We don't have a club pro at my home course. The maintenance manager is rarely on property, as he stays at the other local course. Our "committee" is the person collecting green fees. For any special rules we just ask her/him.

Our leaf rule is after a 3 minute search, and the ball not being found, the golfer gets a free drop. They associate it with the GUR rule.

We even have fairway divot rule. If the ball lands in a unrepaired divot, the golfer can move the ball out of the divot, just as long as they repair that divot, plus one other.

.
 
(like dropping a ball in the woods if no one is around and saying you found yours).
I’ve never done this because… why would I?

But I have justified dropping a ball and adding no penalty strokes because there’s no good reason for a pile of leaves to be anywhere but in the woods. That didn’t happen as often as adding the penalty strokes because I hadn’t known it was a thing.

Not that any of that made it anything less than cheating or taking a mulligan or breakfast ball. There just was never a reason to lie about it.
 
I’ve never done this because… why would I?

But I have justified dropping a ball and adding no penalty strokes because there’s no good reason for a pile of leaves to be anywhere but in the woods. That didn’t happen as often as adding the penalty strokes because I hadn’t known it was a thing.

Not that any of that made it anything less than cheating or taking a mulligan or breakfast ball. There just was never a reason to lie about it.

I was just kidding about that part lol... wanted to see how far I could take this before someone called me out haha
 
I was just kidding about that part lol... wanted to see how far I could take this before someone called me out haha
Haha.

It doesn’t bother me to break the rules as much as it used to when I first started playing. But if I end up having a round worth bragging about I make sure to add any of those strokes back in. Like if I take a breakfast ball on the first hole and end up with a birdie, I’ll add the stroke(s) back in. OTOH, if the grounds crew has dug up a sprinkler but not marked it as GUR, I’m moving the ball nonetheless and taking free relief. Or if I half ass a one-handed 2’ putt and miss, I’m lining it back up, taking my time and not scoring the miss. Hit a ball out of bounds and can’t find it? Not walking back to the tee. Just drop and add 2 strokes regardless of whatever local rule is in place.

As far as the leaf rule, that doesn’t mean I hook a drive 20 yards into the woods and claim I would have found it if not for all the leaves. Lol.

In the end, nobody gives a **** whether I shoot a 97 or a 99 on a solo round.
 
Anyone's clubs/course use the Leaf rule? If so, is it your rules committee, pro, or maintenance staff that implements it? At our home course we have neither a pro or any committees, so we've never seen a modified local rule implemented. Kind of frustrating actually. On second thought, there is a course we play frequently which has a bunker rule for water, but not our regular course.


I need this rule in my life
 
Haha.

It doesn’t bother me to break the rules as much as it used to when I first started playing. But if I end up having a round worth bragging about I make sure to add any of those strokes back in. Like if I take a breakfast ball on the first hole and end up with a birdie, I’ll add the stroke(s) back in. OTOH, if the grounds crew has dug up a sprinkler but not marked it as GUR, I’m moving the ball nonetheless and taking free relief. Or if I half ass a one-handed 2’ putt and miss, I’m lining it back up, taking my time and not scoring the miss. Hit a ball out of bounds and can’t find it? Not walking back to the tee. Just drop and add 2 strokes regardless of whatever local rule is in place.

As far as the leaf rule, that doesn’t mean I hook a drive 20 yards into the woods and claim I would have found it if not for all the leaves. Lol.

In the end, nobody gives a **** whether I shoot a 97 or a 99 on a solo round.

Generally the way my group plays is we've all been playing long enough to know how courses are marked during tournaments. We also know we are understaffed most of the time , especially early and late in the season because all the kids that work for us are in school.

So in extreme cases (like ground that is obviously GUR but not marked), a large patch of bare dirt in the fairway etc....We will make a ruling. But we largely play by the rules
 
Yes, my club just put the "leaf rule" into play this week......it's an annual event :ROFLMAO:

If you can't find your ball in the leaves, and your playing partners all agree, you get a free drop in the area you last saw your ball.
 
Yes, my club just put the "leaf rule" into play this week......it's an annual event :ROFLMAO:

If you can't find your ball in the leaves, and your playing partners all agree, you get a free drop in the area you last saw your ball.
This is our “leaf rule” as well. The course makes sure everyone knows as well before playing.
 
I get the purpose, buts it’s kinda funny to call it GUR and not consider a divot GUR, right @Canadan ?
 
I get the purpose, buts it’s kinda funny to call it GUR and not consider a divot GUR, right @Canadan ?

The main difference for us is that in tournaments you have to play out of divots. But for events at our club, a large obvious patch of dirt in the fairway will be marked off.

Same as the leaf rule, our events late in the season adopt it, so we do in casual rounds.
 
@dutchie and I aren't any good at this golf thingy. We're not carrying handicaps either really... so we're not too interested in following rules that make golf more difficult for us than it already is. We make the game fun for us and follow whichever rules we want to whenever it suits us. We don't play competitively, nor do we play for money. It's a game for us and that's all it is, and we most definitely don't take it seriously.

This leaf rule will be introduced into our regular rounds along with fluffing our lies and permanent winter rules. :)
 
I get the purpose, buts it’s kinda funny to call it GUR and not consider a divot GUR, right @Canadan ?
there's nothing to repair here.

it's a common sense call to freely drop and play during the months where leaves overwhelm a golf hole, and I would argue that it would be bloating a handicap to post too many rounds littered with lost balls under leaves.

That said, it sure has hell isn't GUR.
 
The main difference for us is that in tournaments you have to play out of divots. But for events at our club, a large obvious patch of dirt in the fairway will be marked off.

