Does your course have a local rule for aeration holes?

[drmevo]

A few of the courses around here have recently punched their fairways. I've never really noticed it before this year, but at one course the holes seemed especially large, and it really killed roll-out on drives.  Even worse, I had a hard time making clean contact when my ball ended up in one.

We all know aeration is a necessary evil, but does your home course put a local rule into effect allowing relief until things are back to normal?  I don't believe any around here do, but I've heard it is permissible to have such a local rule.

Furthermore, if there is no local rule, does anyone have any tips for hitting out of them?

[DaveP043]

At my home club, and at many of the others I've played during aeration season, its typically allowable to move the ball when it ends up in an aeration hole.  We certainly do this in informal golf, but I see it competitions too.  If I'm required to play it from a hole, I'd approach it as if it was in a divot.  Play the ball slightly back, and be sure to swing down and through the ball.

[mcanadiens]

No local rules on that, but there sure ought to be a law for whatever hack punched the greens my home complex's par-3 course. Friggin brutal. 

[drmevo]

24 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

At my home club, and at many of the others I've played during aeration season, its typically allowable to move the ball when it ends up in an aeration hole.  We certainly do this in informal golf, but I see it competitions too.  If I'm required to play it from a hole, I'd approach it as if it was in a divot.  Play the ball slightly back, and be sure to swing down and through the ball.

Thanks for the tip. So when you say it's allowable does everyone at your club informally just agree to relief or is there an official local rule?

[iacas]

In competitive rounds (like my college team), they often just play lift, clean, and place within six inches in your own fairway.

At my tournament I allowed lift, clean, and place on any closely mown area. It didn't make sense to me that if you were in another fairway that you couldn't take your ball out of a hole when normally you wouldn't be in one.

[drmevo]

35 minutes ago, iacas said:

In competitive rounds (like my college team), they often just play lift, clean, and place within six inches in your own fairway.

At my tournament I allowed lift, clean, and place on any closely mown area. It didn't make sense to me that if you were in another fairway that you couldn't take your ball out of a hole when normally you wouldn't be in one.

So if there is a rule put into effect, would it more likely be on a competition-to-competition basis than say, for anyone playing the course the two weeks following aeration? 

[iacas]

20 minutes ago, drmevo said:

So if there is a rule put into effect, would it more likely be on a competition-to-competition basis than say, for anyone playing the course the two weeks following aeration? 

The course can apply the Local Rule for a period until the fairways are sufficiently healed:

Quote

b. "Preferred Lies" and "Winter Rules" 

Ground under repair is provided for in Rule 25, and occasional local abnormal conditions that might interfere with fair play and are not widespread should be defined as ground under repair.

However, adverse conditions, such as heavy snows, spring thaws, prolonged rains or extreme heat can make fairways unsatisfactory and sometimes prevent use of heavy mowing equipment. When these conditions are so general throughout a course that the Committee believes "preferred lies" or "winter rules" would promote fair play or help protect the course, the following Local Rule (which should be withdrawn as soon as conditions warrant) is recommended: 

"A ball lying on a closely-mown area through the green (or specify a more restricted area, e.g., at the 6th hole) may be lifted without penalty and cleaned. Before lifting the ball, the player must mark its position. Having lifted the ball, he must place it on a spot within (specify area, e.g., six inches, one club-length, etc.) of and not nearer the hole than where it originally lay, that is not in a hazard and not on a putting green. 

A player may place his ball only once, and it is in play when it has been placed (Rule 20-4). If the ball fails to come to rest on the spot on which it was placed, Rule 20-3d applies. If the ball when placed comes to rest on the spot on which it is placed and it subsequently moves, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies, unless the provisions of any other Rule apply. 

If the player fails to mark the position of the ball before lifting it, moves the ball-marker prior to putting the ball back into play or moves the ball in any other manner, such as rolling it with a club, he incurs a penalty of one stroke. 

Note: "Closely-mown area" means any area of the course, including paths through the rough, cut to fairway height or less.

[bkuehn1952]

I am going to hazard a guess that -0- of the local public access courses in the area actually post seasonal Local Rules like aeration holes or "leaf rule".  Most of us just adopt the Local Rules as our own committee.

[drmevo]

8 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

I am going to hazard a guess that -0- of the local public access courses in the area actually post seasonal Local Rules like aeration holes or "leaf rule".  Most of us just adopt the Local Rules as our own committee.

Decision 25/15 seems definitive that relief is not allowed unless there's a local rule. Does a group acting as its own committee really count? I've never been clear on how that works. 

[bkuehn1952]

10 hours ago, drmevo said:

Does a group acting as its own committee really count? I've never been clear on how that works. 

