The King's 10 Rules for Good Golf Etiquette

As the calendar moves from March to April, the ground begins to dry out from the winter's snow, and the temperatures start to rise about 50 degrees, it's easy to realize it's the beginning of another golf season. And just as we make sure our equipment is in good working order and we begin to knock the rust off our game, we should also take some time to review a few simple rules of golf etiquette that will make a round of golf more enjoyable for us and our playing partners.

A few years ago, Golf Digest offered 10 rules for good golf etiquette by The King, Arnold Palmer. I believe that golf courses should reprint this article and make each player read it before teeing off during the first month of the season. Since that isn't likely to happen, I figured I would give you the 10 rules with condensed commentary by Palmer.

I. Don't be the slowest player

"Remember the old staples of getting around in good time: Play 'ready golf' (hit when ready, even if you aren't away) until you reach the green, be prepared to play when it's your turn on the tee and green, and never search for a lost ball for more than five minutes."

II. Keep your temper under control

"Throwing clubs, sulking and barking profanity make everyone uneasy. We all have our moments of frustration, but the trick is to vent in an inoffensive way. For example, I often follow a bad hole by hitting the next tee shot a little harder -- for better or worse"

III. Respect other people's time

"Because time is our most valuable commodity, there are few good reasons for breaking a golf date. Deciding last-minute to clean the garage on Saturday, or getting a call that the auto-repair shop can move up your appointment by a day, just doesn't cut it. Always make your tee times, and show up for your lesson with the pro a little early. Social functions are no exception."

IV. Repair the ground you play on

"I have a penknife that's my pet tool for fixing ball marks, but a tee or one of those two-pronged devices is fine. As for divots, replace them or use the seed mix packed on the side of your cart. Rake bunkers like you mean it. Ever notice that the worse the bunker shot, the poorer the job a guy does raking the sand? Make the area nice and smooth -- don't leave deep furrows from the rake. Before you exit the bunker, ask yourself, Would I be upset if I had to play from that spot?"

V. Be a silent partner

"Stand still from the time a player sets himself until the ball has left the club. Even with the advent of spikeless shoes, the etiquette rule of never walking in someone's line of play on the putting green is an absolute. The area around the hole in particular is sacred ground. The first thing to note when you walk onto a green is the location of every ball in your group, then steer clear of their lines to the hole. Know where to stand and when to keep quiet. Position yourself directly across or at a diagonal from a player setting up. Never stand on the line of play, either beyond the hole or directly behind the ball. When a player is about to hit a shot, think of the fairway as a cathedral, the green a library."

VI. Make your golf cart 'invisible'

"Your goal when driving a cart should be to leave no trace you were there. Because we tend to look where we're going and not where we've been, it's easy to damage the turf and not realize it. Avoid wet areas and spots that are getting beaten up from traffic. Golfers tend to play 'follow the leader' and drive in single file out to the fairway before branching off. It's usually better to 'scatter' -- everyone take a different route -- so cart traffic is spread out."

VII. Always look your best

"From Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen to Ben Hogan and Sam Snead to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the best players have been meticulous about their appearance. Their clothing has been sharp, and not one of them has shown up on the first tee with his cap backward, mud caked on his shoes, or his shirttail hanging out. Your appearance speaks volumes about you as a person, and the neatly appointed golfer, like a businessman or someone headed to church, gives the impression he thinks the golf course and the people there are special."

VIII. Turn off the cell phone

"If I had my way, cell phones would be turned off at all times on the course...but do whatever you have to do to keep it quiet. And if you absolutely have to make a call, move away from the other players. And keep the call so brief that they don't even know you made it."

IX. Lend a hand when you can

"It's easy to help out your fellow players, if you just pay attention. One obvious way is looking for lost balls -- better yet, watching errant shots so they don't turn into lost balls. Pick up that extra club left on the fringe or the headcover dropped next to the tee, and return it to its owner after saying, "Nice shot!" And if you see a cart out of position or a provisional ball that needs picking up, don't just walk by."

X. Learn the little things

"There are a hundred bits of etiquette I haven't mentioned, like laying the flagstick down carefully, tamping down spike marks when you're walking off a green, letting faster groups play through, and so on. All of these things are learned by observing, with a sharp eye and a considerate heart. Just know that golf has a way of returning favors, and every piece of etiquette you practice will be repaid tenfold."

We never want to have our round of golf spoiled by someone who showed a lack of golfing etiquette on the course. But let's make sure we don't spoil someone else's round because we failed to be courteous as well. Let's all make good golf etiquette one of our goal's for 2010.

