Know your etiquette

• Etiquette tips on the course

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Talking on a cell phone or allowing your shadow to distract a golfer who's putting are definite no-no's on the golf course. Illustration by Gregory Taylor • The Honolulu Advertiser

Etiquette has always been an unspoken part of the game, probably why most golfers don't fully understand proper protocol. No one has ever told them.

Ammaccapane, playing in her 17th U.S. Women's Open in July, fixed that with a harsh rebuke of Wie, 13, after they played the first round together. When father BJ Wie told the media — adding and then retracting that Ammaccapane shoved his daughter — it became an international story.

Hawai'i pro David Ishii heard about it in Japan, where the 1990 Hawaiian Open champion is playing the final years of a hugely successful career on that PGA tour. Kaua'i's Mary Bea Porter-King, a U.S. Golf Association board member, was at the Open when it happened. She felt guilty.

"I had heard there were problems at Nabisco (in March)," Porter-King said. "BJ and I played phone tag after that. I told him I felt partially responsible for what happened at the Open. I'd had calls from players and caddies telling me what was happening. I guess part of me felt he and Michelle would learn, but everyone had been so polite and Danielle just wasn't that polite."

Without Ammaccapane's attitude and BJ's announcement to the press, it would never have been a story. But the silver lining, in one of the rare black clouds over Wie's young career, is that the controversy shoved etiquette to the forefront.

Its impact is ubiquitous in golf, which hardly seems fair. The game is already one of the most aggravating experiences on the planet and its written rules are many and meticulous. Etiquette's unwritten rules only add to the madness.

Before golf starts to seem too suffocating, remember this: Etiquette is all about common sense and being aware of those around you. If you keep that in mind, you can't get in much trouble, no matter how badly you play.

Simple things mean a lot. Don't talk or move when people play. Don't be in their peripheral vision. Keep up with the group in front. Be safe. It's simple and it's as easy for a hacker as a low-handicapper.

Once you know what's right, everything is less intimidating. You will get more invitations to play and your comfort level will encourage you to seek more advice. Soon, you'll be giving advice, ideally in a kinder tone than Ammaccapane's.

The trouble with unwritten rules is that they are open to debate and seem to multiply exponentially. The biggest gripe about the Wies at the Open was that they — mostly BJ, who caddies — walked on golfers' putting lines and "through lines."

A putting "line" is the path from the ball to the hole; the "through line" is where the ball would stop if the putt missed. Walking on the "line" can affect the path of the ball, particularly on today's lush greens and especially in the morning when they are pristine.

Most golfers have never heard of a "through line."

"For a 13-year-old, I don't think she would know about that unless she plays on tour," Ishii says. "So that was a hard one."

But Ishii is not offering the Wies an etiquette gimme. Those who make their living playing golf are adamant that players, especially in a tournament and particularly a pro event, need to be etiquette savvy. If they're not, as awkward as it might be, someone should help them.

A little more tough love at home might have saved the Wies major miseries in July, as more than one local golfer has lamented.

Some golfers here have complained since she won her first major at age 11 that the Wies compete "in a bubble," with little regard for their playing partners. The same is true of many young players whose understanding of golf is still maturing. Few say anything to them, though Ishii did ask a rules official to talk to the Wies at the Hawai'i Pearl Open about pace of play and being more considerate on the greens.

Porter-King spends much of her time these days helping with rules at major events, when she's not working here with the Hawai'i State Junior Golf Association, which she helped found. She constantly preaches etiquette to her kids, then tells them to "teach their parents" and watch the pros on TV.

"They practice the best etiquette," Porter-King says. "If you learn anything from the pros, besides watching great golf swings, watch how respectful they are of one another. That's what I love about the game.

"The higher up you go, the more respectful you are. The more you play, the more you expect."

Her first rule of etiquette is don't be seen while someone is hitting. Then she moves to the green, which has a way of separating the serious golfer from the recreational without a stroke being taken.

Porter-King characterizes the through line as "somewhat of a tour thing" and says, basically, there is a "sacred area around the hole."

Pace of play is a perpetual problem. When she puts players "on the clock" because they have fallen behind, the rules give the first person 50 seconds to hit once they get to their ball. The rest of the group gets 40 seconds each.

It's not that tough, but neither is placing a rake in a flat spot in the bunker. So many people fumbled that guideline — putting the rake on a slope — that the USGA now prefers players leave the rake outside after they are done. That avoids lengthy rules interpretations caused by the ball getting stuck on a rake in the bunker and having to be dropped.

Ishii says one of the things that annoys him most is when someone starts moving during his backswing.

"People stand where they think you can't see them but you can," Ishii says. "When you take your backswing they start moving, or leaning and making that first step. I don't like that. I try not to move until the person actually hits the ball."

Casey Nakama, who used to coach Wie, says the second class the juniors at his academy have to pass is all about etiquette.

He takes them to a practice green with a miniature golf course set up and makes them follow protocol, from who hits first to marking the ball correctly to tending the flag, standing in the right place and finishing quickly.

