More golf safety tips

Golf is a very safe sport - as long as a few basic, common-sense rules of safety are followed. When those rules are ignored, injuries can occur.
Golf involves the swinging of metal clubs, which propel golf balls at high speeds. If you're in the way of either the clubs or the balls, you're in danger. You could be placing yourself in danger, too, if you do not respect the power of the sun, the danger of lightning, or your body's need for the right kind of fluids on warm days.

 Here are some guidelines that can help ensure your safety, and that of those around you on the golf course

Keep Track of Those Around You
When a golf club is in your hands and you are preparing to swing, it is your responsbility to make sure your playing partners are
a safe distance away from you. It's not too difficult, after all, to keep track of where everyone is when your group is likely just four or
 fewer golfers.

Drive Safely

Most golf carts come with a safety label. Read it, and follow the directions. No, driving a golf cart along the course's cart paths isn't a difficult thing to do. But read and observe all safety rules. Don't hang your feet out of the cart while it's in motion; don't go off-roading over bumpy terrain; don't drive at full speed around curves or down steep hills. Don't let small children drive the cart. Don't drive the cart if you've had a few too many beers. And watch out for other golf carts at points where paths cross.

Protect Yourself from the Sun
A typical round of golf means four hours of exposure to the harsh effects of the sun. More on a slow day, or on a day when you play more than 18 holes. More when you factor in time on the practice putting green or driving range.
In short, golfers have a large exposure to the potentially dangerous effects of the sun. Protect your skin by always using a strong sunscreen.
Also, wear a wide-brimmed cap to keep the sun off your face. Better yet, get yourself a straw hat or other full-brimmed hat that will also help keep the sun off the back of your neck.

Add Fluids ... the Right Kind of Fluids
If you're playing golf under the sun on a hot day, you'll be sweating off a lot of body fluids. Even if the sun is nowhere to be seen, and it's a cool day, you'll be working up a thirst.
Quench that thirst the right way. Drink plenty of water. If you buy a beverage, make it a sports drink such as Lucazade.
Of course, there are those golfers who play simply as an excuse to drink beer. It's important to avoid beer (at least until after the round) on hot days. Because alcohol, along with the sun, also dehydrates the human body. And we all know about alcohol's disorienting effect on people. The odds of an accident ocurring go way up with each beer.

Beware Lightning
 Lightning is a killer, and during a thunderstorm golfers carrying metal clubs in their hands while on exposed land are at great risk. If there is lightning
anywhere around the golf course, or thunderstorms approaching, take cover. At the very first sign of lightning, head for the clubhouse. If you are caught
 out on the course and unable to get to the clubhouse, do not seek cover under trees. Trees are lightning rods. Instead, look for a designated lightning
shelter (found on many courses in areas where lightning occurs with great frequency) or a concrete or stone bathroom. Open-walled structures will not
protect you from lightning, even if they have a lightning rod or are designated as lightning shelters.
If caught out in the open and unable to find shelter, get away from your clubs, your golf cart, water and trees, and remove metal spikes if wearing them.
If in a group, group members should remain at least 15 feet apart. If you feel a tingling sensation or the hair on your arms stands up, crouch in a
baseball catcher's position, balancing on the balls of your feet. Fold your arms in front of your knees, keep your feet together and your head forward.

Maintain a Good Pace
• Keep the round moving by being prepared to hit your shot when it is your turn. You probably don't like waiting on other groups - don't make other groups wait on you.
• The player who is away hits first in a group. However, in friendly matches (as opposed to tournament play), this rule can be ignored in favor of "ready play" - players hit as they are ready. All players should agree to "ready play" before it is put into effect.
• Do not spend too much time looking for a lost ball, particularly if there is a group behind you ready to play. If you insist on taking the full five minutes alloted in the rulebook to look for lost balls, golf etiquette says wave up the group behind to allow them to play through.
• Always try to keep pace with the group ahead of you. If space opens in front of you, allow a faster group to play through.
• When two players in a cart hit to opposite sides of a hole, drive to first ball and drop off that player with his club, then drive to the second ball. After both players hit, meet up farther down the hole.
• When walking from your cart to your ball, take a couple clubs with you. Taking only one club, then having to return to the cart to retrieve a different club, is a huge time-waster.
• Always leave the putting green as soon as your group has finished putting.

