completed on the Peloton bike with the same workout that I had completed a few days earlier. He told me that his metrics were better than mine for this particular ride. Did I care? No. As I told him, working out, for me, is about the act, about sweating and getting my endorphins going. The fact that I’m sitting in the saddle and exercising rather than sitting in a chair – with the goal of enhancing my physical and mental health – that is what matters most. The same holds true for golf. If you regularly read my column, you know that I seldom keep my golf score. For me, when it comes to a round of golf, the score is secondary to the experience. So why not take that mulligan on the first tee. Heck, if you have an errant shot on the ninth tee, or a par three, give yourself a second do-over on the back nine. Who’s keeping score? If your playing partner takes offence, maybe it’s time to get a new playing partner. Jokes aside, despite the mulligan not being an official golf rule, it’s been part of my golf games for decades. What about gimmes? Within reason, give your playing partners that short putt once in a while; it speeds up play and saves your friend the embarrassment of missing those knee-knockers for par or to save a bogey. Unless you are playing for money or keeping an official handicap, there is no reason not to allow mulligans or gimmes. Some might say, ‘isn’t that cheating?’ No, not if everyone in your group agrees. It’s your game after all. That’s the point of this ramble. Who are you playing for? And why are you playing? Answers to these questions will help you decide whether to give yourself the right to re-tee the ball once in a while. I play so little that when I take a mulligan, it’s a chance to correct something that I noticed I did wrong on that first shot. It also helps my confidence if I make a better shot the second time around. But if the second ball goes slicing into the woods on the same flight path as the first, then I know that it’s going to most likely be one of those days and no number of do-overs is going to improve my game. So, I’m happy to just drop a ball at the nearest point where the ball went out of bounds and take my penalty strokes, according to the official rules. Oh, and about those rules: how many do you really know? When, in 1744, the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith – later known as The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers – published its first set of rules, there were only 13. Today, there are 34 with 122 sections and 106 subsections. Do you have all of these 25,000 words committed to memory? Even most professionals who play golf for a living on the various tours worldwide admit that they do not know and/or understand every single rule. So, I’ll leave you with this. Know the basic rules and do follow them, but simplify things whenever and wherever possible. And, if you object to my ruminations on the rules in this latest column, I’ll take a mulligan. Please gimme a chance to redeem myself next time. Golf CSANews | WINTER 2023 | 41
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