Book Review: Breaking the Slump

The the way my game has gone this year compared to last, I decided to read the new book Breaking the Slump, How Great Players Survived Their Darkest Moments in Golf--And What You Can Learn From Them. Written by Jimmy Roberts of NBC Sports, the book looks at 16 golfers, plus former President George H.W. Bush (41) and Olympic athlete Dan Jansen, and tries to unlock the secrets of how they dealt with adversity in the golf games as well as their lives. Among the golfers featured are Paul Azinger, Jack Nicklaus, Scott Verplank, David Duval, Justin Rose, Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson, Ben Crenshaw, Johnny Miller, Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, Arnold Palmer, Dottie Pepper, Tom Watson, Steve Stricker and Hal Sutton. Roberts spends a chapter on each, interviewing the players about the severe down times in their games and what they did to get back to the highest level. While all of them suffered a slump in a different, their advice was pretty universal: don't panic, don't try so hard and go back to basics. The best quote in the book is from Bobby Jones, as repeated by Crenshaw: "The hardest course of all is only five inches long--the one between your ears." Another interesting observation came from Tom Watson, citing Harvey Penick: "If you have one bad round of golf, just forget about it. If you have two straight bad rounds, you might want to start thinking about it. A third consecutive bad round of golf, and it's time to get some help." While I'm not sure Breaking the Slump will get your golf game back on track, it is a very good, entertaining and easy read.

An Eternally Good Read

The Eternal Summer

Palmer, Nicklaus, and Hogan in 1960,
Golf's Golden Year

I have recently finished reading The Eternal Summer, an excellent book by Curt Sampson, the bestselling author of Hogan and The Masters. The book chronicles the unique set of circumstances that occurred in golf during the your 1960. Sampson calls it "the golden year" because it was a time when golf was finding its way into our living and consciousness through the magic of that emerging technology: television. It was also a time in which a golfer from Western Pennsylvania, Arnold Palmer, was capturing the hearts and minds of the public via the black and white imagines on the television screens. It was also the year in which a golfing legend, Ben Hogan, was making one final attempt at greatness, while a future legend, Jack Nicklaus, was slowing making a name for himself as an up-and-coming amateur from Ohio.

Sampson takes through the year: from Palmer's heroic wins at The Masters and U.S. Open, to his near miss at The Open Championship at St. Andrew's--which put the British Open back on the map for American golfers--to Nicklaus' near miss at the U.S. Open, to Hogan's last hurrahs at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Only 233 pages, it is a short, but very entertaining read which I highly recommend for anyone who is interested in the history of golf as well as professional golf.

Uneven Lies with Pete McDaniel

This past Monday I had the opportunity to hear Pete McDaniel, Golf Digest Senior Writer and author of Uneven Lies, The Heroic Story of African Americans in Golf, speak at Temple University. McDaniel talk was part of the University's observance of Black History Month and sponsored by Temple's Office of Community Relations. McDaniel's book has also been produced into a documentary, "Uneven Fairways," which is currently airing on The Golf Channel.

In his talk, McDaniel took us on a bus ride through time, back to 1896, when the first U.S. Open was being held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Long Island. Many of the top players of the day, who hailed mosted from Great Britain and Europe, threatened to withdraw because John Shippen, a black caddie had qualified to play in the Open. The USGA held firm that Shippen and another minority--a Native American--would be allowed to compete. Shippen led the tournament after the first round, and later finished fifth, before becoming this country's first golf professional.

Our journey, via McDaniel, took us to Boston in 1899 where dentist George F. Grant, an African-American, avid golfer and Harvard graduate, developed and patented the first wooden golf tee. We stopped in Harlem, N.Y., to learn about Althea Gibson, a celebrated tennis champion, winning the 1957 U.S. Open and 1958 Wimbledon Championship, before later becoming the first black female pro golfer, competing for more than a dozen years on the ladies pro golf tour.

We met such notable black golfers as John Brooks Dendy, who once opened a round with a 1, 2, 3 and 4 on his first four holes en route to shooting a 59. Ted Rhodes, who was nicknamed "Rags" because of his always stylish attire, while winning 150 tournaments, but never was allowed to compete on the PGA Tour.

McDaniel enlightened us about Dewey Brown, a light-skinned African American who earned membership in the Professional Golfers Association of America and worked in the Poconos as a club professional at Shawnee-on-the Delaware in the 1920s and 30s. In 1934, his membership in the PGA was revoked and the "Caucasian only" rule was added into the PGA's by-laws. This rule wasn't rescinded until 1962.

We also ventured to nearby Cobbs Creek Golf Course, which was the home course for awhile to Charlie Sifford, who at age 39 finally made it to the PGA Tour when the "Caucasian only" rule was abolished. Sifford received death threats at tournaments and once had someone defecate into the cup on the first hole while attempting to qualify for a PGA event in Phoenix. But Sifford persevered thanks to advice from Jackie Robinson, who had broken the color barrier in baseball about 15 years before.

