2008 #17 Can You Re-tee Your Ball?

The Scene:
On hole #11 you hit your drive. But you top the ball and it merely rolls off the tee and out of the teeing ground into some rough. The rough is on the side of the teeing ground and it is a steep hill. You can’t take your stance to hit the ball. You deem the ball unplayable and decide to take a penalty stroke and hit from where you hit before, in other words to hit from the teeing ground again.

What would you do?

A. Lift your ball and place it on a tee in the teeing ground. Then hit your drive again.
B.  Drop your ball on the teeing ground. Then re-hit your ball.


A is correct.
You are allowed to re-tee your ball. See the rule below:

20-5. Making Next Stroke from Where Previous Stroke Made
When a player elects or is required to make his next stroke from where a previous stroke was made, he must proceed as follows:
a. On the Teeing Ground: The ball to be played must be played from within the teeing ground. It may be played from anywhere within the teeing ground and may be teed.

 REMEMBER: If you decide to play from where you played before and that place is the teeing ground, you are allowed to re-tee your ball.

2007 #10 Measuring relief for an Unplayable Lie

THE SCENE:
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.

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.

2006 #6 Unplayable in Bunker

The Scene:
Your fourth shot on hole #12 went high and right then dropped straight down into the greenside bunker. You climb down into the bunker, determined to get your ball up and over the high lip (Can you call that big hill a lip?). So, you swing back and kill it. Your ball not only doesn’t get up, it buries itself up under the lip. You know you’ll never get it up from there.

You can take one penalty stroke and declare your ball unplayable. But then what? You could hit from where you hit before. But that was in the bunker and playing from there is what got you into this mess. So,

What would you do?
A. Take another penalty stroke to get out of the bunker? Drop your ball behind the bunker on an imaginary straight line that runs from the flag through your ball and back as far as you wish?
B.  Drop your ball, inside the bunker within 2 club lengths of where it lies?
C.  Drop your ball on an imaginary straight line that runs from the flag through your ball and back as far as you wish? But drop inside the bunker?

Either B or C is correct.

If you chose A you probably know that for a price you can get out of the bunker when there is interference from an Immoveable Obstruction or Casual Water or Ground Under Repair. But you can’t pay your way out for an Unplayable Lie. I’m sorry, but in this scenario you are stuck in the bunker.

REMEMBER: If your ball lies unplayable in a bunker, except for playing your ball from where you played before, your options don’t include any way to drop your ball outside of the bunker. You’ll have to play your way out.

2005 #3 What if you can’t play your ball?

THE SCENE:
You are playing from a tee on a high hill. It is a par three hole with a green far below. Your drive soars toward the green. Then it veers left, lands way short of the green and bounces down towards the street. It stops right in front of some rocks that hold up the bunker and the side of the hill. You walk down to the ball. It is in bounds but you can’t play it. You are facing the rock. And you can’t wedge yourself between the rock and the ball to hit it sideways.

What would you do?
A. Hit it left handed. You have to get it out of there to a spot from where you can hit it onto the green.
B.  Declare the ball unplayable. Take a one stroke penalty and hit from the tee again.

Of course you are allowed to hit the ball left handed (A.) but it would still be hard to reach the green from down by the street. So the most reasonable thing to do would be (B.) Hit from the tee again.

Look at Rule #28, below.
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.

You can deem your ball unplayable anywhere except in a water hazard. You don’t have to prove it’s unplayable. If you don’t want to play it from wherever it lies, just say it’s unplayable. Take one penalty stroke.

Then you have 3 options:
1) Play from where you played before, in this case, the tee.
2) Drop your ball on an imaginary straight line that starts at the hole, passes through the ball and goes back as far as you wish. In this case that would put you out in the street.
Drop within 2 club lengths of where the ball lies, no nearer the hole. In this case that wouldn’t help very much, so hit from the tee again.

REMEMBER:You can deem your ball unplayable almost anywhere. So, if you get in trouble and know your next shot is going to be very difficult, just take a penalty stroke and use one of the Unplayable options above

2004 #7 What if your ball is unplayable in a bunker?

The Scene:
You are playing hole #1. Your second shot lands in the rough on the right side of the fairway, well short of the bunker. The flag is just beyond the bunker and you aim for it, take a full swing and let it rip. But the deep rough grabs your club. The ball allllmmoooost makes it over but darn it, it lands short, in the bunker, right under the lip. You’ll never get it out of there. You decide to declare your ball unplayable and take the one stroke penalty. But then,

What would you do?
A. Drop your ball inside the bunker?
B. Take another penalty stroke and drop your ball in the rough, just behind the bunker?

A is correct.

Open your Rules of Golf book to
Rule #28 Ball 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; 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.

You have three options only. Hit from where you hit before or drop inside the bunker either within 2 club lengths of where the ball lies (no nearer the hole) or on a line behind the ball. (Imagine a straight line which starts at the flag stick, goes straight through your ball and on back.) You can drop anywhere on that line behind your ball except when your ball is in a bunker. Then you have to drop it inside the bunker.

REMEMBER: If your ball is unplayable in a bunker the only way to get out is to go back and hit from where you hit before.