- Moderator
- #126
I don't think divots should be GUR, if we start doing this then you have to have another rule as to what constitutes a divot, how big does it have to be, how deep, do you get relieve if it's sand filled or only if it wasn't repaired? Just too many variables...as others have said, if you ball hits the trees and bounces back in the fairway you don't throw it in the woods or if you skip one over the water you don't toss it back in the lake.
Have you ever hit a shot and find in sitting next to the rake right outside the bunker....most of us have...did you kick it in the bunker because you got lucky? How about the time you pulled a drive and it landed on the cart path and bounced like three times only to end up back in the fairway 50 yards further than you could ever hope to hit it.....did you pick it up and move it back to where it should have been??
I think you get the point, we all have our share of good luck and bad luck on the course...it's part of what makes this game great! Now when I find my ball in an unrepaired divot or an unraked bunker do I get upset.....you damn skippy I do....but it's all part of the game.
The problem I have with a lot of the examples you've listed are that they all reference hitting into or towards hazards. Trees and rakes are a part of the golf course. They were placed there or left there for a reason (for the record I favour rakes IN bunkers not outside). In the case of a divot in the fairway, it's not how the course was designed. It's a flaw in the course just as a pitch mark on the green is. I personally think there's a big difference between getting lucky avoiding a hazard (aka hitting a poor shot), and getting unlucky hitting in the fairway (aka where you were aiming).
Regarding the bold, is this really something that has to be closely modified if the rule were set in place? If the ball is in the fairway on an imperfection (despite how loosely defined that is), a ten second drop within a club length isn't really going to make a world of difference is it? Fairway shots remain fairway shots rather than having to deal with other peoples inability to properly repair their divots.