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McEwan: It’s time to end the divot madness

McEwan: It's time to end the divot madness

There’s something that’s been on my mind for some time and I’m just going to have to put it out there. I know some people aren’t going to like it but you know what? I’m okay with that. I need to be honest and “speak my truth” as the modern aphorism goes.

I think you should get free relief from fairway divots.

Actually, that’s not quite right. I don’t just think it. I firmly, deep in the very essence of my soul believe that you absolutely should, and I’ll explain why.

First up, I get it. Golf isn’t a game of “fair” and blah, blah, blah. That’s undeniably true. Equally, though, it shouldn’t be inherently unfair. That’s not right either. Purists love to espouse the unique challenge of the sport and how it’s “player versus course, not player versus player”. Is it not then contradictory to that argument for one player’s course to be fundamentally altered due to the laziness of other players? People love to talk about “protecting the field”. Punishing one golfer for another golfer’s laziness is categorically not doing that.

• “Golf media matters – now more than ever”

That’s what they are, too. Lazy. Not to mention inconsiderate. And selfish. Imagine gouging a slice out of the ground and deciding that, “No, I won’t fix that. I could… but I won’t.” That’s the kind of behaviour some people seem to want to reward? Wow.

It’s around this time in the discussion that somebody pipes up to demand that I “define a divot”. I promise you, dear reader, that one never, ever fails to make me smile. It appears that every single golfer on the planet can tell you exactly what is or isn’t a divot until it comes time to defend this ridiculous rule.

“Ach, that’s too bad,” they’ll say. “It looks like your ball’s gone into that divot.”

“Do I get a free drop?”…

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