Same as the leaf rule, our events late in the season adopt it, so we do in casual rounds.
I love how large jacked up parts of the fairway are marked GUR but a steak sized hole that is in far worse shape isn't.

Peak rule logic stupidity.
 
I love how large jacked up parts of the fairway are marked GUR but a steak sized hole that is in far worse shape isn't.

Peak rule logic stupidity.

I'm not arguing the rule itself (though in general i don't mind that you have to play out of divots, but i'm not overly passionate about it)

But , marking divots as GUR is impossible because they happen throughout the day. So you could never actually circle them off unless you had people doing it live.

If our club had a local rule that if the playing partners agreed you were in a divot you could move, i wouldn't complain. We have some spots on our course that are common areas that look like landmines have gone off.

But i also get where people are coming from where they say it's a slippery slope. Why not move balls on the fairway, why not LCP everywhere, why not pick up your ball and just drop it in the hole, why not just not even play golf but imagine in your head that you shot 67 and then post that. This is where it would end up, pure anarchy
 
No wonder so many low handicapppers in this community.

.....leaf rule, breakfast ball, bunker footprint, divot, self designated GUR, lost ball stroke and drop, inside 3ft gimmie, lift-clean-replace, tree root, winter rules, my sister isnt feeling well, my dog is pregnant , my dog isnt feeling well and my sister is pregnant, both my sister and my dog arent well and Im pregnant, my sister and my dog and I are all well but my mother and father are both pregnant. etc...

I guess Im really a single digit player too. :eek:
You forgot the foot wedge rule...
 
I love how large jacked up parts of the fairway are marked GUR but a steak sized hole that is in far worse shape isn't.

Peak rule logic stupidity.
Leafs = GUR.

Destroyed fairway = Play it as it lies!
 
I'm not arguing the rule itself (though in general i don't mind that you have to play out of divots, but i'm not overly passionate about it)

But , marking divots as GUR is impossible because they happen throughout the day. So you could never actually circle them off unless you had people doing it live.

If our club had a local rule that if the playing partners agreed you were in a divot you could move, i wouldn't complain. We have some spots on our course that are common areas that look like landmines have gone off.

But i also get where people are coming from where they say it's a slippery slope. Why not move balls on the fairway, why not LCP everywhere, why not pick up your ball and just drop it in the hole, why not just not even play golf but imagine in your head that you shot 67 and then post that. This is where it would end up, pure anarchy
It's not a slippery slope at all. Honest golfers far exceed a**holes on the golf course, and integrity matters.

There are plenty of rules in the book that could be abused if someone wanted them to.
 
No wonder so many low handicapppers in this community.

.....leaf rule, breakfast ball, bunker footprint, divot, self designated GUR, lost ball stroke and drop, inside 3ft gimmie, lift-clean-replace, tree root, winter rules, my sister isnt feeling well, my dog is pregnant , my dog isnt feeling well and my sister is pregnant, both my sister and my dog arent well and Im pregnant, my sister and my dog and I are all well but my mother and father are both pregnant. etc...

I guess Im really a single digit player too. :eek:

I don't know if you are from the northeast, but i can post pictures later in the year of some of our fairways. They are basically covered with leaves in some areas. You could argue that taking penalty strokes multiple times a round after hitting the fairway is closer to sandbagging , then taking a leaf rule is to vanity capping. Also as mentioned many clubs will have an actual stated local policy which is allowed.

Torrey Pines for example leading up to the PGA event has a local rule (or did anyway) where you can take a free drop if you can't find your ball in the rough, in order to maintain pace of play.

As far as agreeing something is GUR when not marked (many clubs do not mark GUR on non-tournament days due to staffing reasons) --yes i agree this is a bit murky. But i would say it happens so rarely as to not really affect your handicap in a meaningful way
 
It's not a slippery slope at all. Honest golfers far exceed a**holes on the golf course, and integrity matters.

There are plenty of rules in the book that could be abused if someone wanted them to.

I was just using hyperbole for fun.....I get both sides. And FWIW probably 50% of the events i play in allow moving the ball in the fairway. Our CC this year on all 3 days was LCP in the fairway due to course conditions. Only one of the outside tourneys i played in was summer rules the entire time and it was on basically a perfect course (top 50 in Canada and maintained perfectly)
 
I don't know if you are from the northeast, but i can post pictures later in the year of some of our fairways. They are basically covered with leaves in some areas. You could argue that taking penalty strokes multiple times a round after hitting the fairway is closer to sandbagging , then taking a leaf rule is to vanity capping. Also as mentioned many clubs will have an actual stated local policy which is allowed.

Torrey Pines for example leading up to the PGA event has a local rule (or did anyway) where you can take a free drop if you can't find your ball in the rough, in order to maintain pace of play.

As far as agreeing something is GUR when not marked (many clubs do not mark GUR on non-tournament days due to staffing reasons) --yes i agree this is a bit murky. But i would say it happens so rarely as to not really affect your handicap in a meaningful way
That post of mine was strictly for laughs.
And yes I completely understand the leaf situation. Imo its the bet and worse time of year to play. love the weather and the scenery second to none but the leaves are relentless problem. But just prior to them falling and after they are gone (if still warm enough outside. The best time to play (for me). I love the fall season for just about anything. Just too bad it gets dark earlier.
 
That post of mine was strictly for laughs.
And yes I completely understand the leaf situation. Imo its the bet and worse time of year to play. love the weather and the scenery second to none but the leaves are relentless problem. But just prior to them falling and after they are gone (if still warm enough outside. The best time to play (for me). I love the fall season for just about anything. Just too bad it gets dark earlier.

Oh it's totally cool, you just never know , some guys if they live in Arizona or something might not understand how completely leaf covered the courses get.
 
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