Hi Linda,
Some years ago I asked your opinion concerning a committee decision to allow for free relief from an embedded ball in a sod bunker wall without having to provide relief through the green. With your help it was decided to abandon this idea and we stayed with relief from closely mown areas only. An unplayable would be the only option outside of trying to hit it.
Now the golf gurus have decided that one gets relief from an embedded ball in the general area. Now we’re faced with the relief procedure related to bunker walls again. I understand the relief procedure as one club-length from the spot where the ball was embedded no nearer the hole. Sometimes this would allow for the ball to be dropped on the edge of the bunker, but sometimes one would be limited to a drop on the bunker wall which will likely end up in the sand below. Is the same procedure as before used where one tries to place the ball on the spot where the second drop hit the ground and if it won’t stay to find a spot nearest to the dropped spot no nearer to the hole where the ball will come to rest which might still be on the bunker wall?
Thanks as always.
Lou from Mississauga, Ontario
Dear Lou,
Yes.
A sod bunker wall is not part of the bunker [Definition of “Bunker”]. It is in the general area, and the player is entitled to free relief if his ball is embedded. The reference point for free relief is the spot right behind where the ball is embedded. The relief area is within one club-length of that spot, no closer to the hole, and it must be in the general area [Rule 16.3b]. If the dropped ball comes to rest outside the relief area after two tries, the player must place the ball on the spot where it hit the ground after the second drop [Rule 14.3c(2)]. If the ball will not remain on that spot after two tries, it must be placed on the nearest spot where it will remain at rest. That spot must be no closer to the hole and in the general area [Rule 14.2e].
Be aware that there was a clarification issued in December that requires both the reference point for relief and the relief area to be in the general area. If the ball were embedded at the very base of the bunker wall, the spot right behind the ball (the reference point) would be in the bunker. In such a circumstance the player would not be entitled to free relief from an embedded ball.
The player may declare the ball unplayable and choose one of the relief options available in Rule 19.2 (stroke and distance, back on the line, lateral), adding one penalty stroke to his score.
The player may declare the ball unplayable and choose one of the relief options available in Rule 19.2 (stroke and distance, back on the line, lateral), adding one penalty stroke to his score.
Linda
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