Local Rules?

[DJGainer]

I played Riverwinds in West Deptford, NJ last Friday and was surprised when the starter told me of their local rule: you get 30 seconds to find your ball in the rough and then you must take a free drop. The starter said they cut the rough long so expect to use the rule and lose balls. They claim it is to support their "pace-of-play" reputation. I've been golfing over 20 years and have never heard of such a rule in effect. Has anyone ever heard of this before and have any ideas as to why a course would put this rule into effect (and possibly why they would cut the rough long in conjunction with it)? I found it a little frustrating because I was not able to locate shots that should have been found, and oftentimes I would find 3 to 4 other balls that other golfers had abandonded. On top of that, there were carved up balls from the mowers all over the course. Anyhow, the course was in good shape, I was just a bit surprised and wanted to see what everyone else had experienced or thought of this rule and practice.

[Bonneville85308]

I've never seen a local rule like this before, and I've probably played 80%+ of the public courses within 2 hours of Philly (but not Riverwinds, rained that day I was supposed to play...). If the deep/thick rough is causing pace issues they usually just cut it shorter and/or apply a growth regulator chemical.

 

If that is the local rule, I would play it. I'm not one to hunt for my ball in the rough in a casual round for more than a minute anyway.

 

Edit: OP said the starter told him of the local rule, but was it printed on the scorecard or on a sign by the first tee, etc.?

[SkiSchoolPro]

I doubt this is a USGA approved local rule or that the course was rated with this rule in mind for GHIN posting. In League last year, our pro made it a 3 minute search (and I think 2 minutes at least one week). No free drop, but the course had a local rule of playing all unmaintained areas as laterals (similar to what he rules will allow next year, but not previously).

[BrianMcG]

Cut the rough long = lazy. If it’s not the US Open, there is no reason players should lose balls in the rough.

 

I hate courses like this.

[JiuJitsuandGolf]

I played there last week. Rough was brutal. Made no mention of the local rule though. Could not find a ball unless you were on top of it. The pace of play there is always terrible.

[RSK7070]

Was talking to a groundskeeper at a local club and he said the pro wanted to grow the rough out to act as defense for a short-ish (6400) layout. It's one thing to compromise a lie, but another to make the ball disappear when its a few feet off the fairway.

 

Wonder how much compliance they get with that local rule; especially if folks are playing matches.

[cma8516]

I've played there one time in 7 years living in NJ and will never play it again. It literally took me 3 hours to play 9 holes.

[snoilr1]

I doubt this is a USGA approved local rule or that the course was rated with this rule in mind for GHIN posting. In League last year, our pro made it a 3 minute search (and I think 2 minutes at least one week). No free drop, but the course had a local rule of playing all unmaintained areas as laterals (similar to what he rules will allow next year, but not previously).

 

It’s definitely not a USGA approved local rule. Local rules aren’t allowed to supercede the rules of golf. (You can implement the upcoming rule changes as a local rule).

 

If this course’s goal is to improve pace of play, it seems like mowing the rough would fix the problem. They wouldn’t need to create such a crazy rule. Unless they’re preparing for some upcoming tournament, and this is a temporary work around.

[Twism86]

My guess is courses dont want to be known as "the easy course" or not challenging enough. So its a balancing act between not being too easy and everyone losing 10 balls a round.... That being said for a public course to make the rough that thick, its just hurting them by killing pace of play and discouraging too many golfers.

[DRotella93]

i like the layout at riverwinds, and it's a decent test from blue/black tees, but growing the rough out that long and instituting that rule is dumb as f***. Losing balls in the rough is frustrating as hell. Dumb rule imo. Definitely rules this course out for me, which is a shame, because it's one of the closest, decent course from the city.