2010 #10 Erasure Rule

THE SCENE:

You are playing hole #2 on the Challenger course. Your drive is long enough but you pushed it to the right and it lands and rolls onto the cart path. You know that you get free relief from the cart path so you measure and find your nearest point of relief. It’s on the side nearest the hole, thank goodness. The only problem is that you are going to have to drop on the side of a hill.

So, you drop your ball and it rolls towards the hole. You shake your head, lift the ball and re-drop it. Again it rolls closer to the hole. You mouth a mild expletive and drop it yet again.

At that point one of the other players says, “Wrong! You know you can’t drop your ball 3 times. You have to place it! One stroke penalty.” You know she is right about dropping 3 times.

BUT WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

A. Take a one stroke penalty and place the ball where it first touched the ground the last time it was dropped.

B. Pretend you did not drop your ball the 3rd time and now place it where the ball first struck the ground when it was dropped the 2nd time.

B IS CORRECT

Rule 20-2 C vii says

A dropped ball must be re-dropped, without penalty, if it rolls and comes to rest nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief. It goes on to say that if, when re-dropped, it rolls into the same position, it must be placed as near as possible to the spot where it first struck a part of the course when re-dropped.

So, if instead of placing it, you drop the ball a third time, Rule 20-6 (the erasure rule) allows you to pretend you didn’t drop it the third time. You can lift the ball without penalty and then proceed according to the rules. This is true any time you incorrectly substitute a ball, or incorrectly drop or place a ball.

See Rule

20-6. Lifting Ball Incorrectly Substituted, Dropped or Placed

A ball incorrectly substituted, dropped or placed in a wrong place or otherwise not in accordance with the Rules but not played may be lifted, without penalty, and the player must then proceed correctly.

So, if you know the rules you won’t be penalized for dropping your ball a third time. But make sure you don’t do anything else before you lift it and place it properly.

Here is a decision that explains why:

20-2c/2  Ball Dropped Third Time When Placement Required After Second Drop Q. A player dropped his ball twice under a Rule and each time the ball rolled nearer the hole. He then dropped the ball a third time instead of placing it as required by Rule 20-2c. What is the ruling? A. Before playing a stroke, the player may lift the ball and place it as prescribed in Rule 20-2c, without penalty (Rule 20-6). If he fails to do so and plays the ball, he incurs a penalty of loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play for a breach of Rule 20-2c. REMEMBER: The Rules can help you, especially the Erasure Rule.