Ruling/Spirit of the Game

[rulefan]

From the Definition of Abnormal Course Condition

Examples of damage that is not ground under repair by default include:

• A rut made by a tractor (but the Committee is justified in declaring a deep rut to be ground under repair).

Prior to 2109 this was also the ruling in Decision 25/16. So the situation has not changed.

 

[Ndw7]

The Official Guide to the Rules of Golf (page 389) gives guidance to committees around marking areas as GUR. This states that it is not appropriate to make a general declaration for all ruts made by maintenance vehicles to be defined as GUR.Any deep ruts should be marked by the committee using white lines or stakes.

Yes fair play, I looked into it after I replied (I should have done so beforehand) and it looks like tyre marks are not generalised into GUR or abnormal ground conditions. 👍🏻