Linda, a thought
occurred to me today as I was contemplating getting out of a sand bunker after
landing in a footprint that someone didn't bother to rake. I know if I take an
unplayable lie, I can take my ball back as far as I would like. Does this hold
true in a sand bunker or do I have to keep the ball within the bunker and would
it be a drop or a placement?
Thanks,
Lulu from South
Carolina
Dear Lulu,
I answered this question back in 2009 (Ask Linda #130), so it’s probably a good time
to reprint it.
If you decide to declare your ball unplayable in a bunker,
you have three options, the first of which will permit you to take the ball out
of the bunker. Whichever option you choose, you must add a one-stroke
penalty to your score. Here are your choices:
1. Return to where you hit your previous shot and hit
another. This is the option to choose if you want to get out of the bunker;
it is the only one that allows you to do so.
2. Drop a ball behind where your ball lies in the bunker on
an imaginary line that starts at the hole, goes through your ball, and ends at
the back of the bunker. If you choose this option the ball must be dropped
in the bunker.
3. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of where your ball
lies in the bunker, no closer to the hole. If you choose this option the
ball must be dropped in the bunker.
Please remember that when you drop the ball you must stand
tall and drop the ball from shoulder height and at arm’s length (picture
yourself as an upside-down letter L).
Note that you (and only you) are permitted to declare your
ball unplayable anywhere on the course except in a water hazard.
I have observed some stubborn, unwise golfers over the years
hack away at a ball that was clearly unplayable lodged under the lip of a
bunker. Don’t be afraid to use some good judgment and take relief for an
unplayable ball. Sometimes that one-stroke penalty is really a gift in
disguise!
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
