Selfies, surfing and Spotify: Where shall we land on modern golf course etiquette dilemmas?

Replace divots, don't talk in someone's backswing, shake hands after the round -- if only today's golf course etiquette was that simple.

For better or worse, technology has fully invaded the golf experience. Once an oasis of undisturbed tranquility (or we so fondly remember), even the most exclusive, old-school clubs assume you'll be gripping your phone more than your putter during the round. Heck, these days, who doesn't have a Bluetooth speaker in their golf bag ready to blast Spotify jams at the first tee?

Have you ever been paired with someone whose tech etiquette is afoul? We've noticed it in some of our reviews here at Golf Advisor, like this fed-up golfer from a course in western Pennsylvania:

One of the guys they stuck us with must have learned etiquette at a different place than I have. Constantly on his phone, carrying on conversations while we're trying to putt and hit tee shots etc. also, the kicker...he decided, without asking any of us, to putt his phones media player on so that we had a soundtrack playing in the background the WHOLE time.

All these new toys and our subsequent shrinking patience have created a whole new set of golf course etiquette issues that were never considered by our game's forefathers like Bobby Jones and Old Tom Morris.

Let's look at today's 21st-century golf course etiquette pitfalls and come up with a solution for each.

Playing music in your golf cart

Like you, the first time I was paired up with someone blaring tunes in their golf cart, I thought, What the hell? Someone escort this bumpkin off the premises.

How very Bushwood of me. Turns out, I've come to enjoy some oldies or blues during an afternoon, casual round of golf. I even keep a portable speaker in my bag at all times. More and more courses play music on the driving range. But I've also encountered some rounds where the music being played by someone in my group was entirely too loud.

Even worse, there were times when the music flat out sucked: '80s hair metal, frankly, doesn't work with golf, period.

Etiquette Solution: Should you ever be paired up with someone, and you'd like to play some tunes, ask first before you turn it on, and see if you can find some common ground on a playlist. Channel your inner Casey Kasem, and take requests.

But also be sure to keep the speaker at a reasonable volume so that if they're 10-20 yards away it's barely audible. Everyone should have the choice to hit a shot in silence.

And also, as discussed on Morning Drive after a spat between PGA Tour players Brenden Steele and Will Wilcox, if the music bothers you, speak up. Being passive-aggressive about it only ends up escalating into a Twitter war.

Also, don't call your playing partner "dog."

Phone calls, texts, surfing the web

Before we call our smartphones the most evil, distracting thing ever invented by mankind, let's all look ourselves in the mirror and admit there's been a time we've been on the course when we were supposed to be in the office, and the ability to check e-mail from anywhere made no one in the cube farm the wiser about it.

But who's been in a match when your partner gets a phone call and disappears into the woods for 10 minutes? Or they're fixated on a football game and won't get out of their golf cart until Gamecast refreshes?

It's infuriating, and it can end up slowing up the pace for the whole dang golf course.

Also, there's nothing worse than an ill-timed ringing phone. Even phones vibrating in the cup holder can make quite a racket when you're on the tee with a nice par streak going.

Etiquette Solution: If you get a phone call that can't wait, bow out of the hole and be far enough away your partners can't hear you. Never slow up the group to write a text or check stocks or scores. Keep your phone's ringer volume off or very, very low. Call people back when you know you've got a few minutes to spare.

The modern-day golf dress code

As golf clubs all over try and cater to a new generation of young people who are used to a more casual dress everywhere from the office to church, it's created a bit of a culture clash at the golf course. For some more traditional golfers, the mere sight of a poorly dressed player can ruin the experienc, like this recent reviewer of a course in NoCal:

The past few times I have played there I have experienced the staff allowing people to wear tank tops while playing, there were two groups like this. One in tee shirts...It appears to be turning into a course that has lost respect for the game. Golf demands etiquette. Collared shirts, no profanity, follow the rules, etc.

The past few times I have played there I have experienced the staff allowing people to wear tank tops while playing, there were two groups like this. One in tee shirts...It appears to be turning into a course that has lost respect for the game. Golf demands etiquette. Collared shirts, no profanity, follow the rules, etc.

A recent visit to Boot Ranch, a very high-end community in the Texas Hill Country, had a golf club policy that allowed jeans on the course but asked for shirts to be tucked in, and hats to be removed indoors, even in the locker room. On the ladies side, 2017 brought a controversial new policy to the LPGA that banned some of the more athletic and revealing clothing made popular by top female Instagram stars. Meanwhile, Topgolf patrons swing away in skimpy dresses, muscle shirts and high heels.

Solution: I play a lot of muni golf at home and sometimes I'm dressed like I'm at a country club, while other times I'm in jeans and a t-shirt. But whenever I go to a new course, I assume it's old school and conservatively with slacks and a tucked in, collared shirt. If I notice the locals are going casual, it's a green light for me to know that option is on the table the second time around.

Selfies, Instagram and other social media

Even pros and older golfers can't resist selfies on the course these days.


A large portion of the golfing community only has the chance to play a few rounds a year, and as a result, they love to document the experience with a few selfies. Before we start to rag on today's youth, let's all admit that selfies have infiltrated all age groups.

I'm certainly guilty of both selfies and taking hundreds of golf course pictures during a round. But it's imperative to make sure you're not holding up the group behind you.

As phone pictures have become commonplace on the course, It seems like only a matter of time before there's a drone flying above every group on the course.

