Bad Lies

[Roy Munson]

Yesterday, I cranked a tee shot into the woods. My ball was in hard dirt and rocks. I decided to go ahead and play the ball as it lied. I moved most of  the small rocks with my hand without disturbing the ball and made a decent shot to get out of trouble, however I scuffed up PW pretty bad.

I was golfing at a muni course in non tournament play with fairly new Ping G10 irons.

Question 1:

Play the ball as it lies no matter what and take a chance at possibly damaging clubs?

Question 2:

Give myself relief from the bad lie and have my irons look nice?

I want my irons to look used, however I do not want to damage them on rocks because of a bad lie.

I'm just curious on some feedback from fellow high handicappers with nice irons on what would they do...

If it were a tourney that followed USGA rules, well that's a different story.

[meenman]

you always have the option of taking the old unplayable lie and appropriately penalizing yourself a stroke.

personally i will always swing away playing it as it lies

[MiniBlueDragon]

I was unaware of the unplayable lie rule when I first had to hit a ball off rocky ground and take a chunk out of my lovely Vokey. Nowadays if I'm playing bad golf I'd rather take a penalty stroke than damage my equipment.

[Fourputt]

I play it like it lies if I can.  I don't worry that much about the occasional nick or ding which doesn't affect playability.  I consider it part of playing the game.  I've hit from gravel, asphalt and concrete cart paths when the relief would have left me in an unplayable position, and those are all lies where I would get free relief if I chose to take it.  I don't take an unplayable lie penalty unless the ball is really in a position where it can't be reasonably hit.

In following this philosophy, I've never damaged a club to any significant extent.  I've never broken a shaft, or lost a clubhead.  It just takes a little care in making the swing.  I may not hit the ball as well or as far as I would with a clean lie, but I almost always do better than I would taking a drop.

[gjsuicide]

I used to always play it as it lies until recently.  I was playing an executive and my tee shot went awry.  My ball lied in some sticks and hay but I wasn't too far from the green.  I pulled out my brand new set matching lob wedge that I had just received in the mail the day before.  Took a full swing at it and heard a metallic "clink".  I immediately look down and saw that underneath the hay was a baseball sized rock.  Checking my club I saw that it had a large gouge in the sole.  The impact was so bad it cause a bulge in the face of the club, so it was trash.  My very first swing on the course with the club, needless to say it wasn't a great golf day for me.  Now I will always move my ball if in doubt.  I don't normally carry 14 clubs so I was thinking about carrying a "throw away" club just for these instances.

[Roy Munson]

Originally Posted by gjsuicide

I used to always play it as it lies until recently.  I was playing an executive and my tee shot went awry.  My ball lied in some sticks and hay but I wasn't too far from the green.  I pulled out my brand new set matching lob wedge that I had just received in the mail the day before.  Took a full swing at it and heard a metallic "clink".  I immediately look down and saw that underneath the hay was a baseball sized rock.  Checking my club I saw that it had a large gouge in the sole.  The impact was so bad it cause a bulge in the face of the club, so it was trash.  My very first swing on the course with the club, needless to say it wasn't a great golf day for me.  Now I will always move my ball if in doubt.  I don't normally carry 14 clubs so I was thinking about carrying a "throw away" club just for these instances.

I scuffed up my sole, but didn't affect the playability of my PW. It's more cosmetic damage if anything. Instead of taking a penalty stroke, I think I'll put an old throw away club in the bag for an undesirable lie.

[cruzthepug]

Where in years past with some other guys we would roll the ball it there was no grass or to keep from scuffing up clubs, the guys I play with now, play it down. I just got my new set if irons last Friday and hadn't really thought about it until now, yesterday I didn't get in any "harm your club" type lies. I guess with my clubs being so new, if I couldn't use my Nike SQ 3 hybrid ($59) to get the ball back in play I would probably just take the stroke and drop. Some time from now once the "new" wears off I'll probably just hit the ball, we'll see. There will come a time where the lie doesn't look like much but there will be a rock or somthing just below the surface and get you anyway, but, I do like to keep my equipment and nice as possible.

[MiniBlueDragon]

Originally Posted by gjsuicide

Checking my club I saw that it had a large gouge in the sole.  The impact was so bad it cause a bulge in the face of the club, so it was trash.

That's what I had with my Vokey. I found that a metal nail file (sshhh... don't tell the wife) flattened the bulge down nicely.

[vikramraju]

If I am playing a practice round and not recording the score, I usually would move it over a hardpan lie. But from what you are saying, I would generally say just play it. Clubs will get scuffed up, you gotta play em, and I actually like that fact that my clubs have some dings in them.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by vikramraju

If I am playing a practice round and not recording the score, I usually would move it over a hardpan lie. But from what you are saying, I would generally say just play it. Clubs will get scuffed up, you gotta play em, and I actually like that fact that my clubs have some dings in them.

I'm proud of the battle scars on my clubs. I keep them clean and well maintained, so it's obvious that the scars are earned, not just due to neglect. They tell anyone who understands that I play GOLF, not some sissy game.

[Leftygolfer]

I don't care about my clubs, I care about my wrists and hands.  I'm not going to hit from a lie I think there is a chance of hurting myself.  I already have pain in my right thumb (about the worst possible joint for the left handed golfer) and in my left wrist.   I will hit out of hazards, around roots, but when I see a lie that could hurt myself,  I will take the drop w/ penalty.

But funny story:  I've been playing really bad this year, practically missing the ball hitting toe shanks.  On a par three, I do this, the ball goes 30 yards left and 30 yards foward.  Find the ball in the hazard, chop it out, have 63 yards, hole the wedge for a par!!  My buddy who I was playing a game with said he'd just drop it out of that.  Playing so bad gives me the chance for the rediculous up and downs.  It is kind of fun to pull it off, it not, just another double.

[WUTiger]

Unplayable lie + penalty can be a good move. If it's that far into the treeline, chances of an average player hitting a super scramble shot are slim.

Also, a throwaway club is a good idea on some courses, especially those with several rockpiles. Some people like an old wedge, some like an extra 7 iron. (Nowadays I avoid rocky courses)

[lumpuckeroo]

If I were hitting a wedge, that can be replaced, play is as it lies, if I had to hit one of my other irons, I would have moved it with no penality.  I'm all for playing by the rules, but I'm not taking a chunk out of my $900 irons, no matter what the rule.