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

[Jimaroid]

you generally need to reach an agreement with those you are playing with.

I don't think you'll find that in the rules! Just because you've come to an agreement doesn't make it correct.

 

[clubchamp98]

That entirely depends how mentally weak you are.
Landing in a divot is a possibility, it doesn't happen often but it can.
You wouldn't see any good players whingeing about it, it's just something that happens occasionally, you hit the ball and get on with it.

EDIT: To be fair I would whinge like hell...But I'd get over it as it's part of the game

Playing Club Champs 16th hole nailed my drive into a divot.
I was one shot behind my pp so had no option to have a go.
Cost me as I snapped my shaft but bogey was ok.
I lost by one so I remember.
Yes I agree it’s rare but always seems to be in an important one.
Yes it is part of the game I agree.
But good players whinge like hell can’t agree there.

What I would say though is a divot 2” deep with the turf next to it is a very different thing to a repaired one that’s only a slight depression, maybe that’s the problem .
We don’t really register the depressions but if your in a crater you remember!

 

[Orikoru]

I don't think you'll find that in the rules! Just because you've come to an agreement doesn't make it correct.

Well that's the way it is in the real world I'm afraid. I tend not to operate just on my own volition on the course, I generally check with someone else just so there's no disagreements - even if I'm sure I have it correct. Save arguing after the event.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Where did the shot go?

Straight, but nowhere near far enough ?

 

[clubchamp98]

I don't think that's strictly true, in fact I'm not even sure that the "fairway" is defined in the latest edition of the rules.

A quick check on randa.org reveals that the rules define five areas of the course, from which I'd guess that terms such as fairway and rough are just used by golfers for their convenience.

So the whole pretext for this poll is a nonsense!

View attachment 35081

How does Preffered lies on areas cut to fairway height work then if there are no fairways?
What the hell are our green keepers doing cutting them all the time for?

 

[USER1999]

Well that's the way it is in the real world I'm afraid. I tend not to operate just on my own volition on the course, I generally check with someone else just so there's no disagreements - even if I'm sure I have it correct. Save arguing after the event.

I get the impression that your regular 4 ball play something that looks like golf, but actually isn't golf. I could be wrong, but it doesn't seem so.

 

[Imurg]

They were just off the top of my head. I'm sure you could think of better examples where interpretation and agreement is required, if you wanted to.

The thing is that, in go,f, if you have things that are open to interpretation then the World will burn.
The R&A don't like us interpreting anything.

 

[Orikoru]

I get the impression that your regular 4 ball play something that looks like golf, but actually isn't golf. I could be wrong, but it doesn't seem so.

Well we hit balls towards flags with sticks, what do you do? Seriously though, I don't know why it causes people to be uptight when I say these things. I've always said we play to the rules as best as we understand them, I get the agreement with others purely out of acceptance that I don't have an encyclopaedic memory and sometimes I need reassurance that I'm doing the right thing. What's wrong with that?

 

[theoneandonly]

As an awesome Golfer who hits a lot of fairways, its actually pretty rare I find myself in a divot and to be fair it's not that tough a shot to play anyway.
It's a no from me!

 

[Orikoru]

The thing is that, in go,f, if you have things that are open to interpretation then the World will burn.
The R&A don't like us interpreting anything.

As golf is played in the real world, everything can't be black and white. It's impossible.

 

[theoneandonly]

Fair enough

It's true though right?

 

[USER1999]

Pretty much the only times the rules are not obvious, is when someone doesn't like the obvious answer, and looks for a different one.

 

[GuyInLyon]

Replace or fill your divots and its a non issue.

It's not me that you have to worry about, it's all of the other idiots that don't fill their divots.

 

[Fore Right!]

