[Mark_F]

I was wandering around a course this morning that had what I guess most of us would see as having somewhat poor fairways, many of them being a little on the patchy side. 

I thought this was quite ordinary, but then tried to think like Mike Clayton  , and wonder whether it is in fact ordinary.

After all, a patchy lie is really no different than a sand-filled divot, - albeit in a greater quantity here - and distinguishes a player who can both play from one and not go into a mental meltdown, from one who can't.

And really, is hitting a ball from a somewhat less than perfect fairway turf really any different from having to hit a ball in a little hollow or swale, or from the top of a little fairway pimple, or from a downhill and/or sidehill lie?

After all, nature has deigned that the fairways of this course be as they are, at the moment, anyway.

[Wayne_Freedman]

Not sure of your point, Mark, but in general, we're spoiled.

Sheep herders didn't have perfect conditions.
Why should we?

Look at the holes and the routings. Deal with the conditions. THAT is golf.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Mark

Here are a few questions back at you: do shots hit from either side of the fairway / rough line divide tests of skill / luck? Should it? Do patchy lies test skill or luck? Is there a luck / skill line associated with patchy lies, and if so, what types of conditions lie above and below the line?

No answers, just questions!

Mark

[Kyle Harris]

The only guaranteed good lie on a golf course should be with wood under the ball. Greens should provide a good lie 99.9 percent of the time, fairways 90 percent, the rough 50 percent, bunkers around 25 percent and so on and so forth.

[Mark_F]

Mark;

Patchy lies test skill, but I guess it is a matter of luck as to whether you end up in them or not.

I was surprised at the condition of the course in question, and first thought it wasn't kosher, but then wondered why it wouldn't be. 

Sure, it's a more difficult shot to play than one from a good lie, but then I figured it was no different a test of mettle than a bumpy lie one may come across - or not, if your luck is in. 

You would still end up with a good lie 90% of the time at least, which fits in with Kyle's paradigm.

[John Moore II]

I think perhaps we hold courses to a different standard that what they should be held to. Meaning, 30, 40, or 60 years ago, were conditions as good as they are today? I think not. Perhaps Augusta in 1940 was as fairly conditioned as the local muni is today, I don't know for sure, I didn't play Augusta in 1940. But I can say with reasonable certainty that what we call poor today would have passed for excellent years ago.

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