RULES By Ed Gowan

RULES OF GOLF

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE UNPLAYABLE LIE

WORDS BY ED GOWAN

Stuart Franklin The Rules changes from 2019 have simplified many situations that used to confound players at all levels. Most of those are no longer a problem, but one seems to remain that still causes confusion: relief for an unplayable lie.

The first step to a full understanding begins with the definition in the Rules: a ball can be declared “unplayable” only by the player, but not in a Penalty Area. We have had several additional penalties in Championships this year when players wrongly proceeded under the unplayable ball Rule in penalty areas. Penalty areas have their own separate set of relief options.

Once the decision is made, then the next step is identifying where the ball lies: General Area, Bunker, Putting Green (Yes, we have seen situations on a putting green where the unplayable option makes sense! Send us one, and if we agree, you’ll win a gift certificate!).

Now let’s look at the options for each. In the General Area and on the Putting Green the options are the same, all with a onestroke penalty: 1. play under stroke-anddistance; 2. drop within two club-lengths of the spot of the original ball, but not nearer the hole; or, 3. determine a reference point back on a line through the spot of the original ball as far as you wish from the flagstick. With options 1 & 3, the ball can be dropped in a one club-length area not nearer the hole than the reference point, and with option 2 it is a two club-length area. When the original lie is in a Bunker, option 1 remains the same, while option 2 requires the ball be dropped in the bunker; additionally, for a two-stroke penalty, the player may take the ball out of the bunker, dropping as in 3 above back on a line, but would incur a twostroke penalty instead of one stroke.

In all situations, the ball is always dropped even under relief from the putting green. The relief area is always a half circle on the course and may allow a player the option of dropping into a penalty area; but, in all cases, the dropped ball must remain in

RULES OF GOLF

the area of the course where it is dropped, even if that is on a putting green.

Assume the player’s ball is in the situation pictured to the right. As the Rules allow another ball to replace the original ball, the player does not have to chance a hospital visit to retrieve it. It also appears that there is no viable relief within one club-length. That leaves only two other options. First, the player could drop a ball back-on-a-line from the flagstick through the position of the ball behind the area, going back any distance on the course. Note I said, “on the course.” That means the ball could be dropped on a fairway, rough, penalty area, bunker or a wrong putting green. In the last case, that would allow the player free relief from the wrong green that may open up the next shot. The last option is returning to the place where the previous stroke was made. Both options carry a one-stroke penalty.

A few other quirks in the Rules go along with the dropping. When the player decides where to drop, the area for the drop is based on a reference point that is on the line if “back-on-the-line” is chosen. If the player chooses the point, then it is a half circle not nearer the hole from that point. If the player just drops near the line, then the point on the line nearest the place the ball is dropped becomes the reference point in case a re-drop becomes necessary. If the player chooses to replay from the previous stroke’s position, where the ball lay becomes the reference point. If that was on the teeing ground, the entire teeing ground is available, and there is no half-circle involved. On the teeing ground, all of the permissions such as teeing, tamping turf, and so on are available. The last important point is that if that reference area includes two different “areas of the course” (general area, teeing area, penalty area, putting green), when the ball is dropped in an area it must remain in that area or be re-dropped.

Unplayable lie relief, as mentioned above, is not available in Penalty Areas. The separate set of relief options use the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the Area as the reference point, as opposed to the position of the ball. Because many courses in Arizona define desert areas as ‘Penalty Areas’, the player should be careful to know what the markings and definitions are to avoid using the wrong Rule for relief, which almost always will result in at least one additional penalty.

A ball can be declared “unplayable” only by the player, but not in a Penalty Area.