How Much Can I Dig in My Feet in the Sand?

[fredf]

39 minutes ago, iacas said:

No, it doesn't.

"A player is allowed to place his or her feet firmly in taking a stance…" allows for a little shuffling of "top sand" to get to a bit of a firmer base. You just can't go below that.

As Iacas has re-awakened this one......  I entirely agree with the quote above, but it is inevitably subjective just when too much digging in occurs - it's one of those kind of rules. As a player, the moral is why would you take a risk with this and risk a penalty.

But I do take some issue with the following quote from an earlier thread: Your ball was originally going to be below your feet, but by digging in, you gave yourself a level lie. You improved the conditions affecting your stroke.  Giving yourself a level lie is not the definition of digging in too much. It would depend on the situation and in the photo in the OP with those gentle slopes and assuming a right-handed player it would appear that getting the feet level with the ball is unlikely to be digging in too much. But, of course, that is just one example.

[Patch]

I dig my feet in deep enought to feel the consistency of the sand.

That or how shallow the hard pan is...lol