The USGA has given guidance that in the absence of any committee, a group (1 to infinity) may properly make decisions such as whether a USGA sanctioned Local Rule is in effect.  If your 4-some arrives at a course and you note that it has recently been aerated, provided there is no preexisting functioning committee, your group may properly decide that the Local Rule for "aeration holes" is in effect for your round.

[drmevo]

1 hour ago, bkuehn1952 said:

The USGA has given guidance that in the absence of any committee, a group (1 to infinity) may properly make decisions such as whether a USGA sanctioned Local Rule is in effect.  If your 4-some arrives at a course and you note that it has recently been aerated, provided there is no preexisting functioning committee, your group may properly decide that the Local Rule for "aeration holes" is in effect for your round.

Cool, thanks for clarifying that for me. It seems a little strange at first but I guess it makes sense when you think about it. My first thought was, why have a decision at all if it can just be easily over-ridden by even a 1-person "committee."  On the other hand, though, you could have a tournament and they don't want people individually making that call if there is no local rule in effect, right?

[DaveP043]

2 minutes ago, drmevo said:

Cool, thanks for clarifying that for me. It seems a little strange at first but I guess it makes sense when you think about it. My first thought was, why have a decision at all if it can just be easily over-ridden by even a 1-person "committee."  On the other hand, though, you could have a tournament and they don't want people individually making that call if there is no local rule in effect, right?

Exactly right.  In an organized competition, you need to understand what local rules are in effect and abide by them.  I didn't clarify last night, but our club always uses the local rule referenced earlier when aeration holes present an issue for a competition.  For casual play, we "assume" that the same local rules are in effect, even though there's no formal announcement from the pro shop.

[paininthenuts]

17 hours ago, drmevo said:

A few of the courses around here have recently punched their fairways. I've never really noticed it before this year, but at one course the holes seemed especially large, and it really killed roll-out on drives.  Even worse, I had a hard time making clean contact when my ball ended up in one.

We all know aeration is a necessary evil, but does your home course put a local rule into effect allowing relief until things are back to normal?  I don't believe any around here do, but I've heard it is permissible to have such a local rule.

Furthermore, if there is no local rule, does anyone have any tips for hitting out of them?

Today we played pick and place for the first time this winter. Perhaps that would be the answer for you

[drmevo]

3 minutes ago, paininthenuts said:

Today we played pick and place for the first time this winter. Perhaps that would be the answer for you

In terms of the aeration holes, and after learning what I have in this thread, absolutely. The fairways are otherwise still in pretty good shape around here and we've been in a drought all season, so I'm not sure if invoking winter rules will be warranted once the fairways heal up. 

[Fourputt]

18 hours ago, drmevo said:

A few of the courses around here have recently punched their fairways. I've never really noticed it before this year, but at one course the holes seemed especially large, and it really killed roll-out on drives.  Even worse, I had a hard time making clean contact when my ball ended up in one.

We all know aeration is a necessary evil, but does your home course put a local rule into effect allowing relief until things are back to normal?  I don't believe any around here do, but I've heard it is permissible to have such a local rule.

Furthermore, if there is no local rule, does anyone have any tips for hitting out of them?

Nothing officially posted about any local rule, but usually the groups I play with make their own determination on it.  We will usually allow relief if the ball lies in an aeration hole in the fairway only, and we don't even use that unless they are freshly made.  By the end of the first week after aerating, we are usually back to playing the ball as it lies.

[NJpatbee]

If we are playing a friendly Nassau or Skins game we just play it as it lies since we are all subject to the same obstacles.  However if the course is really in bad shape we do not enter the score for handicap purposes since it usually inflates our scores by at least several strokes. It basically becomes a practice round but if we want to have some fun with a few $$ bets we do it.  My home course has a great maintenance team and the course does not take long to be back to normal playable conditions.

[DaveP043]

55 minutes ago, NJpatbee said:

However if the course is really in bad shape we do not enter the score for handicap purposes since it usually inflates our scores by at least several strokes. 

I'd suggest that if you play in accordance with the rules (including local rules), you really should post the score.  Difficult conditions, including soft ground following rain, wind, dry hard ground during a drought, all of these could happen in a competition too.  If there was a local rule in place allowing relief, and you chose not to utilize it, I'd suspect that you were trying to pad your scores, but as long as you play by the rules in force, you should post the score.

[NJpatbee]

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

I'd suggest that if you play in accordance with the rules (including local rules), you really should post the score.  Difficult conditions, including soft ground following rain, wind, dry hard ground during a drought, all of these could happen in a competition too.  If there was a local rule in place allowing relief, and you chose not to utilize it, I'd suspect that you were trying to pad your scores, but as long as you play by the rules in force, you should post the score.

You make a good point.  I just did not want myself or my partners to be accused of padding our handicaps but in reality it is only a couple of rounds/season.