Do you improve your lie?
 

I was just thinking about this the other day and thought I'd ask. When playing your league or just a round, do you improve your lie/roll your ball? OR do you play it as it lies?

I notice ALOT of guys in my league are always improving their lie along with giving guys putts. Yesterday guy told me to improve my lie and I just said nah I'm gonna play it right here.

Unless the ball lies in a position I could damage a club, like rocks and such, I play it where it lies.

It depends on the season for me. In winter, yes, I will on the occasion but right now, I always play the ball down.

But i still admire your stamina playing when others quit :P

Since this is my first season back in awhile, I joined a non-competitive league to get back into things and work on my game. This rule was added because it can not be enforced and the President was tired of guys complaining. League Rule: "Winter Rules are in effect at all times unless otherwise instructed by League Officials. The ball cannot be moved to improve lie because of a hazzard, in other words, "Fluffing" of up to 12" is allowed as long as it is no closer to the hole. Rough included."

Never. This is legitimately one reason it's hard to get my HC down... We play pretty much year 'round, and play the ball down. By the end of winter, My HC has usually gone up 1-2 strokes! The upside to playing like this though is that I can hit shots I never would have been able to hit before.
The other thing I find is that I have played with a lot of guys with HC's supposedly much lower than mine. But while playing with them, I'll see them roll the ball out of a bad lie in the rough, out of a divot in the fairway, take a 3' gimme putt or take a drop in the most beneficial spot. Normally, I don't have a big problem with this, except when the guy that does this tells me how good he is. / End rant!

Exactly my thoughts. I dont game to destroy or damage my clubs. I play to have fun. Too much "improvement" will only hurt the game and make it less fun.

So what do you do in Fall when you hit your ball right smack in the middle of the fairway but you can't find it due to leaves or b/c perhaps it plugged and you just can't find it? In the mountains we have lots of elevated tee boxes and in Fall and Winter the courses can be incredible damp. I've lost a few balls that just buried and I could never find them.

I think something like that has happened to all of us.

Around here, we can't score for HCP purposes after October anyway and that's a lot of the reason for it. Too many lost balls that are in play, soggy courses, busted greens, etc.

The best way to impove your lies is to include just a little bit of truth in them. http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...ies/act-up.png

Unless there is some major damage to the fairways like we saw last summer I play it down.

I avoid playing in those conditions. We can do it over here in Sweden since our courses are open rather long in the fall. But i don't think it's funny to lose a ball mid fairway so i just stay at home instead :P

It sucks, and I seem to have the worse luck when it comes to that kind of stuff, but I just take the penalty. There are certain courses I will avoid at certain times of the year for the reasons you describe! Now if the ball plugs and I find it, I will say we pull it out and no penalty for that. A few things we make judgement calls on - like lies in the bunker on tire tracks, lies near rocks, roots etc. Don't want ruined equipment, or worse, injuries from situations like that.

As an aside, I've always felt that the rules should be changed as far as divots in the fairway go. I don't see why anyone should be penalized for hitting a ball in the fairway... just doesn't seem right. Golf's hard enough!

Yeah, it's a seasonal thing. In the winter we have a standing rule in the group that if it is "cart path only" we allow lift, clean and place. In the summer, we play it as it lies.

This is kind of a timely thread because I had an interesting conversation with a guy on Monday at a course when I was on vacation.

They were playing pretty much the opposite of any USGA rules in every possible way, but he mentioned he was in a league and they all played by the rules there. Then he said, 'Well, we do allow fluffing the ball, but just enough to get a decent lie."

Depends on the shape of the course. I don't think you should be penalized for hitting the fairway (aside from landing in a divot :( ). In money games, we take free relief from rocks, roots, and basically anything that can cause injury/mess up your club.

good thread jdtox.

i won't say i never have or never do. early spring/late fall though, sometimes you just have to...as the conditions are not yet prime here in PA. especially if you're out on the course before you're actually supposed to be.

this year, i have played the ball down all year, every round, every shot. there may only be a few instances where rocks or roots were involved and hitting it from that lie would actually damage my club - and that would not be a good thing.

i do play in a league, where guys do pretty much whatever they want when it comes to improving your lie...it's like a 6 inch rule, which is ridiculous. i guarantee i'm the only person that does not out of 32 guys. i smoke fools in that league and i'm only playing against myself, since i could care less about the actual league itself. that being said, if i'm playing with/against you...i don't care what you do. golf is fun, i'm not a rules nazi.

yes...yes...winter rules....

I only improve it if the lie is gonna damage my clubs.

I play on course that usually is in poor condition where you need to roll the ball in order to have a shot. It is part of the rules there. Just no fairway irrigation and hardpan everywhere.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

More like my intense need to get the hell out of the house haha. I've been fortunate this year. I've been able to play on a course every months since March 2011. Not expecting that to happen this year, but one can always hope.