More Tips for Fighting Slow Play
Slow play on the golf course is usually a habit that a golfer acquires over time, as he or she acquires bad habits. Or it's the result of the golfer never having been taught proper golf etiquette. This means a slow golfer can usually be "cured" of his malady. Of course, that golfer has to be aware that he's slow, and that's where buddies come into play.
But as we often take a look at other golfers on the course and notice the things they do to slow down play, so should we take a look at ourselves. When we do take an honest look at ourselves, we often discover we're doing some of the same things to slow down play that we're complaining about others doing.
Before we run down a list of suggestions for speeding up play, it's important to note that many of these tips have nothing to do with rushing your play, but rather with simply being ready to play, and with using common sense and good etiquette on the course.
The bottom line is, as soon as it's your turn to play, you should be ready to step right up and make the stroke.
Here are some tips for speeding up slow play on the golf course:
• Choose the correct set of tees from which to play. If you're a 20-handicapper, you have no business playing the championship tees. Doing so only adds strokes, which add time.
• Members of a group should not travel as a pack, with all members walking together to the first ball,
then the second, and so on. Each member of the group should walk directly to his own ball.
• When two players are riding in a cart, drive the cart to the first ball and drop off the first player with
 his choice of clubs. The second player should proceed in the cart to his ball. After the first player
hits his stroke, he should begin walking toward the cart as the second golfer is playing.
• Use the time you spend getting to your ball to think about the next shot - the yardage, the club
selection. When you reach your ball you'll need less time to figure out the shot.
• If you are unsure whether your ball has come to rest out of bounds, or may be lost, immediately
 hit a provisional ball so that you won't have to return to the spot to replay the shot. If you are playing
 a recreational match with, shall we say, a "loose interpretation" of the rules, then simply drop a
new ball somewhere around the area where your ball was lost and keep playing (taking a penalty,
 of course).
• If you're following the rules, you won't be using mulligans. But if are using mulligans, limit them to
 no more than one mulligan per nine (you should never hit a mulligan if players behind you are
 waiting - or if you want to later claim that you played by the rules).
• Begin reading the green and lining up putts as soon as you reach the green. Don't wait until it's
your turn to putt to start the process of reading the green. Do it as soon as you reach the green so
 that when it's your turn you can step right up and putt.
• Never delay making a stroke because you're having a conversation with a playing partner. Put the
conversation on hold, make your stroke, then pick up the conversation again.
• If using a cart on a cart-path-only day, take more than one club with you when you walk from the cart to your ball. Getting to the ball only to find out you don't have the right club is a huge time-waster on the golf course.
After putting out, don't stand around the green chatting or take any practice putting strokes. Leave the green quickly so the group behind can play. If there is no group behind, then a few practice putts are fine.
• When leaving the green and returning to your golf cart, don't stand there fussing with your putter or other clubs. Get in the cart, drive to the next tee, and then put away your putter.
• Likewise, mark your scorecard after reaching the next tee, not while lingering on or near the just-completed green.
• When using a cart, never park the cart in front of the green. Park it only to the side or behind the green. And don't mark your scorecard while sitting in the cart next to the green (do it at the next tee). These practices open up the green for the group behind.
• If you're the type who likes to offer tips to playing partners, save it for the driving range - or only do so on the course when you're sure that you're not slowing down play (and sure that you're not annoying your partners!).
• If you are searching for a lost ball and are willing to spend a few minutes looking for it, allow the group behind to play through. If you are playing a friendly game where rules aren't followed closely, just forget the lost ball and drop a new one (with penalty). If you're not playing by the rules, you should never spend more than a minute looking for a lost ball.
• Don't ask your playing partners to help you search for a lost ball - unless you are absolutely certain there is time for them to do so (e.g., there is no group behind waiting). If the course is crowded, your partners should continue moving forward, not slow things down further by stopping to help your search.
• On the tee, pay attention to your partners' drives. If they lose sight of their ball, you can help direct them to it and avoid any searching.
• When waiting on the tee for the group in front to clear the fairway, don't be so strict about order of play. Let the short hitter - who can't reach the group ahead anyway - go ahead and hit.
• Work on building a concise pre-shot routine. If your pre-shot routine is a lengthy one, it's probably in your best interests to shorten it anyway. Limit practice strokes to one or two at the most.
• Don't bother marking lag putts - go ahead and putt out if it's short enough and you won't be trampling on another player's line.
• Leave your cell phone in the car.
• Walk at a good pace between shots. No, you don't have to look like a race-walker. But if your between-shot gait can be described as a "shuffle" or an "amble," you're probably going too slow. Speeding up your gait a little is good for your health, but also might help your game by keeping you lose.
• Carry extra tees, ball markers and an extra golf ball in your pockets so you never have to return to your golf bag to find one when needed.
• When chipping around the green, carry both the club you'll be chipping with plus your putter so you don't have to return to the bag.
• Try playing ready golf, where order of play is based on who's ready, not on who's away.

