| With my ankle and knee problems keeping me from being able to play for a few months, this subject still irritates me. I won't reiterate what has been said already, because I couldn't solve anything even if I could say it better. I'll also join the camp that defends a golfer at any skill level who can move his or her way around the golf course instead of being rude and not knowing the etiquette of the game. It's in the rule book to make the game fun for all of us, but I wonder how many have read that part of the rule book.
So, to try putting a positive spin on this, here's my 2 cents worth. These are the things I wish I could see, and I'd be really interested to hear if this is the case with your favorite course.
I wish the Rangers actually DID something more than just being visible. Where I like to play, two Rangers ride around in carts with little flags on them and they do thing like refill the sand buckets on the player's carts... (stuff to fill divots with)... They might mention someone who lost a club and try to help them recover it... They tell us when the weather radar suggests something threatening is near by... They wave and put a friendly face on the golf course... BUT...
What I have never seen them do is ENFORCE a group letting someone else through when the slow group is holding up the whole course.
I wish there were signs in the cart to briefly explain to players that if the hole in front of them is open, they are playing too slowly and if someone behind them is waiting for them, it is THEM who are slow. It should also say the Rangers have authority to stop them and let following groups through.
I wish there were signs on the tees of par 3 holes to suggest letting the following group hit up. I wish those signs mention good manners to do so in the process. I know one place, in Jamaica of all places, where as an alternative, they put little huts with soft drink stands on the side of the par 3 tees. It let's people occupy a bit of time more comfortably than standing in the sun waiting for a group ahead of them to play the hole. On the other hand, the people I knew when I lived there, whether Jamaican, British or American, were much more polite on the course than most people are here.
So how do we fix what is broken? I think we need to start by educating the young generation.
I hope junior golf camps, seminars and lessons in general for the beginning age group include lessons on more than how to hit the ball. I hope they teach the children how to position themselves on a green so they didn't stay in sight when someone else is putting. I hope they teach them how to properly rake a bunker. I hope they learn and understand how rude it is to walk in someone else's line.
I hope they learn that it can even be dangerous to other people to be a distraction while someone else is hitting a shot. Golf balls are dangerous things, but more than once, I've seen someone who hit their ball into an adjacent fairway drive their cart out into the fairway just to sit and wait to hit their shot, while people on that hole have to wait and can't play the hole that would otherwise be open in front of them. Worse yet, I've seen the people on the tee simply hit their drives anyway, taking a chance of hitting the rude person in the fairway.
I hope they learn that betting on the golf course isn't something that is actually too frowned upon, since most people seem to agree it leads to a little incentive to pay attention. BUT - it shouldn't be allowed to become the only reason to play golf or take more time doing it... go back and reread a previous post about people who think they are on tour and make a 5 minute study worthy of a Ph.D. candidate out of every shot or putt.
In short, I have hope for the future generations.
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