Should Divots Be Considered Ground Under Repair?

[Golfingdad]

4 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

That is up to the course (committee) discretion, not a requirement. If a course didn't want to, they could mark nothing as GUR. 

By your rule, they would be required to. 

The issue I have is the requirement, which is not consistent with other rules regarding markings. 

 

No, nothing is required.  I’m simply saying that for a divot hole to be considered GUR, then it’s got to be marked.  Right now, if something is GUR it’s gotta be marked right?  So it’s the same thing.

2 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Not a requirement.  An option.  
 

But still, not something I would support in any event.

Exactly.  Yeah me neither.  This is just an exercise for me. 🙂

[dennyjones]

Can you imagine the extra time and effort to mark each divot?  I guess it would create new jobs?! 

[iacas]

@saevel25 OB must be marked or it’s not OB.

@Golfingdad I understand you’re being semi-facetious but a committee can mark anything it wants as GUR. Never gonna happen for divot holes unless they’re just everywhere in a narrow valley or something rare.

[boogielicious]

2 hours ago, dennyjones said:

Can you imagine the extra time and effort to mark each divot?  I guess it would create new jobs?! 

“Now Carl, I want you to go out and mark all the divots as GUR!” - Sandy McFiddish

”Check me if I'm wrong Sandy, but if I try and mark all the divots, they're gonna lock me up and throw away the key...” - Carl Spackler

The number of divots on any given course would be a ridiculous amount.

 

[The Flush]

I think the rule should be changed to allow the ball to be teed up anywhere other than a hazard or the green.

[DaveP043]

20 minutes ago, The Flush said:

I think the rule should be changed to allow the ball to be teed up anywhere other than a hazard or the green.

That's exactly what I recommend beginners do when they're first starting to play in the course.  Make it easy, until you gain skills to handle more difficulty.  But I don't think that all golfers need to play using beginner rules.

[Elmer]

I primarily play a muni course where not many people replace turf, and there is no sand on the cart to fill divots.

Since there are some hackers who play my course it is not unheard of to have your ball land in a divot so deep your ball is below your feet. It is like playing out of a mini bunker.
At very least the course could do is put sand on the cart so those that give a hoot could at least fill divots.
Rather play off a sandy divot than out of a gash!

[Double Mocha Man]

3 hours ago, boogielicious said:

“Now Carl, I want you to go out and mark all the divots as GUR!” - Sandy McFiddish

”Check me if I'm wrong Sandy, but if I try and mark all the divots, they're gonna lock me up and throw away the key...” - Carl Spackler

The number of divots on any given course would be a ridiculous amount.

 

And more are happening all over the course as you are marking them.  Better idea:  Besides the sand and seed bottle on the cart also send out a can of spray paint with each golfer.

[Golfingdad]

5 hours ago, iacas said:

@saevel25 OB must be marked or it’s not OB.

@Golfingdad I understand you’re being semi-facetious but a committee can mark anything it wants as GUR. Never gonna happen for divot holes unless they’re just everywhere in a narrow valley or something rare.

Right.  Just having a little fun saying “well I guess technically this is the only way I could see it working” and at the same time noting it’s just not feasible.

[iacas]

Episode 57: Live from Get a Grip — Get a Grip with Max Homa & Shane Bacon

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On episode fifty-seven of Get a Grip, Shane Bacon and Max Homa open up talking about their...

 

[Golfingdad]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

Episode 57: Live from Get a Grip — Get a Grip with Max Homa & Shane Bacon

---

On episode fifty-seven of Get a Grip, Shane Bacon and Max Homa open up talking about their...

 

" ... I like the art side of golf, the chaos side of golf ..."

Love it.

Side Note: Max Homa is a really well spoken guy.

[Darkfrog]

So this happened to me on Sunday. This was my drive on the 18th hole, my ball is on the adjacent 13th fairway, but let’s not dwell on that.

My ball is clearly in an old divot hole, right? I know it’s hard to tell but it’s definitely a divot hole. How can I tell? Well I can see that there is sort of an edge around the shorter grass/weeds starting to fill the old hole and some bare dirt is visible. The ball is definitely sitting down 1/4 to 1/2” or something. I’m being slightly sarcastic here...

Point being, even if the USGA/R&A decided to go against one of golf’s core principals, the definition is too difficult to establish, as illustrated in my photo.

From here I hit PW into a green side bunker (not the divot hole’s fault) and eventually made a 7.

[Vinsk]

10 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

So this happened to me on Sunday. This was my drive on the 18th hole, my ball is on the adjacent 13th fairway, but let’s not dwell on that.

My ball is clearly in an old divot hole, right? I know it’s hard to tell but it’s definitely a divot hole. How can I tell? Well I can see that there is sort of an edge around the shorter grass/weeds starting to fill the old hole and some bare dirt is visible. The ball is definitely sitting down 1/4 to 1/2” or something. I’m being slightly sarcastic here...

Point being, even if the USGA/R&A decided to go against one of golf’s core principals, the definition is too difficult to establish, as illustrated in my photo.

From here I hit PW into a green side bunker (not the divot hole’s fault) and eventually made a 7.

Sorry about the hole  to the left of your ball. I had new spikes and grinded a wasp...I should’ve repaired it.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Vinsk

[Billy Z]

2 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

So this happened to me on Sunday. This was my drive on the 18th hole, my ball is on the adjacent 13th fairway, but let’s not dwell on that.

My ball is clearly in an old divot hole, right? I know it’s hard to tell but it’s definitely a divot hole. How can I tell? Well I can see that there is sort of an edge around the shorter grass/weeds starting to fill the old hole and some bare dirt is visible. The ball is definitely sitting down 1/4 to 1/2” or something. I’m being slightly sarcastic here...

Point being, even if the USGA/R&A decided to go against one of golf’s core principals, the definition is too difficult to establish, as illustrated in my photo.

From here I hit PW into a green side bunker (not the divot hole’s fault) and eventually made a 7.

As an advocate of a free drop from a fairway divot, I would definitely not allow relief from you situation. If a divot has been repaired and has grass growing back I would not allow relief. 

As far as in the adjacent fw, shame on you! Wait a minute, that was exactly my predicament yesterday on the 18th hole, I pull hooked one into the adjacent 1st fairway, but had a great lie and look into the green. Hit one to 30 ft and lipped out a birdie attempt, but got my par! lol

[Darkfrog]

18 minutes ago, Billy Z said:

As far as in the adjacent fw, shame on you!

Unfortunately I occasionally miss a fairway from time to time 😆

[Billy Z]

22 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

Unfortunately I occasionally miss a fairway from time to time 😆

Yes, so do I. It's all good.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, Billy Z said:

If a divot has been repaired and has grass growing back I would not allow relief. 

So you would easily describe that hole as ground repaired and not GUR? You said grass is growing back. At what point is it no longer under repair?

[DaveP043]

12 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

So you would easily describe that hole as ground repaired and not GUR? You said grass is growing back. At what point is it no longer under repair?

This really is the question as far as writing an effective rule.  We can agree that it was once a divot hole, something of a disadvantage to the player.  Now its NOT a disadvantage, at least not enough to be considered for relief.  On which specific morning was it no longer a divot hole?  Its really impossible to answer in a consistently  enforceable way.