigs land.

I kid, I kid. But we will skip over the Great Crumpin-Fox Debacle of 2022.

But we have developed our own set of common sense golf rules to govern our matches. They’re fair and, most importantly, keep the pace of play moving. You probably know most of these and, depending on how seriously you take even friendly competitions, you might find them to be either a smart way to play or an abomination. No matter, but it is important to remember the most common sense golf rule of all.

Golf is a game. And games are supposed to be fun.

Breakfast Balls

You’re not going to find “breakfast ball” in the USGA Rules handbook. You won’t find “mulligan,” either.

Anyway, we give one breakfast ball on the first tee, even if it’s after lunch.

The Breakfast Ball Corollary

On a busy weekend, we’ll use the Breakfast Ball Corollary. We’ll agree before teeing off that if one player hits out of bounds and the other player doesn’t, the out-of-bounds player has the option to play from the in-bounds player’s position with no penalty. The only condition is the guy who hit his tee shot out of bounds can’t win the hole.

The best he can do is halve the hole.

White Stakes, Shmite Stakes

The Common Sense Golf Rules handbook (someone really ought to write that) insists on ignoring white stakes. Officially, if you’re O.B. on white stakes, you have to take a stroke-and-distance penalty. But say it’s a crowded Saturday and you hit your tee shot left toward some white stakes. When you get there, you can’t find your ball and it’s clearly out of bounds. Rather than schlep back to the tee box to hit again (and irritate the group behind you), common sense golf rules say drop, take a penalty stroke and hit from there.

In other words, treat white stakes as red stakes. Everyone’s happy, especially the group behind us.

Sure, we could play a provisional and sometimes we do. But, again, pace of play is important and extra shots can add up over 18 holes.

The No-Fault Tree Root Rule

This one’s a no-brainer.

If you find your ball in the middle of a bunch of tree roots, apply common sense golf rules. It’s OK to move the ball out of harm’s way as long as you don’t toss it into the middle of the fairway. No sense in breaking a wrist or bending a club.

I’ll admit, there have been times in the closing holes of a tight match, I’ve been tempted to say, ‘Hey, you hit it there, jackass. Suck it up.” But it’s just a game.

And I’ll want that same break in the closing holes of another match.

And if moving the ball away from the roots somehow improves your look at the green, we invoke the “What Kind of a Moron Puts a Tree There” Deviation.

One thing to note. There’s a big difference between being “in the tree roots” and “against a tree.” Against a tree is an unplayable lie and you take the stroke. Trying to hit a ball in the roots is doable, but stupid. Move the ball.

No harm, no foul.

The Sean Fairholm Memorial Fairway Divot Exception

Yeah, you knew this one was coming, didn’t you? It may be the most hotly debated of the common sense golf rules but we use it liberally.

Look, we’re not playing for high stakes, low stakes or even pocket change. We are playing for family pride and I’d hate to beat Paul yet again simply because on the rare occasion when his tee shot finds the fairway it rolls into a divot someone didn’t bother filling.

I want Paul to have every advantage possible in our matches. It makes the post-match gloating that much more satisfying.

Rolling the Ball/Fluffing the Lie

This one is a gray area but we’ve both caught each other doing. I don’t like it when he does it. He doesn’t like it when I do it. But we are men of honor. We may play fast and loose with the strict rules of golf, but we follow the Code of Omerta religiously. None of this share-your-feelings crapola for us. We take our secrets and our grudges to the only place they belong.

The grave.

Lost In Plain Sight

The Lost In Plain Sight rule has an autumnal corollary known as the Leaf Rule. You hit a good shot or even a not-so-good shot and you know, you just know, the ball should be findable. Both of you know the ball has to be right here. But you can’t find it. That’s when we institute the Lost In Plain Sight rule.

You drop in the general area with no penalty. Hey, this isn’t the PGA Tour where you have spotters, TV crews and a gallery to run down every shot. This is Red Tail, Butter Brook or any other public access track on a busy weekend. We make do.

The Leaf Rule does have some merit as some courses have been known to institute it as a local rule in the fall. Hey, it’s not your fault that nature, in its infinite wisdom, decided trees should drop their leaves and go commando every October.

Family Never Four-Putts

Pretty straightforward. Besides, if you don’t have a tap-in after three putts, you’ve probably lost the hole anyway.

Common Sense Golf Rules: It’s a Game After All

The goal of these common sense golf rules is simple. We’re out to have a good time and neither of us is a walking rule book. We compete pretty fiercely and the common sense rule approach is designed to be fair and to keep the pace moving along.

And, no, we don’t sign our scorecards, either.

What unofficial common sense rules do you use on the course?