Cart path etiquette while in a cart

I dont like seeing it, but old farts are ruing the sport so I dont expect otherwise.

I am pissed off with the chumps who pull up to the tee box while you're trying to hit the ball. That does piss me off

As someone who is pretty liberal with their cart, I have a question for the sticklers...


How close can I park my cart to you while you hit without you being bothered?

I always drive and park to the right of my ball, sometimes less than a foot to the right, mostly though like 1 or 2 feet.

Sometimes out of habit, I’ll accidentally do it to some stranger I’m playing with. I realized a couple weeks ago I was doing this after somebody (good) I was playing with hit a horrible shot when I parked pretty close (why I realized it at the time is cuz even I felt a little close, like I was less than a foot but he was ready to hit and just went). He was already set tho and I didn’t want to distract him by moving my cart.

Is there an acceptable distance? My buddy and I always just park like a foot from the ball so thatS what I’m used to.... In my mind, even if I park 6 inches Right, the cart is never going to bother me because it isn’t in my space needed to hit. But maybe not everyone feels that way.

To preface all that, I will typically give people reads with my range finder if they seem curious and I don’t do it all time to playing partners. I do it every shot for myself, so out of habit it may happen a couple times per round to my playing partners and ever since that good player hit a horrible shot I’ve been wondering “how many golfers good or bad would be put off by me parking my cart within 2 feet of them while the hit”.


And no I’m not someone who parks on the fringe of the green or a tee box.

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Is there an acceptable distance?

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Not being mean or insensitive. Genuine question. Do you have Asperger's or something? How do you not know what is an acceptable distance from another human. I usually err on the further side if I am unsure. Even if you like to range a distance you can easily do the math. I am 10 yards behind you and 125 yards from hole. You are 115 out.

So if I were to come stand 6" from your ball all day and breathe on your hat while you were hitting you'd be cool with it? Because that's what you're doing. I can play with a lefty and know to pull to the opposite side of the ball and you can't figure out not to park on top of it?

Interesting. I never park on the left because for me personally I feel much more crowded and likely to hit a poor shot. I feel that on the left the cart is somewhere in my backswing and never am able to get a good full swing. I always park on the right.

I guess the peripheral vision thing is my question. I guess that is the part that doesn’t bother me. If I’m hitting my own ball I park my cart a foot or less from my ball off the left front tire. The only exception would be if there is a shadow being cast that may be bothersome. I’ve never considered the cart bothering tho. As I said, even when I park 6 inches from my ball, I’m never going to whiff and miss my ball by 6 inches to the right. To me, as long as I’m to the right of the ball (for a right handed golfer) there’s no distance too close I can park. I will also add tho, that it also is never in front where you would like slice a ball and hit the cart. Even 5 yards front right would bother me just in the off chance you hosel one and kill somebody. But as long as you’re directly right it’s never bothered me.

But yes, after that good golfer hit a horrible shot it kind of hit me that maybe not everybody is as comfortable with that as I am. It just seems no natural to me because you’re usually talking with your playing partner and rolling up to their ball with them. Or especially pre COVID when you shared carts, that’s just how I drive my partner to their ball. Although now like I said, this isn’t an every shot thing. Just a few times per round when maybe you happen to roll up to their ball on the way to yours. I have tried to be more mindful of it since that day tho and park at closest like 3 feet.

I guess I just don’t understand why though? You presumably can park anywhere. Why would you need to get within 6 inches of the ball? To save a few feet of walking?

Haha honestly I have no idea why. 6 inches would certainly be the extreme, I may do that if I’m not paying as much attention, but on average say on average I park my left front tire maybe 1 foot to the right of my ball. No more than 2 feet. To me it would feel strange to park more than that from my ball.

I guess it’s just a habit now, maybe it’s ingrained in my preshot routine . I just pull up right next to the ball, shoot the yardage, grab a club, hit my ball and move on. I mostly really only ever golf with the one friend and that’s how we both play, it never hit me that it was bothersome to have something that close until a few weeks ago when that happened.

Like I said tho, this isn’t something I do to other people often. I am mostly mindful, or if my ball isn’t near theirs or whatever I’m not obviously driving 50 yards over to intentionally be a nuisance. I’m just used to doing it to myself, so I may accidentally roll up on you once or twice.

It’s just something that’s never bothered me, and was wondering how others felt about it after that experience a few weeks ago lol. Judging by the comments it is certainly a point of concern I should be more mindful of

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Interesting. I never park on the left because for me personally I feel much more crowded and likely to hit a poor shot. I feel that on the left the cart is somewhere in my backswing and never am able to get a good full swing. I always park on the right

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Not to be too cruel, but you are WAY to close at 1' away.

I tend to park on the right of the ball, typically 3-4 yards. If I happen to come up on the left, then I go a little further.

I try to avoid being directly behind the ball as they are hitting you are way more visible to someone out of the side of their vision.

I try to follow all markings etc. if Im driving I pull up to my partners ball usually shoot the distance for them and back up to give them some room and turn off that annoying back up sound from cart.
When I pull up to the group on tee box I give them plenty of room so they don’t feel rushed rushed at all.
If it’s a group that we’ve been waiting on and it’s obviously they aren’t letting us play through (if there is a spot open in front of them) - I park right on top of them