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Prior to last year it was considered a hazard.
Playing Out of a Divot?
Pantherhawk
Active member
So what you're saying is that technically I'm right?
If I’m playing for cash my playing partners can make the call, but usually I’m rolling it out. Life is hard enough as it is.
Pantherhawk
Active member
This is my general philosophy to everything on the golf course. Do whatever makes you happy.
I like being tested. Getting a bad break after a good drive and having the grit to step up and hit a great shot out of that divot is just an amazing feeling. One of my favorite shots I can remember hitting in a big tournament was after being completely buried in a huge divot and I managed to stuff a shot to a tucked pin. I love that memory not just because of the shot, but because I stayed present and conquered the challenge that I was presented with even though I maybe didn't "deserve" to have that lie.
BroD
Well-known member
With hand problems, divots that threaten, and tree roots scare me, I move the ball. but I'm usually playing with friends, and not in tournaments. I do remember moving my ball one time and a teenager was teamed up with me, and my example ruined my golfing testimony with him. So be careful about playing with relaxed rules.
- Moderator
- #206
Except you're mixing the PGA Tour rules and the rules for all of golf. A professional should and can hit out of a divot. They often hit it quite well. We for the most part, do not.
- Moderator
- #207
why "should" a pro have to hit out of a divot?
- Moderator
- #208
yet another foolish rule that should be amended in the RoG but probably never will.
But, I'm not sure why it applies here. At least in the case of a bunker, it was the result of a bad shot, not a good one haha
Pantherhawk
Active member
Not necessarily. There are plenty of scenarios where a bunker is better than somewhere else.
I struggle to see the difference between your position and just playing preferred lies in the fairway. It was a good shot, so it should be rewarded with the best possible lie.
Here's an unpopular take. Bunkers should all be unraked all the time. They should be big pits of doom, filled with the blood and tears of the hapless souls who hit their ball in them.
Good catch. I’m such a big proponent of bifurcated rules that sometimes I forget the need to always explicitly say it.
- Moderator
- #213
I'm not saying they should, I'm just saying they know how to handle it.
- Moderator
- #214
a bunker is... a hazard? It's not apples to apples with a fairway. By design, the lie already worse.
- Moderator
- #215
the Nicklaus approach, nice! Mess up the rakes, really make a mess of it in there hahaha
+1
I’ve often wondered about - especially on tour - using a different type of tool besides a rake so that the sand is not flat and smooth. It should be a hazard.
VegasMav
Cigar Posse Member
If during a casual round of golf with friends (non-tournament) and a ball lands in a divot, is it considered cheating if you move the ball out of the divot one inch to the left or right? The ball is no closer to the hole and leaves a fair shot for the player. I can understand the "play as it lies" rule during tournaments, but not during a casual round. If a ball rolls into a sand-filled divot, I consider it GUR and should be allowed to be moved.
It's hard to determine when a divot is considered "repaired" because of the different ways each course maintains its grounds. That's just my take.
It's hard to determine when a divot is considered "repaired" because of the different ways each course maintains its grounds. That's just my take.
- Moderator
- #219
That's like rub of the green on steroids
I mean, if you're intending to play strictly by the RoG to the letter even during a casual round, then yes, it's cheating. If not, then who cares? The alternative, if somebody wants to ease their conscience and will sleep better at night knowing they played by the rules, would be to declare it an unplayable lie, take a one stroke penalty and relief from the divot. You can declare an unplayable lie anywhere and anytime you want.
Full disclosure: During casual (non-tournament) rounds, in the group I regularly play with, we roll our balls out of divots. It may happen once every, what, 20 or 30 rounds, so it may effect my handicap by .01 of a stroke in the long run, or something like that. I can live with that without feeling like I'm a scourge on society.
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- Moderator
- #221
The funny thing about 'absoluters' when it comes to the rulebook, is that there are very few guys out there playing who actually know ALL the rules and their interpretations. You can be stumped regularly, and whether ignorance is bliss or it just doesn't matter, playing by that kind of letter of the law is unrealistic.
With that out of the way, I totally respect people for wanting to play to the absolute rulebook with no exceptions. We all golf for our own reasons. I only stress the gray area stuff if I am in a tournament and don't want to take advantage of anything I don't understand.
With that out of the way, I totally respect people for wanting to play to the absolute rulebook with no exceptions. We all golf for our own reasons. I only stress the gray area stuff if I am in a tournament and don't want to take advantage of anything I don't understand.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #223
What I am struggling with is very simple. The rule book has changed and done so dramatically. So I guess in these instances, some just say “okay governing body, you know best and I will agree to anything set forth”?
If everything was absolute, the ROG wouldn’t need decisions pages.
Are you playing "pre-Covid-19 Rules or post Covid? The Rules as written would give you the option to drop in the bunker out of casual water no closer to the hole with no penalty, or, if you have to take the ball out of the bunker you are penalized one stroke. If we are talking things today, many courses are declaring bunkers GUR since there are no rakes which gives you the option of plating the ball as it lies or taking free relief. I'm no Rules expert bu that is my understanding.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #225
I'm speaking to the normal rules of golf. I am aware how the rules are written, this thread is about change and if we believe it is warranted and how it would impact. The example was given because to me they are similar. Not normal conditions that will heal over time and you have an expectation of when hitting it into the bunker, you will have a sand lie. If a divot is considered by so many as "rub of the green", I am at a loss how water in a bunker isn't considered the same.