Rules question.....

leonards

.... Can I declare a ball unplayable in heavy rough and take a drop? For 1 stroke penalty? Scenario: Playing links course and drive goes into the rough. High ball drops straight into rough with no bounce so its dug right in. I find the ball but the rough is so heavy / wet I can't get club face near the ball... Or worse I can hit the ball with very steep swing but it just digs further down.... Has happened last two rounds I played...

I would prefer to just take a drop and take penalty.....

agusta

http://www.randa.org/en/Playing-Golf/Quick-Guide-to-the-Rules/Ball-Unplayable.aspx

leonards

agusta wrote: »

http://www.randa.org/en/Playing-Golf/Quick-Guide-to-the-Rules/Ball-Unplayable.aspx

Thanks... Link mentions "If you believe it's unplayable".... In the scenario I discussed above I would consider it unplayable. But would it be frowned on if I start taking drops after finding a ball... I don't see others doing this on course? Saying that I'm usually the one in the really heavy stuff....

agusta

A player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course,except when your ball is in a water hazard.The player is the sole judge as to whether is ball is unplayable

Poker Face

leonards wrote: »

Thanks... Link mentions "If you believe it's unplayable".... In the scenario I discussed above I would consider it unplayable. But would it be frowned on if I start taking drops after finding a ball... I don't see others doing this on course? Saying that I'm usually the one in the really heavy stuff....

You are quite entitled to take a drop under penalty. You can do this even if you are on the fairway (unlikely but you have that option).

leonards

Ok thanks. I'll start using this option from now on. I wonder why other golfers don't take this option more often and try to hack out if really bad lies...

agusta

leonards wrote: »

Thanks... Link mentions "If you believe it's unplayable".... In the scenario I discussed above I would consider it unplayable. But would it be frowned on if I start taking drops after finding a ball... I don't see others doing this on course? Saying that I'm usually the one in the really heavy stuff....

The trick is to know the rules.The rules of golf can be used to the players advantage provided he knows all the basic rules.Some golfers who frown dont have a good understanding of the basic rules.I believe every golfer should have a rule book at home or in their bag to refer to.

agusta

leonards wrote: »

Ok thanks. I'll start using this option from now on. I wonder why other golfers don't take this option more often and try to hack out if really bad lies...

Either lack of understanding of the rules or they a misjudgeing their ability to get a ball out of a bad lie.You dont see many low handicappers make the mistake of playing the ball out of a bad lie and not getting the ball back safely in play

HighLine

leonards wrote: »

Ok thanks. I'll start using this option from now on. I wonder why other golfers don't take this option more often and try to hack out if really bad lies...

Often wonder the same myself. Lack of understanding or lack of sense, I'm not sure.

Another interesting scenario with this rule - lets say you have massive slopes running off greens and you proceed to over hit your first putt - you watch the ball roll off the green and trickle all the way down into a nasty bunker 80ft from where you are... you can simply declare the ball unplayable, replace the ball on the green where it originally was and under penalty of 1 stroke, re hit your putt with the new knowledge of speed and slope. Saw Stenson doing this a few years ago much to his playing partner's bewilderment.

leonards

HighLine wrote: »

Often wonder the same myself. Lack of understanding or lack of sense, I'm not sure.

Another interesting scenario with this rule - lets say you have massive slopes running off greens and you proceed to over hit your first putt - you watch the ball roll off the green and trickle all the way down into a nasty bunker 80ft from where you are... you can simply declare the ball unplayable, replace the ball on the green where it originally was and under penalty of 1 stroke, re hit your putt with the new knowledge of speed and slope. Saw Stenson doing this a few years ago much to his playing partner's bewilderment.

Hi... The rule link posted above says you must redrop in bunker?

HighLine

leonards wrote: »

Hi... The rule link posted above says you must redrop in bunker?

Nope- read it again. There are three options. If you chose options 2 or 3, you must drop inside the bunker. If you chose option 1, which is replaying the shot, you replay from your original position before you hit it into the bunker.

alxmorgan

Unplayable rule is one of the most important for golfers to know to actually work to their advantage IMHO. The amount of times I've seen guys taking on shots where an unplayable is the only smart option is unreal.

mike12

It is a funny one not many times in heavy rough will you have a drop much better within 2 club lengths or back in line.

leonards

mike12 wrote: »

It is a funny one not many times in heavy rough will you have a drop much better within 2 club lengths or back in line.

There may be a grass path behind... Also dropping softly from head height the ball should not bury down like when coming from much higer when driven with high loft driver....

Slicemeister

alxmorgan wrote: »

Unplayable rule is one of the most important for golfers to know to actually work to their advantage IMHO. The amount of times I've seen guys taking on shots where an unplayable is the only smart option is unreal.

Look what Cabrero-Bello did last weekend on the 16th. Should have dropped to play his fourth from that hazard imo. And then later on in the LPGA playoff, the rules official had to show Ciganda how to take a drop on the fourth playoff hole!!! Mind boggling.

ChippingSodbury

mike12 wrote: »

It is a funny one not many times in heavy rough will you have a drop much better within 2 club lengths or back in line.

You can go back as far as you like as long as you keep the current position of the ball and the hole in line (not the line back to the tee as someone tried to convince me of in an interclub match this year!). You'll almost always find somewhere to get it back in play. If there is nowhere to drop other than a spot that would have you still try and hack out, you also have the option of going back to the tee and hitting your drive again. What you cannot do is declare it lost if you find it (and play the provisional drive if you've hit one): if you declare it unplayable, the choice is either drop as described or back to the position where you played the previous stroke. Kevin Na's 16 or whatever it was from a couple of years ago explains pretty much what you shouldn't do i.e. if you take a hack and then try and then try and declare it unplayable, you position of the previous stroke is also in the muck!

agusta

Slicemeister wrote: »

Look what Cabrero-Bello did last weekend on the 16th. Should have dropped to play his fourth from that hazard imo. And then later on in the LPGA playoff, the rules official had to show Ciganda how to take a drop on the fourth playoff hole!!! Mind boggling.

why so,he had a good lie in the water hazard.he just tried to get too much out of the shot instead of playing to the front/middle of green and take two putt.it wasnt that hard a shot.

Slicemeister

agusta wrote: »

why so,he had a good lie in the water hazard.he just tried to get too much out of the shot instead of playing to the front/middle of green and take two putt.it wasnt that hard a shot.

Yeah twas an ok lie, just his swing was impeded and was well below his feet. He was only 100yards out, chances were higher of an up and down than an approach and 2putt. He did neither.