Declaring unplayable ball when placed.

[Tashyboy]

Talking in the clubhouse when finished today and was on about an " incident" when I played at Tyneside last month.

Bezerk, hit his drive and it hit a tree and rolled back towards us down the path. It came to rest upon said path. Ten yards forward of his original drive

we agreed it was a free drop, however the nearest point was a near vertical banking on the raised tee. After three attempts where the ball rolled down said banking and ended up on the path again. Said ball was placed on the vertical banking. We were all happy with this. ( not possible to play ball other side of path)
Beezerk hit his second shot which resulted in a 6" horizontal divot and the ball going forward another 40 yd.
i mentioned this in the clubhouse and another ruling was stated.

Beezerk could of deemed his ball " unplayable " and hit another shot off the tee with a one stroke penalty. Now I don't know if this is right or wrong. But how can you place a ball on the course and then deem it unplayable.

 

[hovis]

You can deem your ball unplayable from the centre of the putting green if you like

Nearest point of relief isn't always the best option so there's nothing wrong with declaring it unplayable and taking your shot again from where it was last played

 

[Tashyboy]

You can deem your ball unplayable from the centre of the putting green if you like

Nearest point of relief isn't always the best option so there's nothing wrong with declaring it unplayable and taking your shot again from where it was last played

Hovis is that with a one shot penalty

 

[Norrin Radd]

he would have been playing 3 off the tee,had he decided an unplayable.

 

[duncan mackie]

Hovis is that with a one shot penalty

Yes - and from the original wording there's also the possible penalty for wrong procedure when dropping; why was it dropped 3 times?

 

[hovis]

Yes. If for eg you hit your tee shot to the centre of the fairway then hit your second on the cart path you can declare it unplayable and go back to the fairway and hit your 4th shot

 

[backwoodsman]

Hovis is that with a one shot penalty

Yes. Stroke and distance is a under penalty of 1 shot.

 

[rulefan]

we agreed it was a free drop, however the nearest point was a near vertical banking on the raised tee.

Did he take the additional 1 clublength into account? I am surprised the banking was so wide.

After three attempts where the ball rolled down said banking and ended up on the path again.

Why 3 attempts? The rule requires 2.

Said ball was placed on the vertical banking.

I hope he didn't press the ball into the ground slightly in order to hold it at rest.

 

[Beezerk]

Did he take the additional 1 clublength into account? I am surprised the banking was so wide.




Why 3 attempts? The rule requires 2.



I hope he didn't press the ball into the ground slightly in order to hold it at rest.

Yes it was very wide.
Can't remember how many attempts.
No I didn't press and hold the ball, the slope was severe but the grass was thick enough to hold it.

I think I started a thread about it at the time as I wasnt fully in relief of the path (I was still stood on it).

 

[Colin L]

Beezerk could of deemed his ball " unplayable " and hit another shot off the tee with a one stroke penalty. Now I don't know if this is right or wrong. But how can you place a ball on the course and then deem it unplayable.

Once he drops/places his ball it is in play. If he then decides to deem it unplayable he has the option of playing it again from the tee since that was where he made his previous stroke. He would, however, have to count a stroke for the drop and another stroke for stroke and distance. He would return to the tee and play his 4th shot (setting aside the question of the 3rd drop).

 

[rulie]

Once he drops/places his ball it is in play. If he then decides to deem it unplayable he has the option of playing it again from the tee since that was where he made his previous stroke. He would, however, have to count a stroke for the drop and another stroke for stroke and distance. He would return to the tee and play his 4th shot (setting aside the question of the 3rd drop).

Can you explain counting a stroke for the drop?

 

[Colin L]

Can you explain counting a stroke for the drop?

I was thinking of regression under Rule 28. Once a ball has been put into play under an applicable rule, as is the case here, the player must continue to put that ball correctly into play. He can do so by deeming it unplayable and taking the penalty stroke for that. But this is not regression under the unplayable lie rule where there is a penalty stroke for every time you take another drop. There was no penalty involved in the relief from the path and so there would be no additional penalty to stroke and distance if the player deems the dropped ball unplayable.

Apologies, I shouldn't fire off opinions late at night.

 

[Colin L]

Apologies, I shouldn't fire off opinions late at night.

And before rulefan hints at any involvement of red wine in the matter ......... that too.

 

[Tashyboy]

Yes it was very wide.
Can't remember how many attempts.
No I didn't press and hold the ball, the slope was severe but the grass was thick enough to hold it.

I think I started a thread about it at the time as I wasnt fully in relief of the path (I was still stood on it).

As the incident happened, The ball was rolling back down the path towards us, Heavy Grebo said " you have got away with that one". Beezerk said " really" I nearly wet my pants.
Everything that was done re dropping of the ball and placing the ball was done within the rules as we understood them and with good faith. Certainly Beezerk had no advantage when playing his next stroke akin to a " Babe Ruth swing".
It was when someone mentioned the ball being deemed as unplayable, two things popped up in my mind.
1, we never knew or thought of that.
2, can you deem a ball unplayable when you have you have placed it. That has now been answered. Cheers boys.

 

[backwoodsman]

And just to chuck in one other thing. He did not even need to declare the ball unplayable. He could have simply gone back to the tee and played another ball under stroke & distance. You don't need a reason - you just can. Rule 27-1a

 

[BillyBeardie]

While we're chucking things in... He could also have opted to simply play it as it lay on the path. As I'm sure many have said before it's always worth checking all the options - including where the NPR and drop are likely to be - before picking the ball up and invalidating the option to play it as it lies.

 

[rulefan]

While we're chucking things in... He could also have opted to simply play it as it lay on the path. As I'm sure many have said before it's always worth checking all the options - including where the NPR and drop are likely to be - before picking the ball up and invalidating the option to play it as it lies.

You can put it back down again and play from there but is will cost you a stroke.