tflan I agree with much of what you say but I might have a slightly different perspective on it. I also think of the rules in the context of your last para: "Play the course as you find it, play the ball as it lies, and if you can do neither, do what's fair." Because of this I don't get too distressed by the thought that not all situations are covered. If I'm in a divot then it's play it as it lies (and that's the way it should be) but if it's plugged then it's a bonus and I take it.
For me this statement highlights a couple of issues: 1. Everybody should use the same rules because that is the only fair thing. 2. That we should have as few rules as possible as exceptions to the principle of "play it as it lies" I'd take you up on one of your points only. It's the divot situation. The rule makers need to be able to make rulings that are clear and unambiguous. In the case of divots thay can be old and grown over leaving just a depression. Is this a divot or not? Is a divot that has had sand replaced in it neatly so that it's perfectly flat and even with the grass. Is this a divot? FWIW Graham ----- Original Message ----- From: tflan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2002 1:16 AM Subject: Re: ShopTalk: USGA Rules Against Clubmaker Online!Non conforming glove> > > I don't want to start a long back and forth argument about USGA and the > Rules of Golf, and I certainly am not "flaming" anyone. We all have opinions > and since this subject has arisen, I have an opinion. I'm no fan of USGA. > There are a couple of rules about which I am considerably distressed, but > more about them later. > > The O.B. stroke and distance rule doesn't bother me at all. If you hit it > out, how long does it take to hit another ball? A minute or two? If you have > hit it out - even if you think you've hit it out, you have the option of > hitting a provisional ball. The same goes for possibly lost balls. So, while > I can empathize with a golfer's distress over the O.B. rule, I think its > really not much of a problem. Determinining where a ball went out is almost > always a guess, particularly a ball hit by a driver. Further, I would argue > that dropping from, say 250 yards from the tee isn't even remotely fair to > the rest of the field. What if, for instance, a player hit his provisional > ball only 200 yards? Wouldn't he have a huge advantage by dropping 50 yards > further down the fairway? Or worse, suppose he hit his second, provisional > ball, out of bounds? Allowing a drop may be o.k. when you're playing with > your "friendly foursome" on weekends, but when you're competing against "the > field," whether it be only another foursome, or 160 other players, you must > protect the field. Eliminating distance penalties is unfair to the rest of > the competition. > > While we're at it, how about "in the leather" for putts? Or "gimmees" in > stroke play, for that matter? What about "rolling it" to improve your lie > when conditions don't justify the practice? How many guys habitually "bump > it" in the fairway? I know a lot of guys who do it and when tournament time > comes, and bumping it is disallowed, can't play worth a damn. How about the > guy who makes a snowman and says, "aw, gimme a 6, that's all I can take"? > The time for adjusting is apres golf, not during the round. Yet guys do it > all the time. I could go on. > > I play Wednesdays and Saturdays with a group of about 16 to 24 other > golfers. We play for a relatively significant amount of money. We are as > cordial and friendly a group of guys as you'd want to meet. But on the > course, we play by the rules. Hit it out? Tough shit! Hit another one. Spike > mark? Too bad. Stuck behind a tree? You shouldn't have hit it there. Y'all > know where to find "sympathy" in the dictionary. > > However, the rules I truly hate are these; if a ball comes to rest in a > fairway divot, you play it as you find it. I think that's a really unfair > rule. If your ball is plugged in its own hole, through the green, you can > dig it out, clean it and place it in a perfect lie. If there are ballmarks > or holes on the putting surface, you can repair them to give yourself a > perfect line to the hole - BUT - and here's my second most disliked rule; if > there's anything other than a ballmark between your ball and the hole, on > the green, tough! You can't fix it. I really hate those 2 rules. > > So, I like the original rules: "Play the course as you find it, play the > ball as it lies, and if you can do neither, do what's fair." > > TFlan > > > > ----- > > > From: D William Ggle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 3:34 PM > > > <snip> > > > Where I live, there is golf and there is "league golf". Almost all > > > competitive golfers around here, save the members of private clubs, play > in > > > various leagues on public or daily-fee courses. Every league I know has > a > > > rule to play OB -- and even lost balls -- as a lateral hazard. It is > > > downright annoying to EVERYBODY on the course to enforce the rules of > golf > > > as written on these courses; that is the reason for those league-golf > rules. > > > There is no loss of integrity when everybody agrees that those are the > > > rules. > > > > > > But wait! The USGA does not allow that as a local rule. Not many people > know > > > this (I didn't until I started reading from "The Decisions"), but there > are > > > lots of things you CANNOT make a local rule. This very reasonable (IMHO) > > > modification for busy courses is not allowed as a local rule. Can you > say > > > "ostrich"? I knew you could. > > <snip> > >