Etiquette Solution: If it's a slow day, and you're waiting on the tee boxes, let the selfies fly. Try and keep the rhythm of the group intact, so don't keep up the next person's shot by taking too long to set up a GoPro of your shot. You should be as incognito as a National Geographic photographer in a bear's den.

Rangefinders and GPS

Here's a new situation: What happens when you're playing with someone who has a rangefinder or GPS and no one else in your group does?

I went old school and hunted for sprinklers until about two years ago. Now I wear a GPS watch AND keep a rangefinder in the bag.

But if you don't have your own yardage, can you ask this person constantly to give you a yardage on every tee or even in the fairway? At what point does it feel like a friend who's been borrowing your lawnmower every weekend for five years? What if you're playing a match?

Etiquette Solution: If you don't have a rangefinder, try and ask for the yardage from your rangefinder friend while they've still got it out. Or, if they are at their ball, ask what it is from there, and you can deduct the difference at your ball yourself. Asking constantly or making them come over to your ball can get a little old and also slow up the pace.

Be warned though that there is always the human error of shooting or hearing the wrong number. I had an excellent round going recently on the Castle Course in St. Andrews, only to hear the wrong number from my playing partner on the cliffisde par-3 17th. He said "165" but I heard "155." The result was a perfectly struck shot with too little club that didn't carry the hazard and a double bogey.

So what do you think, have these new gadgets like phones and rangefinders ruined or enhanced the golf-course experience? Any other modern issues that can dampen a round of golf?

Brandon Tucker is the Sr. Managing Editor for GolfPass and was the founding editor of Golf Advisor in 2014, he was the managing editor for Golf Channel Digital's Courses & Travel. To date, his golf travels have taken him to over two dozen countries and nearly 600 golf courses worldwide. While he's played some of the most prestigious courses in the world, Tucker's favorite way to play the game is on a great muni in under three hours. Follow Brandon on Twitter at @BrandonTucker and on Instagram at @btuck34.
111 Comments
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If you are too cheap to buy your own range finder you should not ask for help. Play old school.

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Just have respect for your fellow golfers

Here's how it works in the USA:

1. Rangefinders are encouraged as they speed up play.
2. Nobody but you should hear your music unless they specifically ask to hear it. You do not wait for others to complain.
3. For men no jeans, collarless shirts or muscle shirts. Hats worn forward only. Hats in the clubhouse per club policy. For women no jeans; sleeveless tops are okay.

How hard is that?

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Depends where you are. All about course culture. I was a member of a working class club with a bunch of farmers and such...jeans wear common and highly accepted. A guy owned his own cart with a car sound system. This was 15 years ago.

Yesterday we were in JC Penny's and they have head sets that are blue tooth. Tell these young kids that were not raised to respect others that they can go to Penny's and buy head sets so they can blast the music as loud as they want and hurt their own ears.

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Cell phones should be left in the car.

Not in the car. Turned off and stowed in a pocket of the golf bag. Emergencies requiring outside assistance happen every day. Heart attacks, diabetic seizures, etc.
Having a “live” phone is inconsiderate. Having one available in emergencies is just smart in today’s world.

GPS and range finders are ok but if a player doesn't have either, he/she should not ask a partner for advice. That contravenes a rule of golf. Use your own skills or buy the technology.

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Facts given are ok. Like yardages. Strategy or swing advice is not ok.

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Here’s another one...walking up to your ball on the green and finding sunflower shells some inconsiderate idiot has spit out of his mouth. Why do we have rules? Because some people are stupid and can’t use common sense and good judgment without them. And the USGA, in my opinion, is bowing to mediocrity by relaxing rules that will lead to lack of clarity and more disputes in the game. Just what we all need...

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The distance between any objects is considered to be a matter of public information and therefore not advice. As this information is not advice, it may be exchanged without restriction. (Definition of "Advice" and Decision 8-1/2)

...and BALL MARKS on greens!!! Our club has posted rules about pace of play, repairing green marks, sanding divots, etc. but we have too many members who simply ignore polite play. Club pros should be better enforcers but they are reluctant and I can see why. Maybe this role should fall to the club's board, who can't suffer retaliation.

I have the same problem at my club. The pro knows who it is but doesn't want to rock the boat.

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The chicken-sh*t doesn’t deserve his job!

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I fully understand the rules of of golf. I never wear a hat in the clubhouse( ‘r. Palmers rule). I think to have more fun on the course some music is good, always ask others if ok then take requests. As the round goes on it helps create conversation other than good shot. .

don't agree at. hate music on the golf course. it is as rude as loud woffers at a gas station or car wash. people do not have that right and talking loudly on a phone is totally off limits. I pay good money for piece and quiet. find another sport people if you can't be polite.

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...and then, there are the machomen who play from the back tees and can barely drive the ball to the front tees from there...

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i hate range finders and gps'. have you ever been in a group that had 3 or 4 rangefinders and gps'? i could care less what each one says. i have heard " i show 166, then the next one says i show 165" on the rangefinders then the the two with gps have diff yardage. i could care less. i use mine and keep quiet. i do not need to have the game anymore delayed than it already is.

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Agree. Dont have one.

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i have to agree, i played a math once with a 20 handicap and he was shooting distance from everywhere even 20 yards off the green and then he couldnt get it on

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Selfies, surfing and Spotify: Where shall we land on modern golf course etiquette dilemmas?