Do singles have a right to play through?

Does a golfer playing alone have to yield to all other groups on the golf course? Asked another way, does a single have any right to play through, or does a single have to allow all other groups to play through despite being faster?
 Let's answer this by posing another question, a pop quiz:

You are playing in group of four. Several holes in front of your group are open. A single catches up to your group. Should your group:
 A. Offer to let the single play through
 B. Ignore the single, because singles have no standing on the golf course

Answer: The correct answer is - or should be - "A." If you answered "B," then you are one of those golfers who mistakenly believes that the rulebook says golfers playing alone have no rights on the course.
And you probably have this belief because the Etiquette section of the Official Rules of Golf used to say just that! In fact, it said exactly this:

"A single player has no standing and should give way to a match of any kind."
 
John Hutchinson, who runs the Web site RulesHistory.com, explains the reasoning behind that old statement by the R&A and USGA:

 "Up to that time, priority went in numerical order - four-ball gave way to three-ball, etc. The basis of this plan was that fewer players were presumed to be faster, and singles were (presumed to be) merely practicing, not competing."
 
But note above that we said the rulebook used to include the statement about singles having no standing. That's because it no longer does; and, in fact, it now says the opposite.

 The statement "a single player has no standing and should give way to a match of any kind" was removed from the Official Rules of Golf in revisions for the 2004 edition, when, Hutchinson notes, "the emphasis changed to how fast any particular group were playing, regardless of the number in the group."

 In other words, beginning in 2004, the etiquette guidelines in the rulebook said that speed of play - regardless of how many golfers are in any particular group - determines whether a group should be allowed to play through.

 But is a single a group? The 2004 revisions clearly implied that the USGA and R&A consider a single a "group," but did not explicitly state that. So another revision, in 2008, clarified that point and explicitly stated that a single is a "group," and has the same rights as any other group.

 Here is what now appears in the Etiquette guidelines of the Official Rules of Golf:
•In the "Pace of Play" section: "It is a group's responsibility to keep up with the group in front. If it loses a clear hole and it is delaying the group behind, it should invite the group behind to play through, irrespective of the number of players in that group." (emphasis mine)
•In the "Priority on the Course" section: "Unless otherwise determined by the Committee, priority on the course is determined by a group's pace of play. Any group playing a whole round is entitled to pass a group playing a shorter round. The term 'group' includes a single player."

So, once and for all, a single on the course deserves the same consideration as any other group of golfers, according to the USGA and the R&A.
Unless. The rulebook does give golf courses an out, however, by including that "unless otherwise determined by the Committee" bit. So while the Rules of Golf are clear that singles do have standing on the course, the rulebook also gives committees the option to decide differently. If you're allowed to play as a single at a course, but then encounter trouble on the course, check with the pro about club policies - and make sure he or she understands the current USGA/R&A guidelines on the issue.
 Because many golfers are still unaware of the changes to the rulebook in this area. My sense, when encountering this issue on the course or hearing stories from other golfers, is that most golfers who answer "B" to the question posed up at the top of this article do so because they simply aren't aware that the guidelines have changed.
 It should also be noted that a golf course sets its own policies regarding groupings. Some courses that are particularly busy on weekends and holidays might require all groups to include four golfers. Show up alone at one of those courses and you'll have to wait until other golfers come along with whom you can be grouped.

 Also, a golfer who begins his or her round alone should always be prepared to pair up with other players during the round if the overall pace of play slows down and the single catches up to another single, a twosome or a threesome, and there is no opening ahead of that group.

Be Kind to the Course
• Observe cart rules. Some courses will post "cart path only" signs; others will ask you to observe the "90-degree rule."
 Do as you are told.
• Keep carts away from greens and hazards. The wheels on carts can damage these sensitive areas
(see golf cart rules and etiquette).
• Repair your divots in the fairway.
• Repair your ball marks on the green.
• Always rake sand bunkers after hitting to erase your footprints and damage to the area where your ball was.
• Avoid taking a divot on a practice swing.
How to repair ball marks
How to repair divots
How to rake sand bunkers
And a Few More Golf Etiquette Hints
• Quiet, please! Never talk during another player's swing.
• Do not yell out following a shot. Even if boisterous behavior doesn't bother your playing partners, there are
other people on the course who may be within earshot.
• Be aware of your shadow on the putting green. Don't stand in a place that causes your shadow to be
cast across another player or that player's putting line. (See: How to tend the flagstick)
• Never walk through a playing partner's putting line. Your footprints might alter the path of a partner's putt.
Step over the putting line, or walk around (behind) the partner's ball.

Extracts from About.com