Should Divots Be Considered Ground Under Repair?

[boogielicious]

1 minute ago, sjduffers said:

True, but it was not like that at all. These were clearly defined divot holes (meaning recent ones), in the typical divot shape, occurring  seemingly uniformly in common landing areas, every foot or even less. Just a course with lots of play (aren't they all these days?) and seemingly little maintenance. And indeed, there were also areas with bare ground and areas less watered. California is in another drought after all, as we had another pretty dry winter following the one last year...

I should have taken a picture, but sadly I didn't. And it's a course that is a long drive from home (85 miles or so each way), so I won't making the trip back anytime soon...

 

Is the grass growing yet there? We are just starting here, so divots with take a bit to fill in.

[sjduffers]

7 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Is the grass growing yet there? We are just starting here, so divots with take a bit to fill in.

Yes, grass grows pretty much all year around here, and of course more so in the wet months that are called “winter” here. There is no dormant period to speak of. Patches of bare ground or dried out areas are usually in non watered or underwatered areas, such as between the tees and fairways or off to the sides, in order to save on watering. Bare ground can also be the result of damage by carts or other heavy equipment that turns into muddy areas following the few days of heavy rain that we do have once in a while. It can take a long long time for grass to regrow there...

[Double Mocha Man]

I found the definitive answer on divot holes.  Please note item #6.

[Billy Z]

6 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I found the definitive answer on divot holes.  Please note item #6.

Maybe we need war to happen again for me to get my way?  Maybe Mr Erik would agree to it then?

[Double Mocha Man]

18 minutes ago, Billy Z said:

Maybe we need war to happen again for me to get my way?  Maybe Mr Erik would agree to it then?

Oh oh, I didn't mean to open up that can of worms again.  Though worms can do magic with a divot hole.

[Shorty]

1 hour ago, Billy Z said:

Maybe we need war to happen again for me to get my way?  Maybe Mr Erik would agree to it then?

We had the war. You lost.

 

[ChetlovesMer]

Here's how my ball came to rest on the best drive I hit on my last round of golf. 

As you can see it's in a divot. But the divot has "started" to grow back. 
It never crossed my mind to even consider this as "bad luck" or something I should be given relief from. Actually, if not for this thread I'm sure I wouldn't have even thought about it.  Thanks to this thread I now giggle and take a picture of it with my phone. 

Anyhoo, I didn't touch it, fluff it, move it, pick it, place it, or any of those things. I just grabbed my gap wedge and proceeded to hit it over the green... oops.  I tried to hit a cute little 85 yard gap wedge to a back pin. Instead I hit a not-so-cute 100 yard shot just over the green. I wish I could blame my distance control on the divot. But, in truth every wedge I hit that day I hit too long. This was no exception. 

[boogielicious]

43 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Here's how my ball came to rest on the best drive I hit on my last round of golf. 

As you can see it's in a divot. But the divot has "started" to grow back. 
It never crossed my mind to even consider this as "bad luck" or something I should be given relief from. Actually, if not for this thread I'm sure I wouldn't have even thought about it.  Thanks to this thread I now giggle and take a picture of it with my phone. 

Anyhoo, I didn't touch it, fluff it, move it, pick it, place it, or any of those things. I just grabbed my gap wedge and proceeded to hit it over the green... oops.  I tried to hit a cute little 85 yard gap wedge to a back pin. Instead I hit a not-so-cute 100 yard shot just over the green. I wish I could blame my distance control on the divot. But, in truth every wedge I hit that day I hit too long. This was no exception. 

We should start a thread on how to hit out of divots and similar ground conditions. I think it would be useful. I practice these at the grass range.

[ChetlovesMer]

18 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

We should start a thread on how to hit out of divots and similar ground conditions. I think it would be useful. I practice these at the grass range.

I agree. I like to practice these too. 

I really don't have that much trouble with it. I kind of discovered that if I'm hitting the ball well, I'll hit it well out of a divot. If I'm not hitting it well.... you get the idea. 

[Billy Z]

5 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Here's how my ball came to rest on the best drive I hit on my last round of golf. 

As you can see it's in a divot. But the divot has "started" to grow back. 
It never crossed my mind to even consider this as "bad luck" or something I should be given relief from. Actually, if not for this thread I'm sure I wouldn't have even thought about it.  Thanks to this thread I now giggle and take a picture of it with my phone. 

