Show up ready to hit
Be at the first tee with balls you can see, tees, and a way to mark a score, so the group is not waiting on a search through the bag. Know which club passed the check on the first-round note. Deciding that on the tee, while people watch, is how a group starts slow.
Be still when it is not your turn
Stand where the person hitting can see that you are quiet, and not on the line they are looking down. A voice that starts during a swing is the thing people remember. If you need to talk, wait until the ball is gone.
Play when you are ready and clear
The person who is ready, and who is not in anyone's way, hits. Do not turn the order into a debate that eats the afternoon. If you are unsure, ask once before anyone tees off, then keep that order.
On the green, protect the roll
Do not walk on the line between someone's ball and the hole. Step over it. If you lift a ball, mark its place first with a coin, right behind the ball, then move the coin aside if it sits on someone else's line. Leave the green together once the last ball is in. Mark the score at the next tee, not while you are still standing over the hole.
If your ball dented the surface, lift the edge of the dent with a tee and tap the grass back. Do not dig a hole. The stroke itself is on the first putt. This paragraph is only about sharing the surface.
Sand and lost balls
If you walk into a bunker, leave the sand smoother than you found it, and do not walk through sand someone else still has to play from. When a ball may be lost, look only for the short time the group agreed, then continue. A long search is how a round stalls.
Warn people, and keep advice to yourself
If your ball may reach someone, shout a warning as soon as you know. "Fore" is the word people already recognize. Use it. Unasked swing advice is not a courtesy. Save it unless someone asks. The notes on this card are for when you are the one who asked.
Let a faster group through
If you are waiting and there is room, wave a faster group through and stand aside until they are past. Then carry on. You do not owe them a story about your round.
Clubs and competitions may post their own conditions. Follow those when they are posted. This page will not pretend to be them, and it will not recite a rule number.