Follow the rules and become a better player
What with the Uniontown City Championship, Uniontown Country Club Championship and the upcoming Fayette County Open, I thought I would write about the rules. The rules, while confusing, are meant to help you. I realize that it does not seem so and the rules seem kind of arcane at times, but the rules are meant to help you. I do not want to get into a rules discussion; rather I wanted to get into how the rules can make you a better player.
If you played by the rules, and followed, to the letter of the law, the rules governing hazards, out of bounds and lost ball, and got away from “mulligans,” “reloads” and “just drop one,” then you would become a better player. Your scores would go up for a while, but you would be playing golf, not just smack ball.
If you played by the rules, you would understand golf is a hard game. You would realize that the golf course and all of its trappings and markings serve a purpose. You would realize and learn how to manage your game better so you did not hit it out of bounds or in a hazard, and you would also be playing by the rules. You would also enjoy your improvement to a very high level. If your scores went up due to playing by the rules, imagine what would happen once they started to go down. How would you feel?
I bet you would feel wonderful.
In short, play by the rules. The game might be more frustrating, might be more involved and might be harder, but it will become much more rewarding.
The game has rules for a reason: to make the game just hard enough to be as challenging as it is and to make improvement as rewarding as it can be.
Next time you play, play with the rules in mind. Rules will not come up very often, but they will be evident where needed. Develop the habit of playing by the rules and learn just how complicated, challenging and rewarding real golf can be.
Rich Conwell is the PGA Head Golf Professional at Uniontown Country Club. For questions or comments, please feel free to contact Rich at richconwell@atlanticbb.net.