Linda…In a recent round my playing partner hit a ball up
against a fence which was designated as OB. His ball was not OB but
was unplayable as it was resting up against the fence. He dropped his
ball in accordance with the rules [two club-lengths plus one penalty stroke], but
unfortunately his backswing was still impaired by the fence even after he made
his drop The question is…is the penalty for the initial drop made to ensure
that you have a swing unrestricted from the fence and therefore either
a re-drop or another drop free of penalty drop is allowed, or is it
the case that once the dropped ball comes to rest it is now in play and must
either be played or declared unplayable a second time?
Thanks,
Lou from Texas
Dear Lou,
The ball is in play as soon as it is dropped. If it is still
unplayable, it must be dropped a second time. The player incurs a one-stroke
penalty for each drop [Decision 28/3].
This may be one of those cases where the player should
carefully assess his options before lifting and dropping the ball. If the
terrain is such that the ball is likely to roll towards the fence after a drop,
the better option under the unplayable ball rule might be to return to where he
hit his previous shot.
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
