Should you be able to get relief from divots in the fairway?

Should you be allowed to get relief from divots in the fairway?

  • Yes

    Votes: 40 34.2%
  • No

    Votes: 78 66.7%

  • Total voters
    117

Jimaroid

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*points at whole sentence*

Do you not accept that the natural consequence of striking a soft material with a hard implement will result in that soft material being deformed?

It would only be unnatural if a divot wasn't taken!

Divots are natural the same way a ball falling into a hole is natural, that is normal and expected.
 
D

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I wasn’t aware crows had golf clubs .. their damage is natural.
yeah I have seen divots explode but some attempt to make good would be appreciated..
and in the end it was a “ perhaps look at the issue another way” it’s a subjective topic so there are no right and wrong arguments

Got to disagree with that.:D

One Crow, has more clubs than a cupboard can hold;)
 

Orikoru

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Do you not accept that the natural consequence of striking a soft material with a hard implement will result in that soft material being deformed?

It would only be unnatural if a divot wasn't taken!

Divots are natural the same way a ball falling into a hole is natural, that is normal and expected.
Your ball going into a divot is a result of said divot not being replaced or repaired by the golfer, not a result if it having been made in the first place. So it's not nature, it's negligence of a human being.
 

Jimaroid

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Your ball going into a divot is a result of said divot not being replaced or repaired by the golfer, not a result if it having been made in the first place. So it's not nature, it's negligence of a human being.

Well. I'm surprised nobody has mention this yet but here I go... Good luck replacing divots on links courses.
 

harpo_72

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Well. I'm surprised nobody has mention this yet but here I go... Good luck replacing divots on links courses.
They don’t suffer as badly with the issue.. a real links is pretty scabby and moss or clover is deemed to be an excellent lie ?
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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Simple answer is dont replace divots but everyone takes a bag of seed mix out with them and fills in their damage, these areas are then treated as GUR . Win win from a golfers and greenkeepers perspective. But then if people can't be arsed to repair a simple pitchmark what are the chances if them filling a divot hole??
We have seed mix bags to take out and many do - filling in not just our own divot holes but others we come across. It has really helped keeping the fairways in good condition - and it is rare to end up on a divot hole. And with so many repaired holes - with repairs by members ongoing continuously - there is no need to worry about damaging a repaired hole.

Of course I can still end up on a bare(r) piece of fairway - when a foot or two away the fairway is perfect. My lie is rubbish relative to where it might be - and I might complain about my bad luck - but that's the end of it - bad luck - and I don't expect relief from it.
 

Robster59

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Goodness me. IMHO this thread is part of the "Wah Wah Wah it's not fair" culture that seems to be afflicting the world nowadays. If you had to write the rules and then had to connsider all the "What if..." options you would maybe have a different viewpoint. This particular rule takes into account the machinations and thoughts of people in the 15 pages posted so far. People look for loopholes, push the limits, etc. This is cut and dried. It's in a divot (or whatever you want to call it) you don't get free relief. If you want to take relief, take the penalty. Simple,
 

Rlburnside

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At least in a scramble only the first player has to play out of it. Right? Since everyone else will be placing their ball within 6 inches?

No we were playing a different format team of 3 and alternate shots it was a society day, 9 hole scramble before the 18 holes in afternoon.

It was a rubbish format.
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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Some words of wisdom from Harry Vardon in his book The Complete Golfer of 1905.

'Make a point of seeing that your caddie always replaces your divots, or replace them yourself if you have no caddie. This, as we all know, is a golfer's first duty. If your ball at any time came to rest in a hole where a divot had not ben replaced, you would be extremely annoyed, would say hard things about the other players on the links, and would declare that the course was badly kept'.

Our predecessors on the links of 115ys ago got just as fed up as we on such matters...but they too just got on with it.
 
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jim8flog

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Just a thought...
We've all been talking, not about the divot, but the hole left by the divot.
The divot is the beaver pelt that goes almost as far as your ball..
So...
The hole is made, ostensibly, by a burrowing animal - humans do dig holes ( ask Tashy)
So, if the hole was made by a burrowing animal, maybe we should get relief after all......:unsure:

Rules of Golf Definitions - Humans are not Animals.
 

Orikoru

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Goodness me. IMHO this thread is part of the "Wah Wah Wah it's not fair" culture that seems to be afflicting the world nowadays. If you had to write the rules and then had to connsider all the "What if..." options you would maybe have a different viewpoint. This particular rule takes into account the machinations and thoughts of people in the 15 pages posted so far. People look for loopholes, push the limits, etc. This is cut and dried. It's in a divot (or whatever you want to call it) you don't get free relief. If you want to take relief, take the penalty. Simple,
I think you might have misread the topic? It was not asking what the rule is currently.
 

jim8flog

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Simple answer is dont replace divots but everyone takes a bag of seed mix out with them and fills in their damage, these areas are then treated as GUR . Win win from a golfers and greenkeepers perspective. But then if people can't be arsed to repair a simple pitchmark what are the chances if them filling a divot hole??

We have divot bags by the tee (they get moved from tee to tee). They are relatively small and the idea is that you use up all the bag on that hole and just leave the bag in the bin on the next tee. If you watch the first tee on a Saturday morning I reckon about 1 in 40 players actually takes a bag with them.
 
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