Linda:
Last week, while playing a par three, I hit my tee shot into a front bunker. I then proceeded to thin the ensuing bunker shot over the green, and into a back bunker, which disappeared under the rear lip of that bunker, an obviously unplayable lie (assuming that we found the ball). At that point I conceded the hole to my opponent, and moved on to the next hole.
However, later in the bar, we were discussing my drop options had I taken an unplayable. My original thought was that because of the position of the ball under the rear lip of the back bunker, my only viable option under Rule 28 was 28a, i.e., go back and drop in the front bunker at the point from which I had played the shot, and play from there.
But here is our question: If the ball in the back bunker is completely under the lip, is the ball really in the bunker? If, in fact, the ball in not within the margin of the bunker, then options 28b and 28c are also available. Indeed, and I don't mean to get greedy here, but under Appendix I Part A: Local Rules 4a. Lifting an Embedded Ball, is it possible that the ball could be lifted and placed without any penalty at all?
Thanks,
Lou Lou
Dear Lou Lou,
A ball that is embedded under the lip of a bunker is in the bunker [Decision 13/4]. If you decide to declare such a ball unplayable, your best option, as you suggest, is to drop the ball where you took your previous shot (in the front bunker).
When Local Rule 4a is in effect, it provides free relief for a ball that is embedded in its own pitch mark through the green. A ball in a bunker is not through the green. The term “through the green” includes the whole area of the course except the teeing ground and the putting green of the hole being play and all hazards on the course.
Linda
Copyright © 2011 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
