Lift, Clean, and Place

[juanrjackson]

The "lift, clean, and place" rule was in place for the first few rounds of the AT&T; Pebble Beach this past weekend.

I don't play on fairways as smooth as the pros but I rarely see this rule in play. Is this rule used a lot at your club?

[Fourputt]

Nope. The Men's Club I'm in will instate it for tournaments only when absolutely necessary. Here in semi-arid Colorado that means almost never. The game was intended for the ball to be played as it lies.

The only time I feel it's justified is when the ball picks up clumps of mud on nearly every landing, and then only in closely mowed areas of the course.

[joepro23]

Up in the northeast they play lift, clean and place (in the fairway) all the time because of the inconsistent weather. During my college golf days in Massachusetts I would estimate around 1/4 of our tournaments were played under this rule due to bad weather. My local club in NJ plays it as well if there is a lot of rain and the course has a lot of casual water. I think it is fair because if you are in the fairway you should not be punished with a muddy lie/ball. Moving it one club length is fair because everyone in the fairway gets to do the same.

[Acropo]

In the UK it's pretty much standard to have 'winter rules' - you lift, clean andplace on the fairway. Also, lift any plugged ball without penalty through the green.

'Winter rules' at our club run from 1 November to 31 March.

[Lefty-Golfer]

In the UK it's pretty much standard to have 'winter rules' - you lift, clean andplace on the fairway. Also, lift any plugged ball without penalty through the green.

This is how we play here in PA, with he same dates. It is rare to play lift clean and place during the season.

[lhshurdl3r]

The "lift, clean, and place" rule was in place for the first few rounds of the AT&T; Pebble Beach this past weekend.

Could that explain all of the great first 3 rounds for many golfers... only to be followed by scores from +3 to -3 in the final rd?

[kfowler]

Pretty common here in Michigan especially in the spring when the fairways are sopping wet from the melted snows.

[James_Black]

In the UK it's pretty much standard to have 'winter rules' - you lift, clean andplace on the fairway. Also, lift any plugged ball without penalty through the green.

Same with Ireland.

[ohiolefty]

Yeah, if your ball is filthy after you stripe one down the fairway...you shouldn't be penalized for it.