I have two dumb questions. Before you say there are no dumb questions, read them first!

When people "give a putt", what are they giving? I hit a putt and roll it close, miss, then my partner picks up the ball and says "You can have that one," did they just call my miss good, or concede the next putt? These are friendly games so it only matters in that I track scores for handicap purposes.

Second, What to people mean when they offer you to play through? Yesterday I was playing 18, all my partners took off after 9, so I was playing solo and quickly. The group ahead of me was slow, I caught up with them on 11. The last one to drive asked me if I wanted to play through. They all moved off to the side, at least so it seemed. I hit my drive (into a greenside bunker on a par 3.) To my surprise, they then all played their shots with several balls on the green. So, I asked if they were letting me play through or not. They got pretty pissed, accused me of hitting into them, stated I had no class, told me to go ahead and try to hole out, (I went up and down out of the bunker), and generally they whole situation went to hell with hard feelings all around. So, what were they offering when they all moved off to the side after asking if I wanted to play through? Maybe I should have let them finish the hole and catch them at the next green? What's the point of moving over, then? jaaanson

Question #1. They are conceding the NEXT putt, meaning they assume you will make it.

Question #2. They are allowing you to play ahead of them rather than making you wait behind their slower group.

If you don't know something, ask. Therefore, there are no stupid questions. Only stupid mistakes.

Kidputter--Thanks for the reply. With regard to question one, I assumed all along that people were conceding the next putt, but I had a situation that even though I missed the putt by less than an inch, the ball rolled past the hole by about 3 feet, so it was pretty gracious to concede the next putt. It only occurred to me later that they may have been giving me the putt I just barely missed. With regard to question 2, that's what I thought would happen, but they did something different than I expected, I did ask, and that's when things deteriorated. In that case, asking didn't help. That's why I wanted to know if there was some point of etiquette that I don't understand. jaaanson

The proper way to let someone "play through":

The group in front should all hit their tee shots. Then, the group behind hits theirs. Everyone walks up to their balls, but only the second group continues to play. This way, the first group can play as soon as the way ahead is clear, and they've already walked halfway down the fairway (saving a lot of time).

Generally, if the second group all hit their balls well, but one or more people in the first group hit their balls extremely short, it isn't unheard of to let those players in the first group hit as everyone is walking down the fairway.

This tends to be the fastest way to allow a group to "play through". If you just wait on the tee box for the group behind you to catch up, oftentimes, you will slow down the pace of play for groups hitting behind that second group.

Also, some people like to play the entire hole together (both groups). That tends to be okay on par 3's, where everyone is going to be close to the green, but I've found that it isn't optimal to do so. Even on par 3's, having everyone hole out at the same time tends to slow up play for any groups behind as one group waits for the other to clear out of the fairway on the next hole.

Good info bjohn13. I've had both experiences where we let someone play through and they've let me play through. Both times they/we did not tee off, but there were not many people on the course so it didn't effect play.

I've often joined the group ahead of me if it's just me and they don't have 4. Many times if my buddy and myself are playing slow, we'll let the group "play though". Usually if we've already hit our tee shots, we'll play the hole out with them and then on the next tee, let them play on while we wait.

Ideally though, I like just joining with another group. You meet some interesting people and sometimes learn some new techniques or better course management by watching others play.

If you're keeping score for a handicap, why are you accepting the "gimme"? Putt it out. I like many others have missed a 3 foot "comebacker".

I think they got mad that you asked "are you going to let me play through or not" that is probably how they heard it after they thought they were being polite and letting you play through, or maybe after that question that is why they decided to let you know they felt you were playing up on them a bit, but for only 2 holes thats a stretch. Sometimes if you come up to a tee and they have already teed off they will allow you to play thru by basically teeing off with them then you finish the hole by yourself. This has happened to me a couple times on par 3's. I walk up they are in the process of teeing off. After they are done they ask if i want to play thru i oblige, tee off then i proceed to just go to my shot and hole out. I will wait if i notice one of them going to hit their second shot as to not be rude since they are letting me play thru. If i am letting someone play thru i will decide before i even tee off, knowing they are behind me. I just like to wait on the tee and let the group or person play thru and then i will tee off.

just re read the initial post and that is odd that they asked if you wanted to play thru then you teed off and then the teed off. The best thing in that case would be to just hole out with them. But they must have been irritated thats why they got rude. Either way they are in the wrong i beleive.