"I tell them from the fringe to the hole should take two to three minutes," Nakama says. "There's no time to waste. And they have to be moving their equipment in the right direction. I loop them twice for nine holes, about 40 minutes.

"It's a big day for that class because people have to pass a scoring and written rules test to move to the next class. The second class is the most important."

After what the Wies went through, Nakama has more kids believing.

"If there is a good thing that came out of Michelle's mishap it's that it's going to allow us to start talking about it," Porter-King says. "I've told kids for years, 'The only reason I'm telling you this is if you get to play with Tiger or Annika and you stand right where you are now they'll bite your head off.' That happened to Michelle and nobody wants that to happen."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.

Etiquette tips on the course

ON THE TEE

• Stand to the side, not behind or in peripheral vision of the golfer. Or, as a USGA official put it, if you are looking directly at the golfer's "belly or butt" you are in the right place.
• Don't move until the ball is hit.
• Don't make noise.
• These first three "hints to keep everyone happy" hold true anywhere on the course when a golfer is addressing the ball.

ON THE FAIRWAY

• Player farthest from the hole hits first.
• If you are walking ahead and to the side of someone hitting to save time, stay out of their vision — and danger — and watch every move they make.
• Visualize your shot and figure your yardage to the hole as you get to the ball and/or are waiting for someone to hit. Be ready to go when you get to your ball.

IN THE BUNKER

• Before leaving a bunker, a player should carefully fill up and smooth over all holes and footprints. It should look better than when you entered.
• Replace the rake outside the bunker, tongs down, at the farthest point from the center of the fairway.

ON THE GREEN

• Mark your ball without someone having to ask.
• Repair your divot and ball marks, and a few more if you have time. Also fix any spike marks or other damage.
• Stand to the side of someone putting (the "belly and butt" theory again) and watch from an angle. You can move to a better angle as soon as the putt is hit.
• Closest to the hole tends the flag.
• First to finish the hole is responsible for replacing the flag.
• Tending the flag is tougher than it looks. Stand still and to the side — the shady side if the sun is out. Do not stand on anyone's intended putting line on either side of the hole. Make sure your shadow is not over the hole or distracting the putter. Keep the flag from flapping. Work the pin out early so you can pull it out gently and not damage the hole.
• If you don't need the pin, place it on the apron where no one can possibly hit it and it won't damage the green.
• In case you're wondering — and you shouldn't be — do not place your golf bag on the green. And don't drive the cart too close.
• Do not walk on anyone's intended putting line — from their ball to the hole. More experienced golfers also consider the "through line" — where their putt might go if they miss and the ball stops within a three-foot circumference of the hole — part of their line.
• Leave the putting green as soon as the last putt is in.

PACE OF PLAY

• Check in at least 15 minutes early. Municipal courses require check-in 30 minutes before your tee time.
• Keep up with the players in your group and the group ahead of you. If the group behind you is still grumbling, it's their problem, not yours. If there is no group behind you, still keep up with the group in front.
• Unless you are in a tournament or the rest of the group disagrees, play "ready" golf and skip the honor. And don't be pulling on your glove with your teeth on the tee. Do that after you putt out.
• If you are a hole or more behind the group ahead, and the group behind is waiting, you are obligated to let it through — or speed up.
• Limit your practice swings to one, at most. It took Bobby Jones three seconds from the moment he stood over the ball to his follow-through, and he wasn't bad.
• Don't linger too long over putts, they won't get easier.
• Putt out every chance you get as long as you're not stepping on someone's line.
• Play a provisional ball (a second ball, or beyond if you hit that out), and announce it, to save time if you think your original ball might be OB. And play the provisional after everyone else has hit.
• If you are working on a double-digit score for the hole and it isn't a tournament, pick up and move on. You will all feel better.
• Limit searches for lost balls to five minutes.

FYI: As one Web site figured out, if each golfer individually wastes five seconds per shot and shoots 90, that adds up to 7 1/2 minutes, per golfer, or an additional 30 minutes in the round. That doesn't include lost balls, temper tantrums, food, self-swing analysis and other assorted distractions.

COMMON SENSE

• Safety first. Also second, third and ... you get the idea. The golf ball is hard and the clubs are weapons. Watch out.
• Before playing a stroke or making a practice swing, be sure no one is standing close or in a position to be hit by the club, the ball or any stones, twigs or debris that might be moved by the stroke or swing.
• Be quiet, and lose the cell phone, corn chips and loose change in your pocket.
• Yell "fore!" if there is even a remote possibility your ball might hit someone.
• In a tournament, you can ask others for clarification on rules, but not how to play a ball or what club to use.
• If you pick up another ball, be sure it doesn't belong to anyone else on the course who might still be looking for it — and is bigger than you.
• No player should hit until those in front are out of range of your career shot.

Sources: USGA board member Mary Bea Porter-King, pros David Ishii, Cindy Rarick, Casey Nakama and Kevin Ralbovsky, The Women's Golf Guide videoiUnderstanding the Game, Its Rules and Etiquette; learnaboutgolf.com.