GOLF IS NOT A WAY OF LIFE…
IT IS LIFE !!!
A study of rules and etiquette throughout the ages and its meaning to life and society.
by
Ruud Klip
DGTF Master golf teaching professional level IV
GOLF IS NOT A WAY OF LIFE…..IT IS LIFE!!
A study of rules and etiquette throughout the ages and its meaning to life and society.
“Unlike many sports, golf is played, for the most part, without the supervision of a referee or umpire. The game relies on the integrity of the individual to show consideration for other players and to abide by the Rules. All players should conduct themselves in a disciplined manner, demonstrating courtesy and sportsmanship at all times, irrespective of how competitive they may be. This is the spirit of the game of golf.” USGA
Every agreement between people is based on certain written (law) and unwritten rules (social standard or etiquette), necessary for an acceptable social behaviour. When you play a game -any game- you first have to define how, where, what and what fore you’re going to play.
The more you play, the more you’ll realise that every possible (and sometimes impossible) situation needs a rule, to exclude misunderstanding and to let the play be more enjoyable.
When in the early days of the 13th century people started to play with a ball and stick, long before the game was called “golf”, there was a need for agreement about how to play. We don’t know what the agreement was until 1552 (“Tyrocinium lingae Latinae” by Pieter van Afferden), when the first written rule said: “Who misses looses one stroke”, that what we call today an “air shot”. Further the writer spoke of how to strike the ball, and the typical conversation like “I lost the ball, did you see my ball, I’m close to the hole” etc.
In the 17th century it was added, that if you fail to count a stroke, you’ll be disqualified. So far, golf was played by people from every social class, but in the early 18th century Lodges of the Order of Free Masons developed in Scotland, initially as social clubs, closed for outsiders and with a balloting committee. No women were allowed on their premises. They started their play as a match play game, and more and more rules were added. The first tournaments were organised, and the winner was the player with the most “holes up”. Though in 1759 so many competitors took part in these tournaments, that in stead of won holes the number of strokes was noted. This new formula, stroke play, was successful and spread over the country.
In 1768 the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (founded in 1744) decided to build a clubhouse for their members, and the first tournament for the silver claret was born. The Honourable Company took care of the first written official golf rules, initially specially made for the match play form. There were only 13 rules:
(see appendix 1), but after the foundation of the Golfing Society of St.Andrews, who took almost every rule as an integral part, their number grew to 20. In 1899 there were 35 Rules (see appendix 2).Thus, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St.Andrews became the authority concerning golf rules.
The development of golf material, the changing of the game (area, holes) and the growing number of players made adaptation necessary. Today the definitions and golf rules make a large publication, revised every 4 years!
Besides rules etiquette evolved as well. The earliest known is probably “don’t stand too close to a player” clearly for safety reasons as well as not to interfere with the players swing. ”Do not disturb” was added later, and for the love of the constructed courses reparation from divots and ball marks was obliged.
Also Local Rules were written down. At St.Andrews the Swilcan Burn was a wash area, and the local rule said “The clothes may be drawn from under the ball..”
In 1850 there were only 2 golf clubs in England, in 1912 there were hundreds! The enormous expansion of the British industry and thus growing welfare of the middle class created a need for consolidation of the new social position. Relaxation became an issue, and there was a need for recreation areas for millions of new potential users.
Many of them chose for golf: it had a rather exclusive character without costing a lot of money. Golf was called to be a healthy open air activity for people who became more and more concerned about their own welfare in a fast changing world. At the same time a strong interest for the country side at various parts of the population arose. New golf courses were not only constructed near big cities, but also in the surroundings of smaller centres, of regional economic interest for the natural environment. The vast shortening of working hours and the construction of a tight railroad network stimulated the development of the golf sport immensely.
Like in Scotland the first English golf courses lay on common land, which caused various frictions with the local people. Cattle farmers made their cows graze on the fairways, and incidents occurred. Greens were used for cricket or a pick nick area (by the way, this is something I actually experienced some years ago at the 4th green at Kleiburg’s!) .Vandalism made the life of the golfers hard, nowadays even caused by certain action groups…
But the opposition decreased because people realised that a golf course could create new jobs and have positive economical side effects. So golf became more and more an integral part of society and today it is a billion dollar industry all over the world, creating work for hundreds of thousands (designers, factories, green keepers, professionals etc.).
In the United States golf developed from 1888 (the Apple Tree Gang made the first golf course in the U.S.A) to 1893 (first 18 holes course by C.B. MacDonald, Chicago) and the foundation of the American Golf Federation by five clubs. At this time there was a genuine threat that the Americans went their own way in the field of golf rules. After the Royal and Ancient of St. Andrews became the only authority in 1897, and founded the “Rules of Golf Committee” it was thanks to MacDonald that the USA, and later on the whole world, took over the same R&A golf rules.
The golfing world accepted the 1899 R&A rules code along with the recently-formed USGA, who followed the R&A code, adjusted and clarified with its own decisions and remarks. The first difference of opinion was not long in coming: the centre shafted putter.
In addition to the differences over equipment, a number of other differences between the R&A and USGA grew over the years before World War II. The USGA went it alone with the publication of the 1947 rules -a reorganisation rather than widespread change. The R&A 1950 rules followed the same theme, and the previously separate match play and stroke play rules were combined, sections laid out more logically. Both these issues formed the basis of the first joint code issued in 1952 (appendix 3).
