Linda,
With regard to your answer to the question of a ball
embedded in a hazard [Ask Linda #813], I wonder if it might have been well
to have clarified that the restriction on declaring a ball unplayable applies
to a ball in a water hazard.
A ball in a bunker, for example, may be declared unplayable
and dropped under the procedures listed in Rule 28.
This I learned the hard way, after trying to blast a ball
out of the face of a bunker.
Lou from Florida
Dear Lou,
The question in #813 addressed a ball embedded in a water
hazard. Rather than muddy the waters with extraneous information, I limited my
answer to that particular topic.
However, since it is my goal to clarify the Rules, I will be
happy to remind readers that they may declare a ball unplayable anywhere on the
golf course except when the ball is in a
water hazard. While there is no free relief for a ball embedded in a bunker,
the player has the option to declare the ball unplayable, add a penalty stroke
to his score, and choose one of the relief options in Rule 28. Please remember
that if you choose to drop within two club-lengths or behind where the ball lay
on the line-of-sight to the hole, you must drop in the bunker. The only chance you have to drop out of the bunker
is if you choose to play under stroke and distance and your previous shot was from
outside the bunker.
Linda
Copyright © 2014 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
