A player’s ball lay in the rough between an out-of-bounds fence and a cart path. She backed up against the fence, trying to take her stance, but the ball was just too close. It was between her feet. She couldn’t hit it, so she deemed it unplayable. She took a penalty stroke, lifted the ball, walked across the cart path and dropped it on the adjacent fairway.
One of the other players said, “Hey, you can’t do that! You have to drop your ball within two club lengths.”
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
A. You would say, “It was lying between the fence and the cart path in an unplayable lie. I don’t want to drop it on the cart path so I’m dropping it on the fairway.”
B. You would walk back to your cart, pull out your driver, walk back and measure two club lengths from where your ball lay.
B IS CORRECT
There are only three options for an unplayable lie.
Hit from where you hit before; Go back as far as you wish on a line from the flag through the ball; Drop within 2 club lengths, no closer to the hole.
See
Rule #28 Unplayable Ball
If the player deems his ball to be unplayable, he must, under penalty of one stroke:
a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or
b. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or
c. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.
B. You would walk back to your cart, pull out your driver, walk back and measure two club lengths from where your ball lay.
B IS CORRECT
There are only three options for an unplayable lie.
Hit from where you hit before; Go back as far as you wish on a line from the flag through the ball; Drop within 2 club lengths, no closer to the hole.
See
Rule #28 Unplayable Ball
If the player deems his ball to be unplayable, he must, under penalty of one stroke:
a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or
b. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or
c. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.
Since what you really want to do is to drop your ball on the fairway, neither a nor b would help you to do that. But c might. This option allows you to drop your ball within 2 club lengths of where the ball lies, no closer to the hole. You are allowed to use any club in your bag to measure it.
When dropping two club lengths from where the unplayable ball lies, it is permissible to use a long club such as a driver or a long putter for measuring those two club lengths. If that doesn’t get you to the fairway, you might consider dropping the ball on the cart path, itself. The ball might roll or bounce to the fairway side. (Of course you have to make sure it doesn’t roll more than two club lengths from where it was dropped. If it does, re-drop it.) And, if the ball stops on the cart path, or close enough to it so that when you take your stance, your feet are on the cart path, the player is allowed free relief from there. The nearest point of relief might be on the fairway side of the cart path.
REMEMBER: When you have an unplayable lie, you can use any club in your bag to measure two club lengths. Then drop within those two club lengths to take your relief.
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