The development of the golf balls from stone to wood, featheries and gutta percha balls, as well as the improved greens, evolved to real lawns, made putting more and more important in the game. The area around the hole, also called the “hole-green” or “table-land” in the 18th and 19th centuries, was not distinct from the rest of the course, nor specially prepared, until a separate teeing ground came into use in 1875. The well kept greens were made possible by the changing of the rules: originally a tee off had to take place in the vicinity of the last hole, at one club length.
In 1777 it was stipulated that the teeing ground was not to be closer than one, and not farther than 4 clubs length from the last hole. In 1850 that length was 6 clubs length. At that time the greens were a few meters in diameter….
The “stymie” was abolished (in case of interference by another ball the player had to play his ball beside or even over the other ball!). A small echo of the stymie can still be found in the Rules -on the putting green if a player’s putt strikes an opponent’s ball, there is no penalty in match play but it’s a two-stroke penalty in stroke play.
By the invention of the “Haskell ball”, which carried farther than the gutta percha, the holes became larger. The difference in size, shape and material of the golf balls was very big until 1912. The R&A allowed in 1931 only two sizes of balls, the big one (1,68 inch, today’s minimum size) and the small one (1,62 inch).
The size and shape of the golf clubs changed rapidly throughout the ages. All kinds of terms (driver, spoon, rut-iron, mashie and cleek for example) were used for them, and at early 1900 some caddies carried 25 clubs! To avoid back problems and to halt the number of clubs the R&A (and USGA) put the maximum to 14 clubs. Today there are all kinds of restrictions to balls and clubs.
ETIQUETTE
What is etiquette? Etiquette is “accepted behaviour within a group”, as well as showing respect for partners, competitors and the golf course.
You will ask why there are only 2 pages of etiquettes in the book of rules, and 8 pages of definitions and 60 for the rules. Well, the reason for this lies within the social structure of the old private clubs as mentioned above. They always had a great social control, and could easily punish a member by excluding him from the club.
Most of the etiquette guidelines should be redundant. Like in society everyone taking part has to have consideration with another, and by natural courtesy and politeness one does not: make noise neither at home by disturbing the neighbours nor on the golf course other than yell “FORE” when safety is at stake; you don’t push forward at the shop or in traffic, nor play when it is not your turn on the teeing ground; you let faster people pass you on the escalator as well as on the golf course.
When you go to a park or other public area, would you leave your waste? Wouldn’t you leave everything the way you found it? Well, of course you rake the bunker after you left it; you replace your divot, and repair your ball mark (and maybe some others?). When you go visiting your friends wouldn’t you mind your clothes, so they would not offend him or her? This all sounds very logical, that’s why the etiquettes are not rules with a penalty for every breach of a rule. Nevertheless, even if a player consistently disregards the guidelines during a round or over a period of time to the detriment of others he can be disqualified or punished in any other way like prohibiting play for a limited time on the course or in a certain number of competitions.
Etiquettes are there for the course and fellow players. If they are followed, all players will gain maximum enjoyment from the game. And if made applicable, in society you will see more smiles and courtesy with your fellow men.
DEFINITIONS
Before you set the rules, you will first have to define what exactly you’re talking about. What is a teeing ground? A bunker, green, water hazard? What exactly is ground under repair? All these items and many more are in need of defining, or else it is a waste of time to set the rules based on these items. People are in need of clear statements, taught to them when they were young (“no means no”) and for behaving smoothly in society they are necessary. Earlier I mentioned the first rule ever, the one about the “air shot”. Well, what exactly is the definition of a stroke? Without this it is futile to discuss the penalty of an air shot. Throughout time the definition became as follows:
A “stroke” is the forward movement of the club made with the intention of striking at and moving the ball, but if a player checks his downswing voluntarily before the club head reaches the ball he has not made a stroke. This way everybody knows when the shot counts as one.. This way there is almost no room for misunderstandings and prevents arguing. Based on the definitions there are a large number of Rules.
RULES
Today there are 34 main rules written down as a result of the many years of study of the Rules of Golf Committee, translated in over 20 languages.
The main thrust of the work of the Rules of Golf Committee is in the area of interpretation and in constantly reviewing, revising and simplifying the necessarily complex laws. To this end, representatives of the R&A and USGA meet twice a year to discuss the revision of clauses which will then be examined in great length in consultation with both amateur and professional golfing bodies worldwide. Agreed changes to the Rules of Golf are made every four years. The need to constantly search for a perfect set of laws is underlined by the fact that the R&A receives some 3000 written requests each year for clarification!
“Decisions on the Rules of Golf” is the official interpretation of the Rules of Golf, and is issued every two year. This proves that the game is in constant movement by changing opinions (the list of possible situations in which the ball might be cleaned without a penalty was so long in 1988, that the rule was changed to list when the ball may not be cleaned), materials (the prohibited use of binoculars, range viewers, gps etc.), social behaviour (changed ideas about animal life, “is a crawfish a burrowing animal?”) and law (the European Union sexual equality law, in which mixed clubs will have to put an end to male-only bars and time-limits on how long female members can play. This will end in 2008 the “no women or dogs allowed” local rule). In future, these Rules will be continuously under revision, as have been for ages, in order to keep up with changing society. I hope and expect that the courtesy and fairness of the game will not suffer from too many changes. As golf teachers we will have to guard good conduct either on as well as off the course, for our students and ourselves, for the good of our wonderful game!