It's a divot if I hit my shot fat out of it :) TFlan, give us some humor here. I need it. Rough week at work.
Bright side is the 8:22 tee time tomorrow. Mark Graham Little wrote: > 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> > > > >
