Joining a golf club wasn’t always a transaction. It used to be a life lesson too.
You learned where to stand, why you should repair pitch marks, and how to mark a scorecard. You realised the game wasn’t just about rules. As important were the unwritten customs and habits that came along the way.
Clubs taught you the details. You might be put through your paces at an application interview. Or you played with experienced golfers, made mistakes, and were taught the best way.
Does that still happen at clubs? Does etiquette still form the rock on which club golfers are developed?
On an episode of The NCG Golf Podcast, Tom Irwin and I debated whether golf is losing its way.
“There’s a lot of rituals and things you take for granted as someone who has spent your time around golf your whole life”, Irwin said. “You forget you’ve learned them because you’ve known them so long.”
But shepherding his son who is starting his journey in the sport, and watching a lot of junior golf, he wonders if some time-honoured traditions are starting to unravel – mainly through a lack of knowledge.
“There’s been a lot aggressive pushing of trolleys, throwing of clubs, kicking of balls off the green, whacking balls off the green when it’s gone badly.
“The idea of swapping scorecards and then checking scores at the end is almost a thing of the past because of the use of apps.”
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Is it etiquette at golf clubs starting to break down?
These small moments matter, Irwin believes. “There’s way more responsibility in having to hand a card over to someone and then go through the scores,” he explained.
“Nowadays it’s all on an app and you say ‘yes, this person attested it’, but whether they did or they didn’t is totally up for grabs.”
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If Irwin’s fears are becoming reality, who bears the responsibility? Golf has put in the hard yards trying to make the sport more welcoming.
The interviews have all but disappeared outside of the very top clubs. Dress codes have relaxed and becoming a member has become much easier. These are all changes that have made golf a more accessible sport.
But did we also lose something when flinging open the doors? While the grilling of a new applicant in front of a panel of Committee members definitely had the whiff of elitism about it, they also provided a chance to explain expectations – to set out standards.
I’m certainly not advocating their return, but can member packs fill the void of knowledge that comes in a face-to-face conversation?
Should new member nights really be about ironing out minor etiquette breaches: players walking in your line, or walking off the green before you’ve even finished out, golfers in eyelines, or conversations that continue during shots?
These will be familiar to many of you, and none of them are driven by malice. But they’re little irritations that seem just part of the game now.
That’s before you get into the big-hitting issues of playing faster groups through, raking bunkers, and shouting fore.
We see some of this happening at the very top level with players chucking clubs and spectators actively rooting against competitors. These become viral moments, with aggregation making such acts seem acceptable in the eyes of a wider audience.
When those examples meet golfers who haven’t been properly taught the game’s traditions, it can transfer to our own clubs.
So can they become educators again? I’ve very clearly said – many times – I don’t think players should be allowed to play in competitions if they haven’t passed a basic Rules of Golf exam.
We play a sport where we’re asked to referee and regulate ourselves. Could we make more of an effort to ensure golfers understand rules and etiquette?
Or are we content to dismantle the game’s framework? “Let us score on our phones, let us wear what we want, let us like behave how we want,” said Irwin. “Golf should be fun. It’s a place of loud music, and all the rest of it.
“And you say, ‘yes, that’s how it should be’. But I think we’re closely getting to the thin edge of the wedge now where you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. I think it’s a shame for the sport because what used to be virtues is now ‘we’re just as bad as everyone else’.”
He added: “You’re left with very little framework and what used to be the fabric that held the whole thing together. [Now] It’s like, well, what’s left?”
Now have your say on etiquette
What do you make of our etiquette argument? Is the game in danger of fracturing when it comes to player standards? What examples have you seen at your own clubs? Let us know in the comments, or get in touch on X.
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