In the photo above, the lie is so preposterous, it looks like a prank. It isn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It actually occurred in a recent tournament in which a friend of the Etiquetteist was competing.<\/p>\n
Talk about bad luck. Stripe a drive down the fairway, and your ball not in a divot hole but on the divot itself.<\/p>\n
Not fair, right? But life\u2019s not always fair. And neither is golf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sometimes, you get what you get and you\u2019re not entitled to get upset. At least, you\u2019re not entitled to do anything about it. The guidelines of the game make this clear. Under Rule 9.1a, a \u201cball at rest on the course must be played as it lies,\u201d except when the Rules allow for relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the case of a dislodged tuft of turf, relief is not permitted. <\/p>\n
The same is true if your ball settles in a divot<\/a>. Bad lie? Too bad. Some people think that rule should change. Among them: Bernhard Langer<\/a>. In a 2022 interview with GOLF.com, the Ageless One argued that \u201cwe should be dropping out of divots\u201d because \u201cdivots are made by us.\u201d<\/p>\n The former longtime broadcaster Peter Kostis<\/a> takes a similar stance.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a sand-filled divot isn\u2019t ground under repair,\u201d he once said, \u201cthen I don\u2019t know what those words mean.\u201d<\/p>\n The counter-argument holds that changing the rule to allow for relief from divots would lead the game down a slippery slope. What, exactly, qualifies as a divot? On this matter, the thinking goes, certain golfers would be bound disagree. In just a matter of time, players would be seeking relief for the slightest imperfections. And from there, anarchy!\u00a0<\/p>\n