Etiquette Around Unplayable Ball

[Ian_S]

No doubt this is a common query, but on my last round I sliced a drive into the trees. Having located the ball deep in the **** I proceeded to take two shots hacking it out.

Thinking about it, I could have called unplayable and taken a drop to give me a much better position. It would have felt wrong though as the ball was playable, just very awkward. Is it frowned upon to use 'unplayable ' to get out of sticky situations, or is it generally considered that the one stroke penalty is enough?

 

[fundy]

perfectly fine to declare it unplayable and take the penalty, plenty of amateurs would benefit from doing this more often!

 

[Region3]

Only you decide whether your ball is playable or not. You could call it unplayable in the middle of the fairway if you wanted to.

If you're deep in the rubbish though and want to take a drop you only have 2 club lengths. If you need 6 club lengths to get to safety you would need 3 drops and 3 penalty shots.

Other options are back to the last place you played from, or back as far as you want keeping your current position between you and the flag.

 

[chrisd]

The rules are there to help you as well as penalise you and you should always take advantage of them where you can or need to, ettiquette doesn't come into it. You can declare a ball unplayable in the middle of the fairway on a perfect lie if you want to and no one can argue.

 

[pbrown7582]

It's not wrong use the rules to help when you can as sometimes they will not help!

 

[Twire]

It might be within the rules, but is this moraly wrong?

Imagine you were on an elevated green, the pins near the front and your at the back. You putt and it sails past the hole off the green down the bank and settles on the fairway about 60 yards from the green. Would you be happy to deem it unplayable and go back to where you last played the shot i.e. the green?

 

[chrisd]

It might be within the rules, but is this moraly wrong?

Imagine you were on an elevated green, the pins near the front and your at the back. You putt and it sails past the hole off the green down the bank and settles on the fairway about 60 yards from the green. Would you be happy to deem it unplayable and go back to where you last played the shot i.e. the green?

There is no such thing as morally wrong. Golf play is covered by rules - it's either ok or it's against the rules and there is nothing in between. In your example, yes it's perfectly ok so long as you add the penalty. You could putt on the green and fall into a bunker and choose to play from your last shot position if you want - it's perfectly ok and there is no moral dilema!

 

[Ethan]

There is no such thing as morally wrong. Golf play is covered by rules - it's either ok or it's against the rules and there is nothing in between. In your example, yes it's perfectly ok so long as you add the penalty. You could putt on the green and fall into a bunker and choose to play from your last shot position if you want - it's perfectly ok and there is no moral dilema!

I totally agree. No moral, ethical or etiquette issue whatsoever. Not necessarily a good choice to take an unplayable anyway - you might do the same with the next attempt.

 

[DavidO]

Interesting. It's definately something that more amateurs should consider when in the s##t.

It's something that I should use more, but only if I can get rid of the bravado!!!

 

[backwoodsman]

As per most of the previous. It's your choice, and your choice alone, to use the rules as you think is to your best advantage. If you think a penalty drop is better than a swat at the ball, then take your penalty. There's plenty of time when the rules don't seem to help, so when they can be used, there's no arguing against it.

 

[Pants]

Don't forget that you can declare a ball unplayable anywhere on a course except when in a water hazard.

If in a bunker, you can still take any of the 3 options but if taking a penalty drop (either 2 club's lengths or back on a line) then the ball must be dropped in the bunker.

 

[Mattyboy]

Don't forget that you can declare a ball unplayable anywhere on a course except when in a water hazard.

If in a bunker, you can still take any of the 3 options but if taking a penalty drop (either 2 club's lengths or back on a line) then the ball must be dropped in the bunker.

Eh? Educate me here please? By definition, a water hazard might mean your ball is not retrievable (which makes no odds) and the player proceeds as per whether its lateral or not.

Cant agree that you cannot drop outside of a bunker (or a hazard) under penalty.

 

[rosecott]

Cant agree that you cannot drop outside of a bunker (or a hazard) under penalty.

Only by taking "stroke and distance".

 

[MashieNiblick]

Eh? Educate me here please? By definition, a water hazard might mean your ball is not retrievable (which makes no odds) and the player proceeds as per whether its lateral or not.

Indeed, but as relief from a water hazard is taken differently to relief from an unplayable lie, the Rules have to specify that the unplayable ball rule doesn't apply.

Cant agree that you cannot drop outside of a bunker (or a hazard) under penalty.

Under the unplayable ball Rule you can drop outside the bunker but only if, as Rosecott says, you play again from where the original shot was played. As Pants says, the other 2 options under the rule require the ball to be dropped in the bunker.

You can drop outside the bunker under penalty to get relief for example if the bunker is filled with casual water but that is under a different rule (25-1 - Abnormal Ground Conditions).

 

[Mattyboy]

Cheers for clearing that up - I cant recall ever taking a penalty from within a bunker which probably explains my lack of knowledge on the issue.

Go read the rule book MattyBoy!

Thanks once again.

 

[das]

Only you decide whether your ball is playable or not. You could call it unplayable in the middle of the fairway if you wanted to.

If you're deep in the rubbish though and want to take a drop you only have 2 club lengths. If you need 6 club lengths to get to safety you would need 3 drops and 3 penalty shots.

Other options are back to the last place you played from, or back as far as you want keeping your current position between you and the flag.

If you go back to the tee where you took your 1st shot. Are you allowed to tee the ball up again or do you have to play it off the tee box floor ?

 

[chrisd]

If you go back to the tee where you took your 1st shot. Are you allowed to tee the ball up again or do you have to play it off the tee box floor ?

As you are repeating the shot under penalty then you can tee it up