Divots in the fairway

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Why aren't these considered 'ground under repair', or 'ground that should be under repair', or whatever it is? Seems astonishingly unfair to those playing later in the day.

[chippa13]

Because the fairway would look horrible with a million tiny white circles spray painted all over the place.

 

Do you also think a footprint or poorly raked/unraked bunker should also be ground under repair?

[mark m]

Lots of threads on this. Please try the search function. Here is recent one:

 

http://www.golfwrx.c... under repair

 

EDIT: I like the current rule and don't believe it is workable to do any other way. But I did have something happen earlier this year that was nuts and I have not seen this in 40+ years of playing. We play in the morning and it was very windy and it was coming into and from the left. I just nailed one right down the center on a tough hole. Perfect. Well no. I get out there and my ball has thick mud all over the top. The fairway is in great shape. WTH. I look around. There is a large and deep divot hole about 3 yards back from my ball and yep - there is a big ball mark in the divot hole. It is damp in there probably due to irrigation. To top it off, the divot was laying about 2' in front of the divot hole. Some dude playing before us - probably the night before - did not replace it. Nice. Made bogey. It is part of the game. I just wish we didn't have so much poor etiquette out there.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Lots of threads on this. Please try the search function. Here is recent one:

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1295914-which-of-you-would-sign-a-petition-to-have-fairway-divots-be-classified-as-gur/page__hl__%20divots%20%20ground%20%20under%20%20repair

 

I did. Didn't see anything (on my phone). Thanks for the link.

[Sun Devil]

Play it as it lies. Even balls in the fairway will not be the same lie. They've already invented the game where golf is played on perfect surfaces ..... Top Golf. :(

[hollabachgt]

Rub of the Green!

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Play it as it lies. Even balls in the fairway will not be the same lie. They've already invented the game where golf is played on perfect surfaces ..... Top Golf. :(

 

My coffee table jiggles.

[Carl Spackler3]

Just drive it as far off the fairway as me, the woods has surprisingly few divots

[gsea33]

hit the ball first, divots are irrelevant. it's am golf not pristine pro golf.

[Shilgy]

Play it as it lies. Even balls in the fairway will not be the same lie. They've already invented the game where golf is played on perfect surfaces ..... Top Golf. :(

Or play your music loud enough and it'll hop right out of there.

Oops wrong thread. :)

[Sun Devil]

Play it as it lies. Even balls in the fairway will not be the same lie. They've already invented the game where golf is played on perfect surfaces ..... Top Golf. :(

Or play your music loud enough and it'll hop right out of there.

Oops wrong thread. :)

 

Damn. I've been labelled the music lover. :)

[hybrid25]

I will resurrect this thread because as I was watching the Golf Today show they were discussing what rog they would like to see changed. The age old desire to allow a free drop from a fairway divot was brought up again by one of the hosts seemed to gererate some like minded desires. So many golfers would love to see this rule changed to include the 'free drop' from a fairway divot. Again, I guess humans are too ignorant to determine what a fairway divot is, the complaint of the bluenose rules buffs, but I know what they are, and I'm probably not the most cerebral individual walking the face of the earth. Cmon USGA, get the rule changed, do the right thing!!!

[MtlJeff]

I agree with many people who say though that defining when you are in a divot will be pretty hard. What about an older divot that is basically almost perfect again...what about if you're just on the edge...

 

You're gonna slow down rounds with all of these rulings. Having playing partners running over to check it 

 

I don't know, i'm a pretty progressive thinker normally with this stuff....but i don't know. Just hit it out of divots i say. 

[MtlJeff]

BTW, i am also in favor of pouring scalding hot lead on people who dont replace fairway divots , like they did in the old days when you tried to storm a castle. 

 

If you're gonna play out of divots than people who don't replace divots should be burned with lead

[Abh159]

I'm all for a free drop from fairway divots and I'm surprised they still haven't changed that rule (although I think it will happen in the next year or two). There's nothing more heartbreaking that ripping a drive down the middle of the fairway only to walk up and see it sitting in the middle of a massive divot that some idiot didn't replace. 

 

I look at it in a similar way to spike marks on the green. Why should you be penalized for a previous player's aftermath? 

[hybrid25]

As far as slowing down play, that would only be for tournament and PGA golf. Who cares what golfers do in casual situations. As far as what a divot is defined as,  anything with grass growing back is not a divot. Although, USGA could figure it out. We put men on the moon, rovers on Mars, etc, we can figure this out. One option that might help the issue is giving one free drop per round in the fairway.

[jvincent]

Having to play out of a divot in the middle of the fairway is one of the aggravating charms of golf.

 

There's nothing quite like hitting a good shot out of a divot.

[MtlJeff]

12 minutes ago, hybrid25 said:

As far as slowing down play, that would only be for tournament and PGA golf. Who cares what golfers do in casual situations. As far as what a divot is defined as,  anything with grass growing back is not a divot. Although, USGA could figure it out. We put men on the moon, rovers on Mars, etc, we can figure this out. One option that might help the issue is giving one free drop per round in the fairway.

 

If we can put men on the moon, we should be able to hit golf balls out of divots!

 

The people building space shuttles didn't get to say "hmmm, i don't like this math, it makes spaceship propulsion too hard....i demand easier math!"

[jmkenn0]

Its quite possible that people hit a lot more fairways than me, but I feel like I was in something resembling a divot about twice in 50+ rounds last year in the fairway?  Anecdotal sure, but it just seems like a problem that is very, very infrequent?

[Hawkeye77]

Jaime whined about divots, Tripp whined a bit also and Cara shot them down if I recall correctly!

