Do you improve your lie when you play?

[titaniummd]

I always hit the ball unless it is unplayable. However, I have observed many people that I watch on the golf course from my den (through the window), that many people move the ball with the club (some look around before they do it). It seems like I have seen it quite often.

Do you improve your lie or do you just lie about it? LOL!

[goblue107501]

I voted 'other'. If I am playing my own ball for a score I do not. But I play with a group occasionally and sometimes when determining the game it is decided to play the ball 'up'. In that case I will play it up if everyone else is.

[bogeyhitter25]

Depends on the course for me. There are some courses that I play that are absolutely horrible in their fairways. You'll hit a bomb of a drive and end up in skid marks from a vehicle.

[Fourputt]

I always hit the ball unless it is unplayable. However, I have observed many people that I watch on the golf course from my den (through the window), that many people move the ball with the club (some look around before they do it). It seems like I have seen it quite often.

Never. Bad lies are as much a part of golf as good ones.

You don't get a free pass just because you got a bad break. Take it like a man.... even if you're a woman...

[TheWarHound]

Only time I move my ball is if my ball is in rocky soil . . . not going to ding up a club hitting in gravels.

[Shindig]

I don't. It didn't even occur to me to do so for a while. Then I heard AK talk about how he grew up playing the courses I play now, and how because he didn't improve his lie then, he feels now that he has a good lie for just about every shot on the PGA Tour.

While it is very unlikely I will make it to his level, I still feel that improving my lie isn't worth it. I will someday be playing better courses, and getting used to Encino Lies can only help later.


Now, one of my friends will periodically improve my lie, such as if I'm about to hit a short iron for my second par-5 shot due to lie that I can't easily hit a wood out of. He means well, and will say something like "hitting 3-wood is fun" and improve the lie. It's not me, but it means my lie is sometimes improved.

Also, there's one course I play with one hole that explicitly states on the tee that "preferred lies are in effect on this fairway." So, if I hit that fairway, I will take a preferred lie. But that's one course and only one hole.

[Grndslmhttr3]

It depends. In matches, we play winter rules, so if I happen to come across a terrible lie in my own fairway, I'll move it a few inches so it's out of the lie. When I'm in the rough or have some horrible lie, I try to do my best to hit out of it. Unless I'm hitting off of rocks or something that will probably ding my clubs, I generally don't improve my lie.

[Fourputt]

Only time I move my ball is if my ball is in rocky soil . . . not going to ding up a club hitting in gravels.

At the risk of repeating myself... there is a rule for that. Rule 28 - Ball Unplayable. One stroke penalty and drop following the procedure under that rule.

[deafheaven]

Weather is still awful here so we are playing winter rules. My two buddies and I always play together but we're not really competing agains each other and as a result there's a lot of "go ahead and move it" or "I'll give you a free drop" or some pretty generous drops which is all cool. We're just out to enjoy each others company and enjoy a round of golf. That said, this season I have decided to count everything and play everything where it lies (other than in some severe muddy lies in the middle of the fairway due to present course conditions).

I think if you are playing with strangers you are obligated to count everything but if you are playing with buddies it's more or less "who cares". Just don't go bragging about that 79 you hit.

[Carolinahooker]

No, I think it makes the game more fun. Nothing feels better than when you hit that ball on the green from a difficult lie. It has made me so much better playing out of some bad areas. I really don't mind when the ball is in a bad lie at all now.

I do play with some guys that do it on virtually every hole. I could care less, if it makes the game fun for them, fine by me.

[Brakkus]

No the only time I declare unplayable is if it's next to a tree and I can't swing or it's in a hole in the ground,happened once to me.

Otherwise play it,makes you a better ballstriker

[bigoak]

When we are playing for score but not much at stake, I move the ball to a worse lie. I am a sandbager and puff the handicap when I can.

[ApocG10]

Nope. Unless the ball is unplayable, I play it as it lies. If I have to take a drop, i'll only do it as per the rules.

[Sandplay]

nah i just play it where it lies because then when i get a great lie it really does feel good. Instead of moving it into a good lie every shot.

[right handed phil mickelson]

Bad lies. They give definition to course management. They make a player more suitable to any situation they may find themselves in on the course. I voted no. Its so much more rewarding when you hit a great shot from a bad lie. If you never have a bad lie, then you don't grow as a player.

[lhshurdl3r]

Only time I ever move the ball from it's current lie is when there's a tree root in line with where my divot will be. Had a pretty bad wrist strain when I didn't realize there was a root there, so instead of risking it I just move it a few inches out of danger.



OH NO

[denver_nuggs_15]

In matches with my buddies (for money) and for school, we usually play lift, clean, and cheat (I mean place) in our own fairways. Tough luck if you are in the rough. For school, some of the bunkers we play in are in terrible shape, so there's a local "Lift, rake, an place" in all bunkers. At our home course, there's also a local rule that says you can move rocks in the bunkers.

So, I said other, since by rule I'm allowed to depending on the conditions of the course/weather. Maybe it's under the "Committee" section of the rules or something. Otherwise, play it down.

[hoofreak7]

never in a competitive setting, but i'll do if im playing for fun or practice and if it's wet in the fairway.

example: our high school played this team from England this year.....and i just played one of the worst front nines in a really long while, but i had parred the difficult tenth, birdied the 11th, and stepped up to the 12th trying to get something going. i hit without a doubt the best drive of the day......i walked up to the ball knowing that i would have no more than a 7 iron into the par five.....i walk up to see that my ball settled in some morons gigantic divot that he neglected to fill or anything (he definitely chunked the shot because the divot was almost as deep as my golf ball) and i was on the edge of it. I got really pissed and hit a wedge about 60 yds (the farthest i could advance) and ended up just making par