Should Divots Be Considered Ground Under Repair?

[Foursum Golf]

Can you tell me the precise moment when a divot, sand-filled or not, has grown in enough that it's no longer a divot?

I can't, no. That would be the tough part to determine. All rules start somewhere, though.

[Fourputt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David in FL

Can you tell me the precise moment when a divot, sand-filled or not, has grown in enough that it's no longer a divot?

I can't, no. That would be the tough part to determine. All rules start somewhere, though.

Not true.  This is why the rules are written in black and white.  The moved, or it didn't move.  It doesn't matter that it only moved a millimeter and that nothing about the next stroke was changed by it.  The moved, replace and take the penalty, move on.  The ball is in an imperfection in the fairway?  Play it as it lies.  Not all bare spots in the fairway are divot holes, whether someone filled them with sand or not.

Tufts wrote in Principles , "Golf, like life, is full of breaks.  It is a game of chance, one of its fascinations being in "the way the ball bounces.""  The real golfer accepts such adversity as part of the game and plays on.

[Foursum Golf]

Not true.  This is why the rules are written in black and white.  The moved, or it didn't move.  It doesn't matter that it only moved a millimeter and that nothing about the next stroke was changed by it.  The moved, replace and take the penalty, move on.  The ball is in an imperfection in the fairway?  Play it as it lies.  Not all bare spots in the fairway are divot holes, whether someone filled them with sand or not.

Tufts wrote in Principles, "Golf, like life, is full of breaks.  It is a game of chance, one of its fascinations being in "the way the ball bounces.""  The real golfer accepts such adversity as part of the game and plays on.

Good answer and great quote.

[Ignorant]

Tufts wrote in Principles, "Golf, like life, is full of breaks.  It is a game of chance, one of its fascinations being in "the way the ball bounces.""  The real golfer accepts such adversity as part of the game and plays on.

While today's top professionals whine on every adversity there is on the course and want to have Lift, Clean & Place on every possible occasion...

Luck plays its role in every single sports you can imagine. I do not hear tennis players whining about a bad bounce back in 2003 in the French Open in the 1st round match 2nd set 4th game 3rd point....

[wils5150]

you got to admit though it does suck  the life out of you for a minute when you bomb one down the middle and its in a divot.

[Fourputt]

you got to admit though it does suck  the life out of you for a minute when you bomb one down the middle and its in a divot.

I must be an odd one I guess.  On the admittedly rare occasions that I've been presented with a lie in a divot hole, I don't even think about the bad break.  All I'm doing is figuring out the shot I'll need to get out of it.  Maybe that comes from spending so much time off the fairway that I sort of expect bad lies everywhere.

[David in FL]

you got to admit though it does suck  the life out of you for a minute when you bomb one down the middle and its in a divot.

Yeah, but you can turn that around. How do you feel when you nail a great approach shot out of a divot? Compare that to how you would feel about making the same shot knowing that you had moved the ball from the divot. Nothing puts the life back like a great recovery from a bit of tough luck! :-)

[wils5150]

Yeah, but you can turn that around. How do you feel when you nail a great approach shot out of a divot? Compare that to how you would feel about making the same shot knowing that you had moved the ball from the divot. Nothing puts the life back like a great recovery from a bit of tough luck!

all true but it does suck for a second. lol

[David in FL]

all true but it does suck for a second. lol

Yes it does!

[ghalfaire]

No because it would just be too difficult to define when the divot is not a divot anymore.  I will admit it is one of the most frustrating bad break you get in got is to hit your career drive only to find the ball in the fairway in a 2 inch deep divot some A$$hole didn't fill.  But because of what several before me have said it is just not really possible to define when a divot isn't a divot anymore.  One thing we don't need in golf are rules that are subjective.

[Rulesman]

No because it would just be too difficult to define when the divot is not a divot anymore.  I will admit it is one of the most frustrating bad break you get in got is to hit your career drive only to find the ball in the fairway in a 2 inch deep divot some A$$hole didn't fill.  But because of what several before me have said it is just not really possible to define when a divot isn't a divot anymore.  One thing we don't need in golf are rules that are subjective.

I can always tell what a divot is.

It's the piece of turf that came from what is now a divot hole

[Ernest Jones]

[QUOTE name="ghalfaire" url="/t/70984/should-divots-be-considered-ground-under-repair/18#post_918104"]   No because it would just be too difficult to define when the divot is not a divot anymore.  I will admit it is one of the most frustrating bad break you get in got is to hit your career drive only to find the ball in the fairway in a 2 inch deep divot some A$$hole didn't fill.  But because of what several before me have said it is just not really possible to define when a divot isn't a divot anymore.  One thing we don't need in golf are rules that are subjective. [/QUOTE] I can always tell what a divot is. It's the piece of turf that came from what is now a divot hole ;-)

Yes, and the resulting hole is that thing that you can't repair with your divot repair tool. ;-)

[Ignorant]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rulesman

I can always tell what a divot is.

It's the piece of turf that came from what is now a divot hole

Yes, and the resulting hole is that thing that you can't repair with your divot repair tool.

What a bunch of witties...

[TJBam]

Have to say I'm somewhere between "play it down cake-eater" and "move it out of the divot jackass."

[wils5150]

let me start by saying it should not be G U R.  What do you do if you are at a busy public course such as mine but do not have the $$ to fill fairway divots all the time? with the amount of divots being made here I could keep 4 or 5 guys busy everyday.  I am sure there will be a lot of "that's not real golf" chatter but everyone at my course plays it up. I wish I could fill em all but the economics right now do not allow me to do so.

[bkuehn1952]

Agree with many of you that divot holes (either repaired, sanded or unrepaired) are just a part of golf.  What sort of ticks me off is that there are usually two types of players with regard to divots.  One is the player who conscientiously repairs their divot holes, often fixes other obvious ones and plays their shot from the lie that they get, be it in an unrepaired divot hole or not.  The other views divot holes as an abomination and freely moves their ball out of the hole.  This player often is one who rarely repairs divot holes since the presence of unrepaired holes is not an issue for their game.

[flopster]

This rule is not going anywhere, if given the opportunity to change the rule I would consider an unfilled or not replaced divot in the fairway GUR that a player should be allowed relief from, its one thing to hit off a replaced or filled divot but quite another when only half the ball can be seen, I only said I would consider it and that I do play it as it lies unless the rules state otherwise.

[Rulesman]

Yes, and the resulting hole is that thing that you can't repair with your divot repair tool.

But it can be repaired by the guy who made it by replacing the divot in its hole and stamping it down firmly.

Or use a McDivot.

http://mcdivot.com/cms/

.