I'd prefer a yes but appreciate the rules (unless temporary local rule is in place) is no.
with fairways struggling to recover over the last few years (effect of hot weather and then heavy rains) it would be better for the course recovery as well as the player + it does seem "unfair" to hit a fairway and get a lie that can be worse than being off the fairway

 

[Tashyboy]

When I play, I replace divots and repair my pitch marks, and others. If I am waiting to play a shot and there’s divots around I will replace them.
So should I get a free relief from a divot. It should not be there in the first place, yes crows turn them over but not the hundreds and thousands I see every year.Crows don’t take divots 15 yds down the fairway to look for a worm. Hypothetically I hit a stonking drive down the middle and it ends up in a divot. I would be bloody livid coz someone could not be bothered to replace it.
In an ideal world there should be no divots and it should be a hypothetical question. So it’s a reluctant yes from me.
For me it’s similar to repairing someone else’s pitch mark on a green what someone else has left but you repair it coz it’s in your line. You shouldnt have to, but you do.
Litter, Repairing others pitch marks, replacing others divots, and slow play are my main gripes with golf.

 

[r0wly86]

Pretty much the only times the rules are not obvious, is when someone doesn't like the obvious answer, and looks for a different one.

I thought checking with your PPs was standard practice, I always do it and every group I've played in has. It's not that rules are complicated or obscure, it just saves hassle. Don't want to get onto the green and someone argue that your drop wasn't nearest point of relief etc. If everyone agrees what you are doing is correct then they can't complain later.

There are a few obscure rules though, practice swing hitting a tree, no penalty: practice swing hitting a tree and a twig falls off and hit the ground, penalty; real swing hits a tree and a twig falls off, no penalty

 

[Crow]

How does Preffered lies on areas cut to fairway height work then if there are no fairways?
What the hell are our green keepers doing cutting them all the time for?

What I meant was that "fairways" or closely mown areas are just a part of the general area, a golfer has no more right to expect a good lie there than in the rough.

 

[Jimaroid]

Well we hit balls towards flags with sticks, what do you do? Seriously though, I don't know why it causes people to be uptight when I say these things. I've always said we play to the rules as best as we understand them, I get the agreement with others purely out of acceptance that I don't have an encyclopaedic memory and sometimes I need reassurance that I'm doing the right thing. What's wrong with that?

It's quite likely that it causes people to be uptight because the way it comes across is you're arguing for a rules change but not always appearing to understand the rules you want changed.

And in wider principal I agree, very few people can keep all the nuances of the rules of golf in their head but that's what the R&A/USGA booklets and Apps are for.

 

[USER1999]

I thought checking with your PPs was standard practice, I always do it and every group I've played in has. It's not that rules are complicated or obscure, it just saves hassle. Don't want to get onto the green and someone argue that your drop wasn't nearest point of relief etc. If everyone agrees what you are doing is correct then they can't complain later.

There are a few obscure rules though, practice swing hitting a tree, no penalty: practice swing hitting a tree and a twig falls off and hit the ground, penalty; real swing hits a tree and a twig falls off, no penalty

Is this an animal scrape? No. If you need to ask, it isn't. I am taking relief from etc, or I am not. There is no grey area. If it is, then it is as grey for them, as it is for you. Therefore, it isn't.
Is it on the path? Only you can answer this, and if it is not clear to you, then it will not be clearer to someone else, and it isn't.
Is this the nearest point of relief? There is only one nearest point. Asking someone else would arrive at the same point.

if you need to ask, either you do not know how to proceed, or, you don't like the answer.

 

[Orikoru]

It's quite likely that it causes people to be uptight because the way it comes across is you're arguing for a rules change but not always appearing to understand the rules you want changed.

And in wider principal I agree, very few people can keep all the nuances of the rules of golf in their head but that's what the R&A/USGA booklets and Apps are for.

I've not asked for it to be changed, just answered the hypothetical question at the top and justified my answer.

I prefer not to spend ten minutes trying to find the ruling in an app, if everyone in the group agrees on a ruling that's good enough for me. I'm only going to look it up if we have no idea, or are directly opposed on what the ruling should be.