Every golfer has opinions. Strong ones. And the older you get in this game, the harder it is to keep them to yourself when someone takes a different side.
I’ve been coaching for a long time, and a few debates come up over and over again, no matter the handicap, no matter the course, no matter the country. These five topics have started more arguments between playing partners than bad breaks and three-putts combined. Here’s where I land on each one, and where most golfers tend to split.
5. Ball in a divot in the fairway: play it or move it?
This one still surprises people when it comes up. You’ve hit a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway and found someone else’s unfilled divot. Now what?
My answer has always been the same. Play it as it lies. That’s the rule, and the rule exists for a reason.
New golfers hear this and bristle at the unfairness of it. Better players hear it and nod. The difference is experience. The longer you play this game, the more you understand that golf rewards the ability to adapt, not the ability to avoid adversity. You can’t control everything on a golf course, and learning to accept that early is one of the fastest ways to actually improve.
Now, in your Saturday foursome with the usual crew? Play it however you want. Nobody’s watching. But if you want to develop a real game, learn to love the lie you have, not the lie you wish you had.
4. Which major is the best in the world?
Most people will agree that the PGA Championship slots in at fourth. After that, the arguments start.
American golfers tend to rank the U.S. Open highest. The Masters has that iconic magnetism and the kind of television presence that makes even casual fans stop scrolling. But my personal ranking puts the Open Championship at the top, and I’ll defend it.
The Open is golf in its original form. Links courses, unpredictable wind, firm and fast conditions, a completely different shot-making vocabulary than the manicured parkland setups we see most of the year. The field is the most international of any major. The history is the deepest. And when the weather turns sideways on the Scottish coast or the Irish coast or the English links, you’re watching the truest test the game has to offer.
The Claret Jug is golf’s oldest prize, and in my opinion, it still carries the most weight. Here’s a full breakdown of all four majors if you want the history on each one before you make your own call.
3. Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods: who is the greatest of all time?
This debate will outlast both of them, and it should.
Jack has 18 majors. Tiger has 15. The gap is real, and it matters. But Tiger did things on a golf course that no one had ever seen, at a level of sustained dominance that is almost impossible to describe to someone who wasn’t watching in real time.
What makes this debate genuinely hard is that the two careers can’t be placed on a single scale. Jack’s record in majors is wider. More runner-ups, more top-threes, more sustained contention over a longer career. Tiger’s peak was higher, faster, and more culturally seismic than anything golf had produced before.
My honest answer is that the debate is worth keeping alive. Two players with that kind of career deserve to share the argument indefinitely. Pick your side based on what you value most. Sustained excellence over decades? Jack. Peak dominance and transformative impact? Tiger. Both answers are defensible and always will be.
2. Dress codes: tradition or gatekeeping?
This one gets personal for people fast, and I understand why.
When I first started playing, I didn’t care what I wore. I just wanted to get out on the course. What 18-year-old thinks about the collar on their shirt when there’s golf to be played? The dress code felt like a barrier, like the game was trying to tell me I didn’t belong.
I changed my mind over time, and not because anyone lectured me. I started to see what the dress code actually represents at a well-run club or a respected course. Showing up dressed appropriately is a form of respect. For the course, for the game, for the people you’re playing with. Golf has a culture, and that culture has a look. When you opt into it, you’re signaling that you understand what kind of game you’re playing.
That said, I have no patience for dress codes that function as exclusion tools rather than tradition. There’s a difference between asking someone to wear a collared shirt and refusing entry over something that has nothing to do with respect. If you want a practical guide to what to wear at different types of courses, this breakdown covers the dos and don’ts without the snobbery.
Younger golfers pushing back on outdated rules isn’t a threat to the game. The game will survive shorts and athletic wear. It always has. But the underlying idea behind dress codes, that this place and this game deserve a little effort from you, is worth keeping.
1. Pace of play: golf’s argument that never ends
Nobody agrees on this one because everybody is right and everybody is wrong at the same time.
The four-hour rule gets thrown around constantly, and it collapses the moment you apply it to a real situation. A four-hour round with low-handicappers on a flat course in perfect weather is a different universe than a four-hour round with beginners on a hilly course in the wind. Blanket rules don’t work because the game itself doesn’t come with blanket conditions.
The real standard is simple and has been around as long as the game. Keep up with the group in front of you. If the group behind you is catching up, let them through. That’s it. Two sentences that solve 90 percent of the problems on any golf course on any given day.
Where I do have a strong opinion: if you want to play fast, book the first tee time. Go out at sunrise, run through your round in three hours, and enjoy the rest of your day. But booking the 10 AM slot on a Saturday and then demanding that everyone around you match your pace is not a reasonable position. Golf is a game of leisure for most of the people playing it. Treat it that way.
For a more detailed look at what actually affects how long a round takes, this piece breaks down realistic time expectations for different group sizes and course types.
Where do you land?
These five debates have been running in clubhouses and on the course for decades, and they’ll be running long after all of us have hung up our spikes. That’s part of what makes golf the game it is. Strong opinions, deeply held, from people who love the same thing for completely different reasons.
What else belongs on this list? Drop it in the comments, and if enough of you weigh in, I’ll put a part two together.
Clint is PGA-certified and was a Head Teaching Professional at one of Toronto's busiest golf academies. He was also featured on Canada's National Golf TV program, "Score Golf Canada," twice. He graduated with a degree in Golf Management from the College of the Desert in California and studied under Callaway's co-founder, Tony Manzoni. He has a handicap index of 6.2 and spends the winters near Oaxaca, Mexico, where he plays twice a month at the Club de Golf Vista Hermosa. He's written over 100 articles at GolfSpan since 2021. You can connect with Clint at LinkedIn, FB, his website, or Clintcpga@gmail.com.
