Forgive me for being a sourpuss but winter is coming. It won’t be long before the trophy season is once more at an end and we pivot to darker nights, colder climes, and shorter courses.
My carrying habits change around now. Normally I’d wield a trolley but once the days get shorter and the grass gets softer I swap it out for a pencil bag.
This isn’t getting at any of you who use trolleys all year long – particularly those who have no other choice. But when the course gets wet, I like to think those of us who can should at least try and protect playing surfaces.
Even with the help of roped off areas, spinning a trio of wheels through soaking grass tends to make a muddy mess, especially given the winters we’ve been having in the UK. When it’s cold enough that the grass stops growing then those wounds don’t heal for months.
When I’m carrying, I’ll sometimes find myself toting my bag across a green. Every now and then this will raise an eyebrow among my playing partners.
It’s not a regular habit. If I can walk round, I will. But if it’s going to keep play moving, and if the alternative is a sizable diversion, then I’ll take the guilty path and get where I need to go.
Green carry on bag rules: Perfectly acceptable or golf etiquette fail?
Is this bad etiquette? Trolleys on the tee really seems to cause a ruck – particularly depending on which side of the border you’re on.
I’ve been called onto the tee with my trolley at the Old Course but have seen enough social media rage in England to know it’s really discouraged here.
This isn’t the same, though, is it? My pencil bag, clubs, balls and all, probably weighs no more than about six pounds and I’m weighing in not too much over 12 stone otherwise.
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The extra weight going across the green is negligible. I suppose a case can be made for footprints – especially when the greens are borderline as to whether they should be on temporaries or not. Anything that saves a few extra steps might be helpful.
On the other hand, now that metal spikes have been eradicated from our golf clubs, and we often turn up in shoes where we can move straight from the car to the course, the potential for any damage seems even more reduced.
Would this make any difference at any other time of year? In the professional sphere, I’ve seen caddies hawking those massive tour bags across the most manicured of surfaces.
And isn’t one of the best things about carrying, rather than using a trolley or going round in a buggy, is that you can go anywhere you wish?
Or is it just one of those things that’s actually perfectly fine but just feels strange? And if a club does have a convention to avoid it, perhaps it’s just worth following it out of respect?
OK, that’s a lot of questions. I will let you be the judge. Carry across a green, or steer well clear.? You decide.
Now have your say
Green carry on bag rules. What do you think? Perfectly acceptable or etiquette faux pas? Is it OK to carry your bag across a green? Let me know with a comment on X, formerly known as twitter.
