The older you grow, the more things irritate you and the grumpier you get is the general rule of thumb. As I’m growing older, I’m trying hard (though not always successfully!) to pull back from this one-way street to never-ending misery and a permanent state of frustration, especially when it comes to golf.
I’m not going to lie, it isn’t always easy, but things that might once have irritated me, and still do irritate others, no longer seem to really matter. In my earlier golfing life, I would have had a slightly different view on dress codes, and would very much have said what is so difficult about wearing a polo shirt with a collar to play golf.
But now, does it really matter? You can wear an untucked, collarless shirt with cargo trousers these days and it won’t bother me one bit.
As for caps in the clubhouse, which still get a lot of people very hot under the collar (such people will obviously still be wearing a collar, plus possibly a cravat and blazer), I’m really not bothered, especially if it’s a kid who should be being encouraged at all costs rather than being told off, and potentially put off the game.
Anyway, I digress – out on the course, waving through seems to gradually be becoming a thing of the past, and I was mildly irritated recently when someone in a buggy cut in just ahead of us halfway through the back nine, then proceeded to hold us up once he caught the group ahead.
He was clearly not playing a full round and in a buggy, so could have driven off to any clear hole and pottered around there, but he didn’t.
But it was a beautiful day and my host at the club was mildly embarrassed, so after an initial whinge, I just accepted it and got on with things.
However, a round last week highlighted what I feel may have become a real issue in the game – laziness, carelessness or worse on the part of some that can impact everyone. And that is the growing lack of ability to use a rake at all after you’ve visited a bunker to leave it in a suitable and fair condition for those following, let alone raking the bunker properly.
Unrepaired pitchmarks come a close second, but I’m going to focus on bunkers here as those pitchmarks can at least be repaired before you putt.
In one particular bunker on that recent trip (at a very well-to-do golf club) I identified four different sets of unraked footmarks judging by the sole prints left – that's four people who clearly don’t think leaving a bunker in a fit state for those following is something to worry about. Many other bunkers were also full of footprints.
I imagine they’d be the first to moan when they find their ball in a massive footprint in a bunker... but then again, maybe such people simply move their ball to a preferable lie and carry on.
I may be wrong, but I’m sure most golfers used to be more diligent and caring. There are probably more rakes available to smooth things over than ever at the same time that fewer and fewer golfers seem particularly inclined to do so, despite the “please rake bunkers and repair pitchmarks” signs you see virtually everywhere – instructions/pleas that are sometimes still also printed on scorecards
But I’m afraid they’re a bit like those signs you sometimes see on the road: “This is a bin” beside a photo of a rubbish bin, and next to it, “This is not a bin,” beside a photo of the roadside verge. Sadly, such signs are really only preaching to the converted.
Those who already follow the guidance or societal norm of putting rubbish where it should go don't need the sign; those who need the sign aren't interested in, or don't care about, following the guidance.
In golf, you see that long-handled thing with the teeth or prongs lying there in or next to the bunker? Well, however frustrated you are with hitting your ball into the bunker in the first place, or the quality of the shot you’ve just played out of it, pick it up and use it out of courtesy to others.
Of course, I appreciate these words may not be worth the Word doc they were typed into and that changing entrenched attitudes or behaviours can be incredibly hard or maybe even impossible. But we surely have to at least keep trying, even if we only manage to turn a few from the dark side?
So, is the non-raking of bunkers reaching epidemic proportions? I fear it may be...