We learned about Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, who is probably better known for his exploits in the boxing ring, but was a very good golfer and became the first African American to compete in a PGA event when he was allowed to enter the 1952 San Diego Open as an amateur on a sponsor's exemption. McDaniel said that Louis was "civil right leader without ever knowing it."

McDaniel's talk was educational, entertaining, but more importantly, enlightening. We learned about the many talented golfers who were denied the opportunity to compete on the professional tours, simply because of their skin color. We heard about the UGA, or "Chitlin Circuit," where these golfers who ply their trade, hone their game and compete against each other less-than-pristine courses for meager purses in pursuit of a dream.

I also had the opportunity to have lunch with McDaniel on Monday, where he updated on the current status on Tiger Woods. McDaniel has co-authored co-two books: "Training a Tiger--The Official Book on How to Be the Best" with Tiger Woods, and "Training a Tiger--A Father's Guide to Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life" with Earl Woods, Tiger's late father. McDaniel says that Tiger's game is in very good shape and he has spoken with Tiger's swing coach, Hank Haney. McDaniel predicts that Tiger will return to the PGA Tour at Doral, instead of the World Match Play, as many are predicting. He believes that Tiger will then play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational tow weeks later, before taking a week off before The Masters.

Greater Philadelphia Golf Show

Last Sunday I attended the final day of the Greater Philadelphia Golf Show. The show was held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pa. The show returned to Philadelphia after a several year absence following the closing of the Fort Washington Expo Center.
There were numerous golf vendors at the show, including such retailers as RockBottomGolf, Edwin Watts Golf and Wheat Road Golf. There were plenty of bargains to be had on both new and used golf clubs. TaylorMade, Callaway, Nike, and Cleveland seemed to dominate the club offerings, with a few also offering Mizuno, Srixon or Bridgestone.
There also a few exhibitors offering information of golf packages and golf travel to places such as Myrtle Beach; Florida; Ocean City, Md.; and Williamsburg, Va., but there were fewer representatives from area golf courses and country clubs as I have experienced at past golf shows.
The show also offered the opportunity to try the latest equipment from the major manufacturers at an indoor Demo Range, and there were contests for closest to the pin, longest drive, and putting.
One of the neatest things I saw at the show was the Arnold Palmer Indoor Golf Game, which The Muni Golfer actually received as a kid from Santa in the late 1960s. A miniature Arnold Palmer is attached to the end of what looks like a club shaft, but by pulling on a trigger on the underside of shaft, you can make The King swing one of several clubs--Driver, 4-wood, two irons, a wedge and a putter. Arnold hits small styrofoam balls to a felt green, around which you can place plastic replicas of a water hazard and two sand bunkers. Once on the green, you putt a marble into the cup, complete with flag, which fits into a small round cut-out area on the green. Watching the man who brought this game back to the marketplace hit balls brought fond flashbacks to my childhood.
I went to the GP Golf Show, not looking for clubs, but for accessories, particularly Wilson Staff products. I was very disappointed that so few vendors carried anything from the Wilson Staff line. I did, however, find a slightly used Wilson Staff FwC 7-Wood at one vendor for $19.95. The club needed a little cleaning and re-gripping, but it was a bargain too good to pass up. It was my only golf purchase of the day.

Photos by The Muni Golfer

A Wickedly Good Read

The Wicked Game: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and the Story of Modern Golf is a must read for any golf fan. Wonderfully entertaining, author Howard Sounes chronicles the rise of golf through three of modern golf's most prominent players--Palmer Nicklaus and Woods--as well as their impact on the professional game as we know it today. From Palmer's humble beginnings as the son of a course superintendent in Western Pennsylvania, to Nicklaus' Country Club education, to the training of Woods by an overzealous father, the book gives some fascinating behind the scenes views of how these three have impacted the game, as well as their successes and shortcomings.

Palmer, who became the first truly marketed golf superstar by Mark McCormack, and was used Palmer to build International Management Group, perhaps the most influential agency in sports. Nicklaus, who, while surpassing Palmer on the golf course, remained envious of his success off the course and nearly went bankrupt trying to maintain a lifestyle similar to Palmer's. And of course Woods, who has become the most recognized golfer, and perhaps athlete, of all time, yet remains a mystery to most.

The book also looks at how racism has long been a hallmark of golf and how these three leading golfers have done little to open the top echelons of the sport to minorities and women. It also paints a very revealing portrait of Tiger's late father, Earl Woods, who long held that he was a constant victim of racism, abandoned his first wife and children for Tiger's mother and believes he was chosen by God to raise Tiger and nurture his special talent.

Although a short read at 260+ pages, it is well worth it and I highly recommend it if you want a better understanding of the figures who have shaped the game we love.