 

Funny they talked about it, I watched probably 16 hours of coverage, big field event, and guys are landing in the same areas on each hole every day, just moving a bit with the tees, and thinking about how divots aren't a big deal. I don't recall seeing one single shot being hit out of a divot scrape at the Sony.  All last season, I don't remember (it's now January) landing in a single one.  Almost never happens.  

 

The reasons it's not relief have been parsed over so much, I won't get into them, but they make sense.  Just seems like yet another cry for potentially saving a stroke -- come on, 76 vs. 77, 98 vs. 99, 110 vs. 111 isn't anything to get bent out of shape over.  Rub of the green as they say --- embrace the challenge. I'd bet most folks landing in them aren't hitting out of them but complaining the loudest.  "That root shouldn't be there." "OB should be a lateral, I'm playing it that way with line of flight."  Play how you want! But respect history and leave the core values of the rules alone! Now to get my feathery from the cat!

 

 

[Colin L]

10 hours ago, Abh159 said:

I'm all for a free drop from fairway divots and I'm surprised they still haven't changed that rule (although I think it will happen in the next year or two). There's nothing more heartbreaking that ripping a drive down the middle of the fairway only to walk up and see it sitting in the middle of a massive divot that some idiot didn't replace. 

 

I look at it in a similar way to spike marks on the green. Why should you be penalized for a previous player's aftermath? 

 

I expect you meant that since  you are allowed to repair spike marks on the putting green you should similarly get relief from a divot?  It could perhaps be read differently.

[Newby]

11 hours ago, Abh159 said:

 I'm surprised they still haven't changed that rule (although I think it will happen in the next year or two).

Don't hold your breath. It won't

 

But do you know what a divot is? As a divot is a Loose Impediment by definition, you may simply move it out of the way?

Edited January 19, 2021 by Newby

[Newby]

Of course the solution is a 2 stroke penalty for any player who takes a divot. 

[bladehunter]

14 hours ago, hybrid25 said:

As far as slowing down play, that would only be for tournament and PGA golf. Who cares what golfers do in casual situations. As far as what a divot is defined as,  anything with grass growing back is not a divot. Although, USGA could figure it out. We put men on the moon, rovers on Mars, etc, we can figure this out. One option that might help the issue is giving one free drop per round in the fairway.

Right.  Who cares what casual rounders do.  Most roll it anyway.   So why a rule change to justify it ? 
 

and as for the man on the moon thing.  Still being debated today.  Lol.  We either didn’t go , or we have a huge base on the dark side .  I’m not sure which.  At any rate for some reason we noped back out of there and never officially went back.  Why ?  

[bladehunter]

9 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Jaime whined about divots, Tripp whined a bit also and Cara shot them down if I recall correctly!

 

Funny they talked about it, I watched probably 16 hours of coverage, big field event, and guys are landing in the same areas on each hole every day, just moving a bit with the tees, and thinking about how divots aren't a big deal. I don't recall seeing one single shot being hit out of a divot scrape at the Sony.  All last season, I don't remember (it's now January) landing in a single one.  Almost never happens.  

 

The reasons it's not relief have been parsed over so much, I won't get into them, but they make sense.  Just seems like yet another cry for potentially saving a stroke -- come on, 76 vs. 77, 98 vs. 99, 110 vs. 111 isn't anything to get bent out of shape over.  Rub of the green as they say --- embrace the challenge. I'd bet most folks landing in them aren't hitting out of them but complaining the loudest.  "That root shouldn't be there." "OB should be a lateral, I'm playing it that way with line of flight."  Play how you want! But respect history and leave the core values of the rules alone! Now to get my feathery from the cat!

 

 

Yep.exactly.    Jaimie is a bit of a whiner.  He said Joaquin neihman needed to “ clean up his game “ yesterday.   Kid is hot and nearly won 2 weeks in a row. I’m sure Jaime Diaz is who he needs to seek for advice.  The guy is ..... hard to watch sometimes.  Lol. 

[Hawkeye77]

55 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Yep.exactly.    Jaimie is a bit of a whiner.  He said Joaquin neihman needed to “ clean up his game “ yesterday.   Kid is hot and nearly won 2 weeks in a row. I’m sure Jaime Diaz is who he needs to seek for advice.  The guy is ..... hard to watch sometimes.  Lol. 

LOL, overall hottest player on Tour! 

[BlackDiamondPar5]

For the whiners that want relief from divots I offer alternative strategies;

1. Hit it over or short of the region where divot density is likely to be high.

2. Miss the fairway to avoid divots all together.

3. Play the odds and hit your normal shot. If you happen to be unfortunate enough to land in one then suck it up.

[hybrid25]

5 hours ago, bladehunter said:

Right.  Who cares what casual rounders do.  Most roll it anyway.   So why a rule change to justify it ? 
 

and as for the man on the moon thing.  Still being debated today.  Lol.  We either didn’t go , or we have a huge base on the dark side .  I’m not sure which. 

Well, I now see what many have to deal with, conspiracy theorists who think the landing on the moon was staged, can now use that mindset to justify not getting relief from a divot. Sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bladehunter]

14 minutes ago, hybrid25 said:

Well, I now see what many have to deal with, conspiracy theorists who think the landing on the moon was staged, can now use that mindset to justify not getting relief from a divot. Sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Humor rarely comes across via text. 
 

but on a serious note.  Question everything lest you be easily fooled.  Trust is earned.  Not given.  

[2bGood]

On 1/18/2021 at 1:36 PM, hybrid25 said:

As far as slowing down play, that would only be for tournament and PGA golf. Who cares what golfers do in casual situations. As far as what a divot is defined as,  anything with grass growing back is not a divot. Although, USGA could figure it out. We put men on the moon, rovers on Mars, etc, we can figure this out. One option that might help the issue is giving one free drop per round in the fairway.

 

So to be clear this would not be a divot in your definition:

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by 2bGood