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 PHOTO: Sculpies - fotolia.com. I call them the three Cs: casual, competitive and corporate. Each style of play is as eclectic as a Lady Gaga wardrobe change. Mixing them in the same foursome can be either annoying or explosive. Casual golf is filled with mulligans, gimmes and such contrivances as a breakfast ball off the first tee. Many rules are set aside for convenience, ignorance or both. How many times have you seen someone drive up to an O.B. stake and take a drop where the ball ventured off the course? If you don’t see anything wrong with this scenario, please read on. Casual golf is the most recreational style of play, but is it really golf? Would baseball still be baseball if we allowed the batter four or five strikes occasionally when we felt like it? Would it still be football if you counted a field goal that just missed going through the uprights? If you shot even par with a breakfast ball off the first tee, two mulligans and five gimmes, is that still an even-par round? It’s this special kind of insanity that allows golfers to believe we can forget to count all the shots and bend rules to our will while still calling what we are doing golf. Casual golf can be so at odds with the other two styles that it has the power to create a nuclear meltdown of hard feelings and resentment between players. Imagine agreeing to a competitive match with another player, possibly with a few dollars on the line, then raking away a 5-footer to win the match because it’s a gimme in your eyes? That’s enough to incite a riot at some clubs. Now envision a casual round of golf with your boss or a client. You launch a ball into a backyard that is clearly out of bounds, but you quickly play your shot from next to a lounge chair to the side of the green. Then you bump your ball up out of a divot into a perfect lie on a tuft of grass and pitch it next to the hole and take a par for your effort. Are you willing to risk having your boss or clients perceive you as a cheater? Do you really want to leave them wondering what other corners you might be cutting professionally? The key to getting maximum enjoyment out of the round and avoiding an international incident is to agree to a style of play on the first tee before the first shot is struck. If you’re a casual golfer, let the others in your group know before you tee off. If there’s a match in place, make sure the rules are established to avoid an argument later. After all, the game is supposed to be fun. Right? Over the next two months, check back in as I look at competitive and corporate golf to see how they fit in the mix. Greg Flores has been a sports and entertainment publicist for 20 years and has written for Southland Golf since 1995. ALSO SEE: Advice for competitive golf Essential rules for corporate golf |
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