| What is one difference between public and private-course golfers? According to Golf Digest Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde, public golfers tend to nudge their golf balls to a better lie more often than private-course players do. Tarde considers himself somewhat of an authority on this subject because he’s played half his life at public courses and the other half at private clubs. It’s not a moral judgment. Publinxers are just as honest, ethical and serious about the rules of life as anyone, but the natural convention at your average public course is such that conditions allow for The Nudge.
Bobby Jones used to say there were three kinds of golf: Everyday golf, competitive golf and championship golf. The first is like walking a crack in the sidewalk. The second is like walking a tightrope six feet above the floor. “Championship golf is a high wire, and they take away the net,” he said. Most golfers Tarde knows walk on solid ground and have only a nodding acquaintance with the rules.
Here are Tarde’s 10 rules we choose to ignore in everyday golf but wouldn’t if we were playing in something important like the U.S. Open or even a club championship. Some are minor infractions, others are blatant violations, but all are not technically allowed under the Rules of Golf. |
