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Trying to follow the rules but what would you do here?

My course has a local rule for a free drop off of rocks and gravel. Found out about it when I damaged my 54 degree wedge the same as your club. I'll never do that again.
 
I’d have dropped. Either within the rules if I was entitled, or called my playing partners and told them what the deal was. In a competition, probably taken the penalty if I wasn’t entitled to a drop. That said, without seeing the lie, I may have played in your situation, as you said it was dirt.
I have dinged my clubs in the past, and been gutted, but you soon get over it? Are they new clubs? If they are, another dozen rounds or so, and that damage will blend in. A bit like the iron head over thread, your irons are tools of the trade. Each mark represents a great shot you’ve hit out of less than perfect conditions


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Deezballs said:
If a score is to be posted or money or tournament is involved I’ll take a drop with penalty if appropriate. Otherwise I’ll give it a kick and play on
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Agreed, easy.

Seems it bothered you more to ding up your club than the 1 stroke penalty would have (y)
 
Andrew808 said:
My tee shot ended up on some gravel but not OB. Me, lately trying to follow the rules as best I can to get a true gauge of my ability, played it and got two nicks on the bottom edge of my brand new (less than 2 weeks of use) Mack Daddy 52 wedge. Now I’m super pissed off at myself. I think next time I’ll carry a beat-up wedge in the bag just for shots like this.

Would you have dropped it on grass and played it with no penalty, or dropped on the grass and penalized yourself a stroke?

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If it’s a casual round, I usually use the guideline that if something would be marked ground under repair in a tournament then i would play it that way with free relief, if it was a match I would talk to my opponent and get their input. I would also extend that courtesy to an opponent, if so warranted. If it is in an area that would not be mark GUR, then I would likely take the penalty, not so much to save the equipment, but to avoid injury.
 
LICC said:
There are some bad USGA rules, but I agree if you want to play by the rules to keep an accurate handicap, you have to apply them good or bad.
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Bad rules? Like what?
 
Jmk202 said:
call pro shop and see if they give ground under repair
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I think you give the pro shop workers too much credit. I doubt some of them know what GUR is.
 
To save damage to the club, and possible personal injury, I 'd declare the ball unplayable , and take the penalty. This, if there was nothing important on the line as far as my score. That, and the ball was in the field of play.

Now if the situation was such, that I couldn't afford a penalty stroke, I'd take the shot. If I damaged the club, I'd take my medicine, and visit the local club repair shop. Maybe contact the oem for a possible "free" replacement. They do that sometimes.

This thread brought back a memory from several years ago. There is a local Vegas course that has a drainage ditch running through it. On a hole near the road, the ditch has a concrete floor, being part of tunnel under the road.

I sliced a ball into this ditch, with the ball sitting on the concrete, in about 3/8 of the ball height in water. I was 50 yards from the pin, maybe 15 feet below the hole.

I was playing my son in law for bragging rights. It was a close match. I decided to hit this wet shot with my zero bounce LW. Standing the water, I pick the ball clean off the water/concrete, and the ball stopped about two feet from the hole. Yeah, I got a little wet. Made the putt for a bird. At that point, the son in law pretty much gave up, with 3 holes left to play. It felt good.
 
OGputtnfool said:
Really? That's a very basic one. Why should it be ok to play your ball if it goes off the course?
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I don't have much time today(Have lots of running around to do, even hoping to hit a few balls ?⛳)
So I'll just get it started:

#1 What appears contradictory to me.

I'll start with a question.

What is generally considered the number one, utmost, supreme tenet in the game of golf?

So much so that those who do not even play the game oft quote it in matters outside of the game of golf.
 
stroh said:
I don't have much time today(Have lots of running around to do, even hoping to hit a few balls ?⛳)
So I'll just get it started:

#1 What appears contradictory to me.

I'll start with a question.

What is generally considered the number one, utmost, supreme tenet in the game of golf?

So much so that those who do not even play the game oft quote it in matters outside of the game of golf.
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Play it as it lies.

That being said, if you hit one in the middle of the interstate that runs alongside the course, do you really think it should still be in play?
 
OGputtnfool said:
Play it as it lies.

