Playing golf in Edinburgh? Here’s why you should always use the Preferred Lies Rule — especially if you’re a beginner golfer joining our Play 9 Score 36 events.
Head PGA Pro Mike McNally explains how to avoid muddy lies, improve your strike, and build confidence. Prefer your lie, play your best.
✅ What is Preferred Lies?
✅ How to use it (step-by-step)
✅ Make golf more enjoyable and beginner-friendly
Perfect for anyone learning the game in Scottish conditions.
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Any question? Could you remind us how preferred lie works? Excellent. Really good questions. The golf ball can collect like a lot of moisture and a lot of dirt and mud. So, the rule is does anyone have a golf ball and a tea? Beautiful. Anyone got a tea? Little tea or anything. Could be anything. Or even another golf ball. Beautiful. Let’s say the green is that way and that’s my ball there. I’ll actually do it on the grass. And let’s say my ball’s covered in mud. Or let’s say your ball lands in a horrible divot like that. It’s going to make your next shot really tough playing from there. So, preferred lies means you can give yourself what’s called a nice lie. The way it work is you would pop your tea down. Someone got a scorecard handy. Beautiful, right? You can, anyone got a towel? Let’s see. I’ve got a towel. Clean the ball. Get it nice. Can put the ball exactly back where it was or within one scorecard away, but no closer to the hole. So there, I can find a nice fluffy bit of grass, like the ball’s almost on a tea, and give myself a really nice lie. It’s going to make your next shot a lot easier versus playing out of that lie. So that’s preferred lies. Highly recommend. You always prefer your lie.
12 Comments
You can only play preferred lies when the course says you can?
its simply called "winter rules"
You didn’t do it correctly. For preferred lies as soon as you take your hand off the ball it’s on play, you cannot replace it if it subsequently moves as you did.
So why doesn’t everyone just move the ball every time then?
Surely there is more to it than that
I just kick it out of the divots. No need for all these fancy rules.
They need to start making rubberized flags and change the rules to allow free relief from fairway divots it makes zero sense to get penalized for hitting the ball exactly where you’re supposed to
Yeah dude definitely shouldn’t be teaching if this is how he starts the lessons, here’s how we break the rules 😂😂😂😂
Being aware of all the rules of golf are important when playing in a tournament. However, for the casual-9-holes-with-me-pals-banter-walk (i.e. excluding the 30% who take themselves and the game too seriously), if it's in a divot I'm moving it. Preferred lies always. I'm only playing myself – I've never played in a tournament and have no inclination to do so.
It’s not that serious beginner 🧐 😂
He's remarkably unprepared for this question. If this is the type of question you answer regularly, you should have your props ready to go.
Up to the course if its preferred lies or not.
Or you just have your caddy drop a new ball wherever you want 🙄…most would call that cheating! but, we call that the President of the Unites States,🍊💩! Sorry for the mess we are under new management and 1/3 of us aren’t happy about it either! 😊