I have always been told that having your push cart on the greens was no big deal, then yesterday evening I got scolded for having my push cart on the greens.

I was embarrassed because normally I pride myself on respecting the course but never would have dreamed having my push cart would cause damage so just wondering what everyone thought and what the rule is at your home course.

the only thing to go on the green, are your feet, the ball and the sole of the putter. you have to respect the course for others to be able to play with the same conditions that you have. pulling a cart on the green, if it is soft will make slight ruts, indentations, troughs what ever u want to call them. and when other players have to putt through the slight ruts, indentations, troughs then they arent playing the same course u are.

also think of the permanent damage you could do to the greens

At my place it's considered a mortal sin to set foot on the greens whilst carrying a bag.

Taking a trolley onto one would be enough to have you flogged.

Agree it's a no-no. I wouldn't even bring them between bunkers and greens.

Don't see any problem with walking on the green while carrying a bag. PGA Tour caddies do it. Most people who are carrying bags weight less (bag included) than some who ride in carts.

Glad I asked, the first person that told me it was fine was at my home course that is VERY dry so maybe thats why they didn't care if it was on or not. I never even thought it could do damage, Im walking on the greens and I weigh 250 pounds so never assumed the 30 pound push cart would make a difference but sounds like it certainly could.

Same here.

I would personally never do it (I carry anyway). But come on, how much does a pull cart weigh compared to the riding mowers they use?

no carts on the greens

That's thinkin' with yer dipstick Jimmy!!!


Not saying it is ok, but it would exert less pressure than a caddie carrying a bag.

I'd say definitely a no-no. I was told to get my bag off the tee box this summer. I don't see any issue with carrying a bag across a green though.

No way should anyone take a pull/push cart onto the green. One of the advantages of carrying was being able to save steps by crossing the green vs. having to walk around.

Me neither if I'm honest. When in Rome and all that though.

NEVER put ANY WHEELS on ANY Green! OMG! How could you!

hehehe

Please respect the green.

I too am from CT and was wondering what course told you to get your bag off the tee box?

Thanks,
Ryan

I feel the same way, I never even carry my bag across the green for fear of leaving deep footprints!

The silly thing is I KNOW there are some 350 lb dudes who play golf and I know they don't damage the greens any more than my 180lb self carrying a 20lb bag.

At Chambers Bay they rent push carts which are designed to be wheeled across greens with zero impact (the website even says so). The greens there are so sandy I know rolling a cart across won't make a difference.

I've just always heard it was bad etiquette to have your bag on the tee box or green and if you watch, most of the time the caddies place the bags on the fringe, not on the putting surface.

It's not the total weight of the cart and bag, but the fact the weight is 'concentrated' into two or three wheels, causing a groove effect. I saw this when my wife pushed her's across a tee box one time. We make an effort to keep them off the tee and green. I will sometimes 'ride' the fringe, but am carefull to keep my distance. Some local courses have a 30 yard rule (cart to greens ratio) which I think is excessive.

You also have to divide the weight of the bag by the three wheels and find that the total amount of pressure applied by the wheels of a push card is negligible. However, I try to keep my push cart on the apron, or better yet in the rough off to the side. If I happen to catch the edge of a green with one wheel as I move to the next hole, I don't sweat it.

I always try to take nothing but myself and putter onto a green. I walk around with my pull cart/bag etc. I played a couple of weeks ago with a guy who carried a small Sunday style bag only like 5 clubs wherever he went and even set it down on every green just behind where he was putting. I didn't say anything but it bugged me every time he did it.

I never roll my clicgear onto a green but I frequently leave it on the fringe. I push it onto the teebox.

+1

I was stunned to even see the question.

LOL, I've played with guys who weighed more than me and my bag on many occasions so I'll walk across a green with my bag on my shoulders. Wouldn't set the bag down on the green or roll a cart over one though.

Click to view attachment

There has been an interesting article in the press here recently about certain golf clubs allowing this, and certain clubs not......

http://www.disabledbritishopen.org/gallery-2

interested in opinions.....

There's really no debate. Never lay a bag on the green. Never push a cart on the green. Yes, they mow. That is different. It's necessary. Yes caddies on Tour carry bags over the green area but always lay them on the apron. They wouldn't have gone to soft spikes if carts were ok! Actually, I think this was the first rule of etiquette I ever learned. Nothing on the green! That picture above scares me.

As with most things, there are exceptions to the rule.

People who are simply bone idle don't really qualify as such in my book.

+1

Just Interested if you visited the link i provided?

http://www.disabledbritishopen.org/gallery-2

Yes, thank you...but as a common occurence at your local club...it might make some cringe.

Absolutely, but always good to have an open mind, with reference to your post above interested to know how your club might react if he turned up on the first tee?

The guys name is Tucker Chance, suffers from polio I believe, and a very good golfer......

There is necessary risk and unnecessary risk. Mowing the green and walking on the green to putt are necessary and can not be avoided. Bringing the pull/push cart on the green is unnecessary and can/should be avoided to minimize risk to the green.

To be honest, I don't know how someone such as the gentleman above would fare. I'd like to think that some sort of exemption would be granted but, if I'm honest, I doubt that it would be - at least not if some sort of advance permission hadn't been sought by the individual concerned before turning up to play anyway.

One thing I do know for certain is that an able bodied member or visitor spied taking a trolley or similar onto the green at my club would, quite rightly, be read the riot act and politely asked never to darken the doors again.

