Often we are told to only worry about the big life altering events like getting married, buying a house, having children or the loss of loved ones. This is good advice except that these events are few and far between; it is the little things that make up our lives and daily moods. And all too often our mood is ruined by rude people that we encounter in the day. As much as we would like to simply choose to be in a good mood it would be easier if people would follow some simple etiquette, it exists for a reason.

Having said that, every industry, business, hobby…basically every aspect of life has etiquette to follow and here are three simple rules an amateur golfer should follow on the driving range.

Do Not Stand and Talk to a Player While They are Practicing.  

If you go the range and see someone that you know, by all means go up to that person and say hello. There is no reason to ignore someone and make it awkward. But leave it at small pleasantries that get each other caught up on the comings and goings of your lives. The person that is presently swinging does not want to stop what they are doing to chat it up for thirty minutes, and they especially do not want you to park yourself to make it an event. This does nothing but makes the player frustrated and they will eventually lose focus. With the craziness of everyday life players only get a limited amount of time to play or practice. With that limited time they can’t afford to lose focus to hear about your current problems. Save the conversation for when they are walking off the range, if they have the time then they will gladly hear about little Kenny pooping or whatever else you want to talk about.

Do Not Take Clubs Out Of a Players Bag

If you decided to ignore the rule from above at least try to observe this one. Any avid golfer will tell you that their clubs hold a special place in their heart. The last thing they want someone to do is unwelcomingly grab clubs and start swinging, not even family! It might sound silly but players form a bond with their clubs, they develop certain ways to care for them, golfers become very territorial with them. Grabbing another person’s clubs would be like walking into your neighbor’s house, grabbing a mixing bowl and starting to make brownies. Or seeing an acquaintance in a restaurant, you stop to say hi and then grab some french fries off his plate. You wouldn’t think of committing either of those sins would you? Then don’t grab another person’s clubs. They are off limits!!! Any passionate golfer would agree.

Do Not Start Giving a Player Lessons or Tips

For the love of anything that you hold sacred, please do not start giving lessons or tips to another golfer. This might be the most annoying pet peeve and biggest faux pas in golf! Imagine you are on the range trying to work on an aspect of your game that you have been struggling with. So you are already a little anxious and then Ranger Rick comes up and starts blabbing away on what you should be doing. You automatically get embarrassed, frustrated, and unfocused. You might as well just walk off the range then because continuing to practice will just damage the most important aspect of any golfer’s game, which is confidence. Also, anything that happens to Ranger Rick is his own doing, normally I would not approve of violence as an answer but Ranger Rick needs to be tarred and feathered! I would gladly overpay an instructor for their advice rather than get yours for free.

Following these simple rules and other basic etiquette in life would make everybody’s daily mood a little better.

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