2009 #1 Drop Outside Bunker

THE SCENE:

You are playing hole #2, a par three. You hit a great drive and your ball is on the green near the hole. You are going to have a birdie! You arrive at the green and as you stand over your ball with your putter you see the break. You decide to hit the ball through the break and for that you will have to hit it firmly.

You do. In fact you hit it so firmly that it flies by the hole, speeds up as it goes down hill, runs off the green and drops into the bunker. Oh, no! There goes your birdie. What are you going to do now?

What would you do?

A. Chip out of the sand, cross your fingers and hope that your ball lands on the green and stops close to the hole.

B. Deem your ball unplayable. Take a 1 stroke penalty and place the ball on the green, near the hole - at the spot from where you putted it.

B is correct.
Look at the following rule:

Rule 28. Ball Unplayable
The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course, except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable.
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.
If the unplayable ball is in a bunker, the player may proceed under Clause a, b or c. If he elects to proceed under Clause b or c, a ball must be dropped in the bunker.

In the past I have told you that the only way you can get an unplayable ball out of a bunker is to play it from where it was played before. Well, this is one of those times when that is exactly what you want to do. You want to deem your ball unplayable, take a one stroke penalty and putt again. Hopefully this time you will make your putt.

REMEMBER: Any time that your ball lands in a bunker, if you are willing to take a penalty stroke you can play your next shot from where you played before.