Hi Linda - Lou here again in South Wales - hope all is well!
Watching the final day of the Ryder Cup opening shot in
first pairing - Justin Thomas took his iron and smacked it into the ground on the
teeing area creating a large sort of divot.
He then appeared to tee the ball up and hit a decent opening
shot, etc.
My immediate reaction was he had affected something growing
(e.g. his lie), or that he had a target on his line of site (the divot).
No commentators said anything, so it must be legal - so what
was actually going on here?
On the web I found this.........................but he
created a divot, not a mound?
Do I have to use a tee
peg?
You do not have to use a tee
peg (on short par 3s, for example) and are permitted to create a small mound or
tuft using the back of your club and place your ball on top of that to give
yourself the perfect lie.
Kind regards,
Lou from Wales
Dear Lou,
The player is permitted to create a natural tee by banging a
club into the ground to raise a mound of grass or dirt [Rule 11-1]. If you ever
have the opportunity to watch Laura Davies play, you will see her use a club to
raise the turf on the teeing ground to create a “natural” tee. This is perfectly
legal.
Linda
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
