Divots

[eltub1]

Whats everyones thought on the rules regarding divots?

I play on a links course and with all the dry weather we had preferred lies on in yesterdays comp because the ground is so dry.. but as with the weather being so good there are large numbers of golfers taking advantage of this weather and playing golf.. this has resulted in a high number of divots on the fairways.....(i realise that the majority of golfers do replace their divots, its the birds turning them back over in the search of worms that's the problem along with the time needed for the divot to repair itself)

I personally think that if you land in a divot you should get a free drop/preferred lie as you are being punished unfairly for a good drive or shot when you find that you are in a divot...If you land in or on rabbit scratchings or mole hills you get a free drop so why not a divot as they are not supposed to be there and its not fair on the golfer who hit it in the middle of the fairway then finds himself in a big hole which he losses control when playing out of...

Whats everyones view on this.

 

[Whee]

Fully agree, I ended up in one at the weekend and in the attempt of taking the ball clean, inevitably topped it. If I can blame the divot, rather than my lack of ability, i'll take that

 

[HawkeyeMS]

It's up there with golf's daftest rules if you ask me. Animal scrapings - free drop, divots - tough. It just doesn't make sense.

 

[DCB]

I'd be knocking the door down to ask why the green staff aren't filling them with sand if it's that bad

I've played a lot of links golf and couldn't think of a course that would require preferred lies due to dry fairways. It's usually the parkland courses that suffer greatly because of divot issues.

Maybe it's time to go back to players taking a wee bag of sand and seed out with them to fill in the divots or to get the junior section involved in the same task.

As to the rule, yes seems strange, but once you start to change one thing like that there's a whole lot worse than that will be added to the list for change

 

[Smiffy]

Nothing worse than hitting a cracking drive to find you've ended up in somebody elses old divot.
Should be a free drop. No question.

 

[bobmac]

Or, do what Timygolfy did, increase your distance and outdrive all the areas strewn with divots.

If the ground is so hard, I would imagine the divots aren't too deep. Play it back in the stance an inch and problem solved.

 

[upsidedown]

We're required to carry a sand bucket all the time out here but you still get the Bozo's who cant be bothered to fill in their divots..........

 

[Fyldewhite]

Yes, it's frustrating but the reason that you don't get a drop is that it is very difficult to define when a drop would be available. It's obvious when it's a nice fresh divot but what about a sanded one, or a half repaired one or a depression in the ground that was originally a divot but has now recovered almost fully? There is no way of drawing a line between one extreme and the other that can be clearly interpreted fairly. There's no way they will ever change this rule as it's one of the fundamentals of golf to play as it lies and accept good luck and bad luck as rub of the green. It's just another shot you have to learn to play and some players will do that better than others (normally the ones who don't scream about the injustice of it all for a few holes and trash their round as a result )

 

[MashieNiblick]

I'm with Fyldewhite on this.

Happened to me yesterday after a nice drive on a short par 4. I said at the time it's all part of the game and duly dumped my next shot (a 70 yard punch with a gap wedge) into a green side bunker.

But I still don't think a drop would have been justified. Play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it is the basis of golf. It is hard luck but as Bobmac says there's a technique to paying the shot. I didn't go in the bunker because of the divot. I went in the bunker because I couldn't execute the shot required with the necessary skill. That's the key to success at the game wherever your ball ends up.

 

[drawboy]

It's a man made obstacle that should not be there so of course you should get a drop no question. From a greenkeeping perspective it only makes the divot deeper and wider. If vandals had taken a shovel to a green you would get relief from the damage on the green so what is the difference. A divot is not a natural part of the course. It is one of golfs many stupid rules.

 

[pokerjoke]

I can understand the OPs frustration and some others,however if players replaced the divot all the time,not just some of the time there would probably be half the number of divots.As for prefered lies for hard ground that to me is silly as its going to be hard for months,and will probably get harder.

 

[RGDave]

Or, do what Timygolfy did, increase your distance and outdrive all the areas strewn with divots.

or alternatively, do the opposite and play from the freshly mown areas of lush grass where RG does?!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

...Play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it is the basis of golf.

That's fine, but why then get a drop from a animal scraping? And if a divot has been replaced, then turned over by a bird and the divot and grass around it scratched up a bit by said bird, does that make it animal scraping?

 

[daymond]

Changing the rule to a free drop from a divot would have unintended consequences; viz a course of divot holes and little shoe size areas of grass.
We replace our divots to protect the course in the hope that everyone else does the same.
It must be a bit of a syndrome with me but I can,t pass a loose divot without replacing it, especially the monster 3" from it's hole.
I probably average 3 per hole (divots that is )

 

[Imurg]

...Play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it is the basis of golf.

That's fine, but why then get a drop from a animal scraping? And if a divot has been replaced, then turned over by a bird and the divot and grass around it scratched up a bit by said bird, does that make it animal scraping?

Doesn't the rule only apply to burrowing animals...?

It's like the bad bounce - a pain in the bum but that's Golf.....

 

[MashieNiblick]

I do see the parallel with a hole made by a burrowing animal (and it has to be a "burrowing" animal not just any animal) but I suppose that, whereas such a hole is something a course shouldn't have (and not all courses do), all courses do have divots and to my mind they are a natural and inevitable feature of a golf course.

I also think it would be hard to control free drops from divots. How old can the divot be? Would a small bare depression that was a divot a year ago justify a free drop? I can see people taking drops from poor lies all the time and I'm just not a great fan of balls being picked up, placed, dropped, whatever, unless there is a really good reason. Just doesn't seem to me like how golf should be played. We play in a natural environment and I feel we should accept that, and the good and bad lies, as part of the game.

I suppose it's a bit like spike marks. Why can you repair a ball mark on your line but not a spike mark? It's a case of drawing the line somewhere to maintain the basic nature of golf as a game played over natural ground.