Rule 3 - The Gimme
The gimme holds more friendships together than any other instrument in golf, and the Crew treats it with the seriousness it deserves. Rule 3 governs who may offer a conceded putt, what it quietly costs you later, and the exact conditions under which no putt is ever good.
The Rule (reproduced verbatim from the Dad Golf Handbook)
Purpose of Rule: governs the concession of putts nobody wants to watch.
3.1 A putt is a gimme when it lies inside the length of the grip of the longest club in the requesting player's bag. This is why Ty carries a 48-inch driver.
3.1a The gimme must be OFFERED by another player. Announcing "that's good" about your own putt while walking toward the hole is not a gimme. It is a confession.
3.1b A gimme offered with the words "yeah yeah, pick it up" while the offering player lines up their own putt is valid but carries no respect.
3.2 - The Reciprocity Clause. All gimmes are loans. A player who accepts a three-footer owes a three-footer, at par or worse interest, before the round ends. The Crew maintains the ledger. The ledger is emotional.
3.3 No putt is a gimme if money, honors, or a long-running argument is riding on it. In those conditions a six-inch putt must be holed, filmed, and reviewed.
3.4 A missed putt that was ALMOST offered as a gimme becomes the property of the Crew and may be re-enacted at any social gathering.
PENALTY FOR TAKING AN UNOFFERED GIMME: the putt is scored as a miss, plus one beer, plus the Crew watches every putt you hit for the rest of the round in total silence.
Official Ruling 3.2/1: Matt accepted four gimmes on the front nine and offered zero on the back. The Committee finds Matt in structural debt under the Reciprocity Clause and authorizes the Crew to make him putt out from inside a foot until the balance clears, or forever, whichever comes first.
Keep the ledger honest, because the Crew keeps it too, and the Crew's ledger is emotional.