Etiquette should be Rule No 1

Caddie's Role: Golf, being a solitary sort of game, is a sport in which the rules have to be strict and uncompromising to preserve its integrity, writes Colin Byrne

It is too easy for players to bend the rules when they are not under the watchful eye of their playing partners over every shot they hit.

Quite frequently the rules make little sense. The case of Padraig Harrington at the Belfry three years back, when it was discovered only on Sunday morning, when he was leading the tournament, that he had not signed his card for the first round, is a classic example of a rule infringement that does not involve an attempt to gain unfair advantage. The result was disqualification anyway, because a basic rule of competition is that competitors sign their cards.

The rules seem so complex at times that if a player has even one per cent doubt about the correct application of a rule, for example, when taking a drop, a rules official should be consulted for verification. You cannot rely on a playing partner's opinion as they are frequently unsure and largely disinterested. Even the officials are left calling for second and sometimes third opinions. We are not far from needing specialist lawyers to preside over the more complex decisions.

As time-consuming and fussy as they seem, the strict enforcement of the rules is vital in an increasingly competitive and lucrative sport. If they were not rigidly enforced the acceptable cheating that goes on in soccer would soon appear on the fairways.

It was once said that the veteran Australian Rodger Davis was the player who understood the rules most and at the same time understood them least. In other words, he always tried to use them to his best advantage, which of course is totally above board and an indication of the player's true professionalism.

Davis could never be accused of abusing the etiquette of the game and always treated his playing partners with the utmost respect.

Whatever about the rules, there is no getting around the importance of etiquette in a game that is played by more self-obsessed people than ever before. You must have respect for your fellow competitors. This, of course, is not as easy to monitor as rule enforcement. Respect for fellow competitors varies depending on who you are talking to and how they are playing.

Speed of play has traditionally been taken care of under the etiquette of the game. This has had to be incorporated into the rules for professionals. There are only so many hours in the day, and given the painstaking deliberations of many modern pros, the day simply is not long enough for them to complete a round. They will take as long as you allow them, and then some.

Unfortunately, this fastidiousness has become ingrained in club golf, thus spoiling most golfers' enjoyment of the game by stretching what should be a three-and-a-half hour round into over five hours which ends in distraction, fatigue and ultimately boredom.

The last couple of weeks has seen one highly publicised case of appalling etiquette from a legend of the game who should be adopting an ambassadorial role in European golf at this mature stage of his career. Seve Ballesteros, having been penalised one stroke in the Italian Open for slow play, was counted 20 more times in the buffer zone. In Europe, you are allowed 40 seconds to play a shot once it's your turn to play. The officials allow another 20 seconds grace - the buffer zone, if you like - which is outside the time allowed but not counted as a "bad time". To be counted so many times within this buffer zone, the cynics would argue, Seve must have it precisely timed to be over time but legal.

Over the years the slow superstars of the European Tour have traditionally been given a free reign with their pace of play. There was, by tacit consent, a "names" interpretation of acceptable time limits. Maybe Seve believed he was still top of the heap when he had his outburst in Italy.

It is the latest embarrassment of a former superstar.

The top players often intimidated the referees. A piercing glare from Seve in his prime and there was only one outcome.

Probably what upset Ballesteros most in Italy was that the Iberian intimidation routine didn't work anymore. It was the realisation that he has to abide by the rules like the rest of the golfing mortals.

Golf is indeed a solitary game, but the reality is that you are playing for yourself, on most occasions, among a large field of fellow competitors. In this age of ever-increasing self-absorption, etiquette needs to be preserved by all categories of players as stringently as are the rules.