Golf/skins question

Extremely low stakes (buck a hole) on a muni par three course.

The four in the group have known each other for years. In casual games, two in the group are pretty liberal with their 'gimmes' around the hole. Say from two feet and in. The issues in gimmes has come up before but wasn't specified before play last night.

Last night, player one has a birdie putt which he misses by roughly 18-24 inches. A birdie would have won the hole for him. After the missed putt, which went long, player one walks up and casually rakes it back, but misses the rake putt. He gives himself a par regardless. his argument is that it was a gimme putt, and if he would have taken the time to line it up, he would have. Another player in the foursome says, no, that the casual rake putt was a putt, and that player one missed it.


What does the sj.com group think?

 

You can't give yourself a gimme.

 

Rules are rules.

 

We didn't have any rules, that's the problem.

 

Even still, it's pretty reasonable to assume you can't give yourself the putt -- especially after you just half-assed it and missed.

 

Your buddy is a douche for arguing it.

 

I wouldn't call him out either but once someone did, he should have taken it and moved on.

 

Right, in a single group, it's usually a hole-by-hole thing -- your opponents give it or it ain't been given. On the other hand, there have been times when I said, hell no, we give putts within a given length or we don't give 'em at all. I've never done that because of problems I've had, but sometimes there's one guy in the group who you really shouldn't give anything to. And I find it very uncomfortable conceding putts of X length to some players but not to others.

 

We have one guy who really takes liberties with his gimmes. If anything is ever said he pouts like a baby for the rest of the round.

 

Yeah, that happens. Usually takes care of itself, however, as people quit playing (for any stakes) with such people.