In a game of trying to throw a disc into a basket from a long, long ways away, it makes little sense to spend so much time focused on something so inconsequential as the first 4 inches of a 3600 inch shot.
So if you were carded with me in a tourney, would you let me throw from in front of my mark? Would you let me just throw from wherever I wanted to?
The rules are there so everyone plays by the same standards, what is so hard to understand about that?
Example:
player 1 has a 100' approach to the basket with some rough tree roots behind his mark, but no roots directly in front of his mark. Player 1 has an awkward stance for his throw, and misses his intended line forcing him to throw a second approach/50'+ putt.
Player 2 has the same lie as player 1, but player 2 steps over his mark into the ground that is clear from tree roots to take his shot. Without the awkward footing, player 2 hits the intended line and has a 10' putt.
In this example (one of many, many possible examples) player 2 did not follow the rules and was given a clear advantage over player 1.
This can easily translate to a situation in a tournament where a player on card A is called for a foot fault, but the player on card B is not called for the same foot fault. Now, not only did the foot faulting player on card B gain an unfair advantage over the ENTIRE field of other golfers, but an even larger advantage over the foot faulting golfer on card A who was called for the violation.
Rules are to make the game fair amongst all players.
Casual rounds are just that, casual. Some guys I play casuals with want to follow the rules to a 'T', others just want to toss some plastic and don't play with OBs. Either way a causal round is just that, casual.
The issue at hand is a violation call being made during a tournament, not during a casual round.