Anyhoo, I didn't touch it, fluff it, move it, pick it, place it, or any of those things. I just grabbed my gap wedge and proceeded to hit it over the green... oops.  I tried to hit a cute little 85 yard gap wedge to a back pin. Instead I hit a not-so-cute 100 yard shot just over the green. I wish I could blame my distance control on the divot. But, in truth every wedge I hit that day I hit too long. This was no exception. 

I wouldn't consider this healed divot worthy of relief, under my detailed description of what constitutes divot relief. Actually, something like that looks like I could put more action on the ball and get it to stop easier, you know, a nice tight lie. A possible reason you may have hit it over the green is because maybe psychologically you thought you had to hit it firmer to compensate for the divot?

 

4 hours ago, boogielicious said:

We should start a thread on how to hit out of divots and similar ground conditions. I think it would be useful. I practice these at the grass range.

So Mr. boogielicious, I would be interested in this thread, so why don't you start one? I think many would be interested.

[saevel25]

1 minute ago, Billy Z said:

A possible reason you may have hit it over the green is because maybe psychologically you thought you had to hit it firmer to compensate for the divot?

Looks like you missed that he said he was hitting the wedges long all day. 

I honestly can't believe this thread is still going on. Oh well. 

 

[iacas]

19 minutes ago, Billy Z said:

I wouldn't consider this healed divot worthy of relief, under my detailed description of what constitutes divot relief.

Just stop. 🛑 

[ChetlovesMer]

1 hour ago, Billy Z said:

 A possible reason you may have hit it over the green is because maybe psychologically you thought you had to hit it firmer to compensate for the divot?

Thank you, Billy for the faith in my game. The actual reason I hit it over the green is my distance control pretty much blows chunks right now. 😬

Working on it though. 

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

I honestly can't believe this thread is still going on. Oh well. 

 

Seriously, cuz I love this thread. It's so entertaining.

I honestly haven't thought about fairway divots at all during the close to 30 years now I've been golfing. Now, I think about them all the time. I smile every time I see one. I have this thread to thank for all those smiles. 

[overfade]

I have and will always be on the side of play it as it lies.  It’s simple and it’s golf. 

Having said that, this argument that comes up from time to time really shouldn’t be about fairway divots because as has been shown in this thread, it becomes way too complicated.  If someone wanted to make an argument it should be about preferred lies always in the fairway.  I am absolutely against this, but hey, it’s at least an argument I guess. 
 

In other words, should lift, clean, and place always be allowed in the fairway? Don’t like your lie in the fairway, move it to nearest preferred lie, no closer to the hole. Awful idea, but this should be the argument, not relief from divots.  

[Double Mocha Man]

I do a lot of lift, clean and carefully place in the winter months.  But strange to imagine, when I play the ball down in the summer I usually hit better fairway shots.  Especially the tighter the lie.

[ChetlovesMer]

Okay, okay, I figured we needed to take this thread to the next level. What happens if you stripe your tee shot down the middle and it ends up against or onto the chunk of earth that was ripped out when somebody created a divot? 

Did anyone see the Abu Dhabi Championship where Jorge Campillo’s drive on the first hole rolled straight into and then under a loose piece of turf that hadn’t been picked up?

As we all know, a ball in a divot must be played as it lies, if loose turf is on top of or in any way affecting your next shot, you must treat it as a loose impediment. The rules say it’s up to you to decide if you can remove the piece of turf without causing your ball to move. If the ball moves, it’s a one-shot penalty. 

Check out the article below. Personally I don't think I could have moved that large chunk of Earth without moving the ball. But somehow Jorge Campillo did it. 

 

There’s divots. There’s bad lies. And then there’s this.

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“It’s the most incredible situation I’ve seen in my entire career,” said Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Tournament Director Miguel Vidaor, who was called for a ruling on the fi…

 

 

 

[Shorty]

14 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

 

Check out the article below. Personally I don't think I could have moved that large chunk of Earth without moving the ball. But somehow Jorge Campillo did it. 

It looks to me as if it would have been very easy to move that divot. But certainly an odd situation. You wouldn't want to be in the same situation on a severe slope.

[ChetlovesMer]

2 minutes ago, Shorty said:

It looks to me as if it would have been very easy to move that divot. But certainly an odd situation. You wouldn't want to be in the same situation on a severe slope.

You must have steadier hands than I do.