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I'm just getting to the point where I am ready to pay attention to my score as opposed to judging my day by how many balls I lost.

I'm half amused and half curious about the strange way people score and would be interested to hear what other people really do.

One of my friends who's also learning the game doesn't count mulligans and of course, that's a joke. But what's really the accepted norm for things like a "gimme" ?

Yesterday, this guy who we were paired with, a nice guy with much more experience than me, thought nothing of picking up someone's ball after they hit a long put (15 feet or so) and got it 2 inches from the hole and throwing it to you and saying "that's a gimme."

Another time, On my 2nd time out, a friend of mine were paired with a couple of much better golfers and when I was going for my third putt, he told me it's pretty standard to give yourself the hole when you get close.

When we were finished yesterday, I had a 124 (including penalties for 3lost balls) and the other guys said they had 95s. Now, I figure they may have beaten me, but I know I really had a 124 -- or am I a chump?

gusv - In casual matches it is pretty comon to "give" putts that are close to the hole. The issue usually is what is considered close to the hole. Some people forget to count that "gimme" in their score.

The after-work league I play in has always played everything in the hole - you had to putt everything out. Which was fine by me - I like to hear the sound of a putt dropping. However this league has so many competitive people that many guys were marking all of their 6" and 12" putts waiting to see what their opponents would do, rather than putting out. Nine holes was taking 3 hours to play! The league had to institute "in the leather" gimme's as mandatory. I hated to see that happen, and for the past two years that's been the rule. I don't agree with it, but pace of play has improved.

I think its pretty nervy for a stranger you've just met on the course to swat your ball away from the cup and say "that was good," before you get a chance to putt it in. We're supposed to play until the ball goes in the hole.

gusv,

No, you're definitely not a chump. You added your score, you came up with 124, and that's what you shot. You'll find that recreational golfers have many ways of keeping their score. Not many of those ways reflect their actual score. If you want to pay attention to your score, I suggest you count them all. That is the only accurate gauge you have to monitor your scoring progress.

The "gimme" thing is up to you. In casual play, it's common for players to give you the very short putt (inside 12 inches in my group). I found that my short putting improved considerably when I began to refuse the gimme offers and holed the putt. IMO If it's short enough to be considered a "gimme", it should be no problem to knock in. Heaven knows I've missed my share of "gimmes". Concentrating on the short ones does help improve your putting. Good luck in monitoring and improving your scores...keep us posted!

Ditto what leaguegolf and GenErr said about counting them all. Anything less and you're just fooling yourself. That goes for rolling the ball over to give yourself a "decent" lie too: Play the ball as it lies! If you don't want to count them all; then don't count at all.

to take what you said one further---Anything less and you're CHEATING!

I like hearing about how other guys handle this issue. I'm all for finishing out every putt, every hole. I will admit that I'm much more likely to give a guy I'm playing with a putt if it's within 12" max, but I really don't like to take them.

I've got 3 sons, ages 11, 7, 4. We play a lot of golf at a USGA Wee Links course in town. I have taught them to make EVERY putt. It really sends home the point of how important making a 3 footer is. It's just as important as their tee shot. The only way players learn the importance of putts is to make them.

Heck, if you're going to play, you might as well finish what you started. If a stranger hit my ball back to me and told me it was good, I'd say he obviously hadn't seen me putt before and I'd like to finish them out the rest of the round.

Brad

we had a good discussion on 'gimmees' in an earlier thread. most likely my response is redundant to what i just said, but it's another look at other folks' take on the dreaded gimmee:

Has this happend to you..?

Casually, between my friends and family, we play gimmes. Just something fun to do. Sometimes I do refuse to take it and putt out, however.

I'm glad to hear people's thoughts. Sinking the ball is probably one of the most satisfying shots you take so I don't really get why you would stop there.

I can understand a mulligan, too.

Perhaps what I really don't get is why people want to fool themself about their score. It's not like you get anything.

well when i'm out on the course to practice, if i hit a ball out of the fairway, i drop my ball parallell to where it went out. i don'y go and hit my ball out of the deep woods. when i'm just chillin and wanting to play and i hit my ball out of the fairway, i drop my ball to where my partner hit it. when i'm seriously playing, there are no gimme's i go and look for the ball off the fairway.

For me it depends on if I am keeping score or not. Usually after work, I am trying to get 18 holes in the ~3 hours of daylight I have left. I am usually by myself in a cart, and I am concentrating on hitting the shot I was trying to hit, so it is not uncommon to drop 2 balls next to my tee shot in the fairway until I get it right (my opinion, better to practice this way then on the range).

When I do keep score, or am in a tournament, the rules of golf apply, and therefore I don't take gimme's and putt out.

I never play gimme's, and I count every stroke. If I am playing with someone who picks up my ball and says that is close enough, I put the ball back and putt out anyway. Then explain why they should not do that. Also, out of respect for the course, I never play multiple balls as practice.

If you're playing match play, whether it's a casual or very competitive match, conceded putts are part of the game. Deciding whether to give a putt to your opponent is part of the strategy.

If you're playing stroke play, it ain't golf unless you putt them out. In the interest of pace of play and having a good time, however, it makes sense to play gimmes when you're just out for a casual round.

The guys I play with are pretty loose about everything, except golf. We try and play as close to the book as we can. Gimme's aren't common with us, usually we give them out when someone is having a really tough hole.


I was a single in a group years ago, we were all singles grouped together and one of the guys was picking up everyones balls if they were with in three feet. On about the fourth hole, one of the other guys waited until he(gimme man) was addressing his second shot, about 170 yards out,walked up and picked up gimme mans ball and told him it was a gimme. Gimme man didn't pick up anyone else's ball the rest of the day.

I don't understand gimmies. Why would you spend all that time and effort getting the ball so close to the hole and not put it in!!

a friend of mine has been playing for 10 years and ive been playing for 2 months... he NEVER wants to lose to me in any hole, and its common for him to take a 3 foot gimme or something, when in reality i think hes just scared to miss a putt that even a beginner could make... he also cheats on his scores and never seems to remember his score until after i tell him my score for the hole, and then he has his one to two strokes better.. gimmes=cheater, in my brief experience.. although hes just like that anyways