Anyone actually using preferred lies correctly?

[IronMike72]

Dude, I gotta talk about the preferred lies rule. I mean, when they rolled this out all season, I was like, what are they, trying to make us all completely useless? Like, seriously, why did they even let this get so far? But honestly, after playing five of these new tourneys, I'm starting to see the genius in it. It's crazy how much it changes the strategy on a course.

Because before this, you were stuck with whatever tragic lie the groundskeeper threw at you, and that was often totally irrelevant to where you actually needed to hit the ball to get a good angle. But now? Now you can actually play the shot you want to play, based on what's physically available to you, which makes the whole thing feel so much more intentional.

I was at the Willow Creek scramble last week, and the guy who had the preferred lie was pulling off shots I wouldn't even try because the grass was totally manicured and perfect. He was getting way better scores than the guys who were just stuck playing off the rough because of the old rules. It’s not cheating, it’s just smarter golf, IMO.

But I feel like there’s a lot of debate about whether it’s 'fair,' and I get that. Some of the old school guys are still yelling about it, and I see why they’re salty. They think it's a loophole, which, look, it is a technical loophole, but it’s a loophole that actually improves the game for the player, right? It forces us to think about the lie itself, not just the hole.

Has anyone else started exploiting the transitions between courses? Like, some courses have really specific, 'nice' preferred lies that just give you this massive advantage on the drive, and you're basically guaranteed a decent second shot. Have you tried doing that at any of the local clubs? What’s your take on it? I'm leaning hard toward it being a net positive, but I want to hear the pushback!