Honestly, I was taken aback by the OP's statement that it's something that is seen as acceptable - at least by some people - to take a trolley onto a putting surface in his particular neck of the woods. Maybe I've led a sheltered life, but that would be utterly unthinkable to me and I've never, in twenty-odd years of golfing, come across any serious golfer who would even contemplate doing so. It would be about as likely as seeing someone turning up to play in denim jeans and then urinating all over the first tee before teeing off. I perhaps play at a more 'old fashioned' club than many (at least one member has had a right rollocking for walking up the face of a bunker) but some things are just drilled into you from the word go as a junior and, whether or not you agree with them, see the sense in them, or decide that there's actually a bloody good argument to be made to the contrary, you just toe the line as the norm.

Seeing someone pulling a trolley onto a green would - honestly - probably have me struck dumb for a few seconds if I was seeing it happening in front of me. It's either staggeringly ignorant of the rules or it's someone (probably deliberately) being utterly bone idle. Our Secretary would be incandescent with rage if he saw it.

i weigh 180 and my bag cant be any more than 30. if someone had a spaz over my walking across a green with my bag on they better ban golfers who weigh over 210 from the course too!

It was an interesting article, the guy who had won numerous events around the country and through Europe was having the exact problem of obtaining access to a golf course in Wales. The buggy had been specially adapted for use on greens, but very few clubs would allow him access.

I'll be honest i'd be surprised if my club did, like you would like to think they would, but can imagine the discussions now.

Can not in my years playing ever remember anyone apart from someone playing for the first time unknowingly ever take a trolley across a green. They never did again.

Purely a layman's opinion, but just looking at that ride-on cart the gent's using, I'd wager it causes less damage to the greens than many of the Herman Munster Brigade at my club manage to cause with their soft spikes.

I think it's just an etiquette thing. We all know that the weight is no the issue. And unless you have some big 'ol spiked ice racing tires on the cart it won't damage anything....

It's all about etiquette. Some folks around here need to learn to "tread lightly" when on the greens. Some of them look like there was a football game played on them.

I think most of the tradition comes from older pull carts that had the skinny hard tires (and 2 wheels vs 3/4 for modern ones), the newer ones with wider softer tires can't really be doing much if anything to the greens unless it's really swampy out


It's still just common courtesy to avoid it, but I doubt it actually causes harm with modern push carts

+2. Well said. I have used a push cart for years and have never had it even on the fringe let alone the greeI would say no, nadda, never.....

Do whatever you want and if anyone says anything, give 'em the crazy eyes.

I pull my cart up to the hole all the time, finish my drink, putt out and drive away.

You got a problem with that?

The likelihood of a pull or push cart causing any damage to a green is somewhere between slim and none. A 30 lb weight divided over 3 wheels will do nothing to the greens unless they are completely saturated with water. Yes, they may leave a trail in the morning due but so does your ball. I know many on here will argue this is not the case but just use your common sense.

That said ------ I will never carry my bag on the green nor will I push/pull my cart on the green.

I have never pushed my cart onto the green, but honestly why? The pressure per square inch on the bottom of my tires is siginifcantly less pressure than is coming through the shoes of a fat guy. Why is it even a big deal?

Honestly I have never even pushed my cart up to the fringe of the green because I know people react negatively to this, but just stop and ask yourself is it really something we should worry about? What damage will my rubber tires with a small bag on it cause, that is more than is already happening to it from having 4 guys walk around on it?

Maybe you guys play on much softer turf than we have here (oceanside links course), but I just don't get the problem.

+1

A cart won't hurt a green, but some people get very uptight about it, so it is best to avoid it. Same thing with putting a bag on a tee, or walking across a green carrying your bag. None of it damages a green, but some people get all nasty about it.

I say pull/push those babies across any green. You think a pull cart will do more damage than a foot print? Think about what the little spider man's foot does when he gets in that rediculous pose.

I have twisted the rough up a bit when twisting a cart around. Just in turning the cart from one direction to the other not wheeling it around. If you did that on a green it could be bad.

What about setting your pull cart on the fringe?

A bag on a cart weighs very little compared to a person. The weight per square inch under reasonably wide wheels is less than the weight of a large man walking, particularly when he shifts his weight to his toe or heel. In addition, there is no incremental impact pressure from wheels hitting down on the green as there is when your feet hit down as you walk. Drawing a cart across a green is less likely to do damage than walking with your bag on your shoulder.

But tradition says, "no." And rounds take longer and longer to complete. Maybe deep in their hearts people want slow rounds.

We have a local fellow who is paralized from the waist down that rides in a 4 wheeled golf cart to play. It looks much like a 3/4 sized golf cart. When he has played in front of you the tire tracks are very noticable and come into play if you have to putt across them.

Tough call, do you keep him from playing? In my heart I can't do it but seeing the damage to the greens I just cringe... and occasionally curse having to putt through the tire marks left behind.

Push/pull carts won't hurt greens but it's always been understood not take them across a green.

I agree about push/pull carts won't hurt greens. Even the heaviest of all bags and cart, probably won't even weigh 1/3rd of what a human would weigh. Of course, if you pivot the wheels at one spot with a push/pull cart, you could damage the greens. So you're better off just pushing it straight through the green or keep it off the green in the first place. I usually keep my push cart off the green, out of respect for the course.

It looks like even little Eddie Munster knows where to put the golf bag.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTfnL1cZU6c

I play most of my rounds on a muni that gets a ton of play. The fairways are bare in spots, the traps are hard tack more than sand and the overall course conditions are far from what most of you might consider acceptable. Having said that, I would never push a "trolley" up on the green nor would I allow my 15 y.o. son - who just starting learning the game - to do such a thing. He has been brought into the sport by me and my father with equal emphasis being placed on the etiquette and consideration for others and for the history of the game itself. He has to show me a divot tool before we tee off, has to rake himself out of every raggedy trap and he regularly fixes at least three ball marks on every green. We walk most rounds and he carries some times and pushes others. He would never dream of rolling his push cart or carry his stand bag onto a green. (Sorry for the long sermon...)