There was a time in Golf when etiquette was a requirement. What happened?

Golf has caught fire since COVID, and it’s been estimated that there are over 1,000,000 new golfers to the game. That’s a massive number of new people to a sport that requires equipment purchases, securing tee times, and finding time to play and practice.

The adage that Golf is a rich white man’s sport is slowly decaying. More and more people who were once shunned to pick up the sport are finding their place. Musicians, Movie Stars, and Athletes from other sports, the game is finding its way to people who probably never envisioned being on the golf course.

One of the biggest names we’ve seen consumed by the golf bug is DJ Kahlid. Yes, “Let’s Go Golfing!” is annoying, but many people have picked up the game because they have seen him on the course. Thank you Insragram and Tik Tok. And that has excited a base that was numb to the sport.

These new golfers are welcomed, but some things need to change.

Like other sports, Golf has rules. Where Golf differs is that there are many of them, and they can be confusing. Since Golf rules are typically self-policed, it’s easy to “not” play by the rules and have a good time. I mean, you never see a pick-up game of basketball where the players decide, “Hey, let’s not call traveling this game.” But Golf, being the challenging sport it is, we’re relaxed about the rules to ensure everyone has a good time. This ideology is hurting the game in the grand scheme of things.

New players to Golf, not wanting to learn the game’s history and choosing not to play by the rules, are taking over the golf courses. While I love to see these new players out enjoying the game I love, it hurts seeing the rules of Golf abused the way they are right now.

I remember my childhood summers when we’d gather a group of kids and play baseball at one of the local schools. Never, ever would anyone get a do-over cause they hit a pop-up or a foul ball that was caught for an out. It was a simpler time when three strikes were an out, and at three outs, we switched sides. Maybe nobody ever thought, “I should just get a do-over ’cause that was a bad swing.”

The unwritten rules of golf need to be written down and displayed everywhere!

These players out there golfing and not following the rules will come and go. That has been happening in Golf for years. It’s a hard game that can be frustrating when you don’t play well. But what is different this time is that “Golf is Cool” now. With celebrities showcasing their golf outings all over social media, the game is buzzing. I would love to see some of these icons in their arenas, take the game to heart, and help explain some things to these new golfers that they will never learn at Top Golf or a Simulator Louge.

Here are a few etiquette items that every new golfer needs to understand before playing an 18-hole round. Or even a Par 3 course, for that matter:

• Leave the course better for the following players behind you
  • Rake the bunkers and rake areas that need it if you see it.
  • Fill your divots with sand in the fairways, and then fill two others
  • Repair your pitch marks on the greens. The correct way, then fix two others
  • If you see some trash, pick it up
• Respect the other players on the course
  • Music is fine, but make sure it’s okay with everyone before blasting the tunes
  • Not everyone likes Cigars or Weed. Don’t be a dick and ruin someone’s afternoon
  • If you have to get on your phone, walk away, and handle your business
  • Golf isn’t cheap. If you get a comped round, act like you paid what everyone else did
• Learn about these simple rules that will help you out on the course
  • Don’t walk in players putting line
  • Rakes go on the outer edge of the bunker (OB Side, not fairway side)
  • Shut up when people are preparing to hit
  • When you are done with the hole, move on to the next one
  • If there is nobody in front of you and the people behind you are waiting, you’re the slow group
  • Pace of Play is more important than your score

Pace of play needs to be discussed, so I’ll stop there.

A round of Golf should take no more than 4.5 hours to play. If you can play in 4 hours, congratulations; you are an average person. If you’re content playing a 5.5-hour round of Golf, you need help. Lol. I know enjoying every minute you have on the course is possible. Spending 5.5 hours playing Golf with your friends and enjoying the course and the outdoors doesn’t sound bad, but it is.

Pace can be a round killer. There’s nothing worse than hitting a wall of slow players and having all your momentum come to a screeching halt. It messes up your rhythm, muscles get tight, and standing around and waiting can seriously impact the rest of the round. We have a saying in the Vegas Golf Network.

“If there’s a group waiting on you for every shot and there’s nobody in front of you, YOU ARE THE SLOW GROUP.”

Situational awareness and the lack of Marshalls willing to handle business have made the pace of play a major issue, and it’s not all the new players to the game’s fault.

I’ll break it down with a situation that fired me up on our recent trip.

On our recent trip to Bandon, we had two groups go out. One group was the first out, and the group I was in went out fourth. the times were 7:00 am, 7:10 am, 7:20 am and 7:30 am. Our “first out” group played at 3:30. They came off the course at 10:30 am.

The group behind them finished in 4 hours, which is very respectable, but they came off the course at 11:10 am, which was 40 minutes behind our first group. The nemesis of the groups, though, was the third group out. They came in 35 minutes behind the 2nd group, which was 11:45 am, which was a 4:25 pace. Our group came off the green 5min after the 3rd group at 11:50 am, playing in 4:20.

Again, 4 hours and 4:25hrs is nothing to be ashamed of, but as pacesetters (a term Bandon uses), it was awful.

I was sick, exhausted, and tired of standing around waiting for the group in front of us to hit, so I called it after 13 holes and hung out at the clubhouse. That’s how I know the times of the groups in front of us.

That third group was awful in regard to situational awareness. What made it worse was that the Marshalls, and there are a lot on Sheep, did NOTHING about it. The group in front of us could have easily realized that nobody was in front of them for at least four holes and that we were waiting on them for EVERY SHOT THEY TOOK. But no, they were content with playing slow, taking forever to hit shots, and remaining in their own little world.

It all goes back to etiquette.

Or lack thereof. A self-governed game with a history of following the rules and policing yourself is slowly slipping away, and I hate it.

I, for one, am looking forward to the “Great Reset” when the surge of popularity in Golf goes away. All the new players who have not figured out how to play the game properly go back to doing whatever they were doing before, and we can start seeing the proper respect and ettiquitte on the course again.