Quote:
Originally Posted by Major Major
I'd say I'm fairly honest with notable exceptions.
1. Lost balls I play as laterals. I think this is pretty widely used... I will do stroke and distance if I have gone OB or into the thick brush or whatever. But If I think there is a decent chance I will find it, I don't hit a provisional.
2. Gimmes inside of 2 feet. It really bugs me when people give me a putt outside of that. Then there is this awkward, no I will putt it out followed by a miss 80 % of the time. Then they expect I am also going to give them 3 footers and when I don't they just take them.
3. This one may be controversial since it is completely subjective. I would be taking pins out inside of 20 feet or so if we were not in a pandemic. Nothing sets me off more than putting a birdie/par putt into the centre of the cup followed by a weird pin bounce and a burn of the edge. So if the putt is inside 20 feet (the range I would be taking the pin out), the weight was perfect, as in it wouldn't have gone past the cup more than 18 inches and it is DEAD centre, I'm taking that putt bounce out or not.
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I prefer to putt all my putts out, with no gimmes. The point of golf is to get the ball in the hole, so I don't get why people want to stop trying when they get to within 4 feet. I find this helps me in stroke play tournaments when I'm used to putting out and others are used to taking gimmes. I politely let people I know on the greens that I like to hit all putts and I've never had an issue. Since I'm not usually in a game against others, I don't care if they take gimmes from 10 feet. I don't care if they cheat or beat me. The only score I care about is mine. In a match play event I don't give a lot of putts. I don't care if it makes you mad. I also think it's hilarious when I don't give a putt, the opponent misses it, and then blames me because I should have given it to him. If he made them all, he could get mad. If he misses one or two, that's the reason I don't give them. This misplaced logic always baffles me.
As for pins, I prefer to keep them in when playing alone. It saves so much time. In a tournament, with the new rules, I'll probably take them out, but I haven't played one since the rule came in and covid wasn't in play.