I'm tying to improve my play, not just my game but properly following the rules, etc...

In the past I've been guilty of moving my ball around within a few inches to get on better grass or off of dirt. My question is, is it ever acceptable to do this? Say you hit a perfectly good drive and your ball lands in a bad patch of grass or dirt right in the fairway, is it acceptable to move your ball to grass or take a drop or are drops only for casual water and cart paths?

Thanks

I play the ball as it lies. If I'm in a bad spot after a good drive, that's where I am. I believe drops are only the examples you mentioned.

It depends on what you are golfing for. It is just for fun, practice round, etc... move it to a spot you like. If you are playing a serious round, by the rules... you play it where it lies or add a stroke. The only time I move a ball from it's position is unplayable or if striking it my club would also strike a rock. I then add a stroke in either case when playing by the rules of golf.

I believe that if you hit your ball in the fairway,and it stops in a patch of dirt,that could be considered ground under repair.

You are entitled to a reasonable lie in the fairway.An example would be if your ball plugged in the fairway or on the green,then you get to drop it free,I think.

Just an opinion. If you're playing in a tournament or in competition, of course you'll need to follow the established rules. If you're playing for fun with your buddies on a crummy municipal course I think you should be able to hit off a decent piece of grass, if you can find a spot within a club length or so, you still have to hit the shot. Phil can hit off concrete, but we shouldn't have to make ALL our shots that way. I know the purists won't agree with this. My thinking is, during really rainy times when the course is sloshy, you're allowed to lift clean and place. So in the dead of summer when half of the fairway is hardpan, you should be allowed to move to a patch of grass. The resort courses have grass manicured so perfectly that every shot is like sitting up on a tee.

I agree Merlin. My local muni actually has a club rule that any ball in the fairway can be rolled within a scorecard length. I think this rule is great because if you hit a great tee shot in the fairway, you should be rewarded by playing the next shot from a good patch of grass. This rule applies to all tourneys, leagues, etc. played here. Like you said, this muni does not have fairways as nice as greens as is the case for some courses.

Thanks for the input guys. I play for fun and my golfing buddies are there for fun as well. Even though we don't take things too serious I just don't want to be "that" guy that takes too much advantage of the relaxed atmosphere to the point it's cheating or really improving your score. If I cheat I cheat myself and therefore I'm not improving.

My conclusion is that I will occasionally adjust the lie of my ball when on dirt when it's obvious there should be something decent there. But I want to take special care to see that I'm not improving my position, just my lie.

If you're just playing for fun, and some time with your buddies, I'd check with them before the round to make sure they are OK with it. It is frustrating when you're playing with someone (and following all the rules) and they decide to play to a modified version of the rules.

I tend to ask my playing partners a lot of questions like "is this ground under repair?" "Does this constitute incidental water?" "Is this a man made obstruction?"

I'd say that 99.9% of the time, I hit the ball as it lies even if that means playing out of someone else's divot. It's when there is a decent sized patch of grass that doesn't look all too healthy, and it appears as if the course is doing work to try to make it healthy, when I will ask about whether or not it can be considered ground under repair.

The man-made obstruction generally refers to landscaping rocks. Of course, landscaping rocks that are outside of the stakes are part of the hazard, but sometimes those rocks will trickle into the area of play. Or, the one I hate...one of our local courses uses landscaping rocks to pave the cart paths, and they tend to be strewn here and there (not to mention be an ankle spraining hazard).

FYI -- If you're playing a round and want to follow the rules of golf, then you can only take relief without penalty from Ground Under Repair if it is so marked. Usually, the grounds crew will mark it with stakes & ropes or with white spray paint.

Similarly for plugged lies or lift & place that requires a local rule or exception by the tournament committee. Often times, local rules are printed on the scorecard.

p.s. sometimes it's good to play the ball even when it's in a patch of dirt, divot or dried out grass to learn how to deal with those situations.

SingleDigits wrote:

FYI -- If you're playing a round and want to follow the rules of golf, then you can only take relief without penalty from Ground Under Repair if it is so marked. Usually, the grounds crew will mark it with stakes & ropes or with white spray paint.

The unfortunate thing is, the local munis don't always mark their areas where the ground is obviously under repair. That's why I always ask my playing partners before I take relief. "Does this patch of freshly seeded and newly sprouting dirt constitute ground under repair?" To be completely honest, I really don't mind hitting out of the dirt that much. I'm more thinking about trying to keep the courses I play on a regular basis in good shape than I am about my score.

Good point about keeping the course in good repair. I carry a small plastic bottle with me with seed mix to fill in fairway divot holes (since my shallow divots usually mangle the grass roots).

Some golf courses are very particular what grass they have on the fairway, so I fill my bottle from the par 3 tee boxes (where they have sand & grass seed to fill in divots made on the tee).

I ordered a Clicgear push cart, and one of the extras I'll be getting with it is the sand/seed bottle. One of the things I was actually wondering about was whether or not they'd mind if I filled it up with their on-course sand/seed. I'm guessing not since I play 95% of my rounds on the city courses, and I'll be effectively helping them keep those courses in good shape.