That being said, if you hit one in the middle of the interstate that runs alongside the course, do you really think it should still be in play?
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Correct. And yes. I'll explain why later.

Excellent transition. It brings me to :

#2 O.B. is arbitrary and most often, of course not always, someones opinion.

As opposed to:

Baseball field, Football field, Tennis court, Basketball court........You get the idea.
 
Unless it is a competitive round I am moving the ball.
I care more about my health than a club so If I am going to break a body part I am moving it.
 
stroh said:
Correct. And yes. I'll explain why later.

Excellent transition. It brings me to :

#2 O.B. is arbitrary and most often, of course not always, someones opinion.

As opposed to:

Baseball field, Football field, Tennis court, Basketball court........You get the idea.
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I'd say golf course boundaries are far from arbitrary. Usually, it's a road, property line, or something else along those lines.

If anything baseball and basketball courts are more arbitrary. Many baseball field have different measurements. Basketball courts vary in dimensions, too. Not sure about tennis as I've never cared enough. Football might be the only constant of the big 3 as far as playing field dimensions.
 
stroh said:
O.B.
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Stroke and distance penalties for OB is awful.
Being able to take unplayable ball relief even if the ball is perfectly playable is another bad rule.
No relief from divots is a bad rule.
 
LICC said:
Being able to take unplayable ball relief even if the ball is perfectly playable is another bad rule.
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That's not allowed.
 
Always move it and save the club. If you’re playing serious take a penalty, if put for fun who cares.
 
OGputtnfool said:
I'd say golf course boundaries are far from arbitrary. Usually, it's a road, property line, or something else along those lines.

If anything baseball and basketball courts are more arbitrary. Many baseball field have different measurements. Basketball courts vary in dimensions, too. Not sure about tennis as I've never cared enough. Football might be the only constant of the big 3 as far as playing field dimensions.
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Not far. Purely.

Defined by a road.....etc.

Because someone proclaims it. e.g. your interstate scenario.

An yes, I understand the centerfield fence at Coor's Field differs from the one at Fenway Park. 90 feet, 10 feet floor to rim, again you get the idea. And it is the idea(prinicple) that I am basing my argument. I'm not proposing every golf course be a regulation bowling alley. Which is the basis for my contempt of the rule.
 
stroh said:
Not far. Purely.

Defined by a road.....etc.

Because someone proclaims it. e.g. your interstate scenario.

An yes, I understand the centerfield fence at Coor's Field differs from the one at Fenway Park. 90 feet, 10 feet floor to rim, again you get the idea. And it is the idea(prinicple) that I am basing my argument. I'm not proposing every golf course be a regulation bowling alley. Which is the basis for my contempt of the rule.
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Again, I ask, do you think the ball should still be in play in the middle of the interstate?

Road are anything but arbitrary. Many were likely there before the course so they're hardly random.
 
Also, your 90' and 10' distances would be equivalent to the diameter of the hole... not the course boundaries. Course boundaries would be very equivalent to the distance to the outfield wall, the length/width of the basketball floor, etc. and many of those are based on personal whim likely driven by how many people the powers that be want to be able to sell tickets to for the events.
 
OGputtnfool said:
Really? That's a very basic one. Why should it be ok to play your ball if it goes off the course?
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It is illogical to give two penalties for OB and just one for hitting to the bottom of a pond. One bad swing should have one penalty, not two.
 
OGputtnfool said:
That's not allowed.
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It sure is. That is how the USGA and R&A interpret it. You have a tree in your line, even if your ball is laying perfectly fine to hit it you can pick it up and move it back on line wherever you want for a one stroke penalty.
 
OGputtnfool said:
I'd say golf course boundaries are far from arbitrary. Usually, it's a road, property line, or something else along those lines.

If anything baseball and basketball courts are more arbitrary. Many baseball field have different measurements. Basketball courts vary in dimensions, too. Not sure about tennis as I've never cared enough. Football might be the only constant of the big 3 as far as playing field dimensions.
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And sometimes you have internal OB, which is part of the course.
 
LICC said:
And sometimes you have internal OB, which is part of the course.
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I think I've only seen this one time and it was not arbitrary. It is designed to protect players at the inside of a dogleg. I'd place safety at the top of the list most of the time.
 
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