Linda,
I have noticed over the years that the suggested local rules
in Appendix I, Part A, regarding dropping in a drop zone are often
misunderstood or probably never read; especially when a drop in a zone results
in the ball rolling out of the zone and moving less than two club lengths
towards the hole. Declaring that the ball is in play after such a drop
usually results in disbelief.
I even saw in a Golf Rules Guide on display in a bookshop
that on the page explaining how to use a drop zone someone had put a hand drawn
cross over the page and stated it was wrong.
Have you any description in your own straightforward style
that covers dropping in a drop zone?
Thanks and regards,
Lou from Sydney, Australia
Dear Lou,
You make a good
point, Lou. I suspect there is a healthy amount of
misunderstanding regarding how to properly use a DZ. The
procedure is spelled out in the Appendix of the rulebook (page 152 in my
edition). I suspect any ignorance is due to its location in the Appendix, where
it receives less attention than it might if it were in the main body of the
rulebook. I find the provisions very clearly stated, so rather than try to
reinvent the wheel, I will copy it verbatim below, adding only a helpful note
to (e). Pay particular attention to provision
(g), under which no re-drop is required for a ball that rolls nearer the
hole than its original position (subject to some limitations); this provision
is in direct contrast to Rule 20-2c (vii), which would require a re-drop.
Appendix
I, Part A, Local Rules, #6. Dropping Zones
Note: When using a dropping zone the
following provisions apply regarding the dropping and re-dropping of the ball:
(a) The
player does not have to stand within the dropping zone when dropping the ball.
(c) If the
dropping zone is defined by a line, the line is within the dropping zone.
(d) The
dropped ball does not have to come to rest within the dropping zone.
(e) The
dropped ball must be re-dropped if it rolls and comes to rest in a position
covered by Rule 20-2c(i-vi).
[My note: The positions referred to are if the ball rolls: into a hazard; out
of a hazard; onto a putting green; out of bounds; into a position where there
is interference by the condition from which relief was taken from an immovable
obstruction, abnormal ground condition, wrong putting green, or into the pitch
mark from which it was lifted because it was embedded; more than two
club-lengths from where it first struck the course.]
(f) The
dropped ball may roll nearer the hole than the spot where it first struck a
part of the course, provided it comes to rest within two club-lengths of that
spot and not into any of the positions covered by (e).
(g) Subject
to the provisions of (e) and (f), the dropped ball may roll and come to rest
nearer the hole than:
• the point where the original ball last
crossed the margin of the water hazard or lateral water (Rule 26-1).
Linda
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