Should you get free relief from ridiculous lies? The etiquette expert’s trade-off
In the photo above, the lie is so ridiculous it looks like a prank. This is not the case.
This actually happened at a recent competition where one of the etiquette’s friends was competing.
Talk about bad luck. By hitting stripes along the fairway, your ball won’t go into the turf hole; exist The turf itself.
Not fair, right? But life isn’t always fair. Neither is golf.
Sometimes, you get what you get and you have no right to be frustrated. At least, you don’t have the power to do anything about it. The game’s guidelines make this clear. According to Rule 9.1a, “A ball at rest on the court must be played as it lies” unless relief is permitted by the rules.
Remediation is not permitted if the tussock is detached.
The same is true if your ball lands on the turf. Bad lie? Too bad. Some people think the rules should be changed. Among them: Bernhard Lange. In a 2022 interview with GOLF.com, the ageless man believed that “we should give up turf” because “we made it.”
Former long-time broadcaster Peter Costis took a similar stance.
“If a turf filled with sand isn’t restored,” he once said, “then I don’t know what those words mean.”
Opponents argue that changing the rules to allow for the elimination of turf would send the game into a downward spiral. What exactly counts as turf? Some golfers will certainly disagree on this issue. Soon, players will be looking to mitigate even the slightest flaws. From there, anarchy begins!
The liturgist agreed. He believes the rules should remain as they are. But that doesn’t mean it should work for every round we play.
To paraphrase Bobby Jones, there is championship golf and regular golf, but they are completely different. Nor should they be treated equally. In a regular golf game, with our friends, we should try our best to follow the rules. However, when a situation arises that is patently absurd (such as the lie in the photo above), there is no need to protect the field; reason should prevail.
Is it possible to disagree about what counts as absurd? Of course, there may be. But for the most part, golfers who compete recreationally can come to a consensus. When they couldn’t do it, they would go to the bar after the round and argue, which was fun in itself.
If you’re hell-bent on avoiding such disputes, your best bet is to determine the terms of the contest before you start. Make it clear on the first tee that no matter what happens, no matter how ridiculous the lie you lay out, you will play to the lie of it.
This also has potential benefits, as you never know what will happen next. You might get a memorable story.
This is what happened to the man mentioned above by the liturgist. He followed the rules and hit the ball from loose wig turf, hitting the green from 185 yards.
