- 6 minutes ago
So you want to take an unplayable drop but do you know exactly how to do that and where and when the rule applies? In this video rules expert Fergus Bisset is joined by Depute Editor Joel Tadman to run through six different situations where the unplayable rule applies and how to execute the drop correctly.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00So you've hit your ball into a spot of bother
00:01and you're not able to make an attempt at hitting the shot.
00:05How do you proceed?
00:06You know you want to take relief,
00:07but what are the options available to you
00:09and how many shots is it going to cost you?
00:11That's what we're going to uncover in this video here
00:13at Trump Turnberry.
00:14I'm joined by our rules expert, Fergus Bissett.
00:17We're going to run through everything you need to know
00:18about taking a drop for an unplayable ball
00:20and also highlight some of the common mistakes
00:22that golfers make to ensure that you
00:24don't make those mistakes as well.
00:26Right Fergus, I've semi-topped my drive.
00:28We're going in this direction
00:30and it's absolutely driven itself down
00:32into this really thick rough.
00:34It's not embedded, but it's very deep down in that grass.
00:37Yeah.
00:38I genuinely think if I had a go at hitting it,
00:40I would just be hitting it further into the grass.
00:43I don't think I can get it out
00:44of this sort of troublesome area.
00:46Okay.
00:47I know I don't want to play it,
00:48so what are my options in this situation?
00:50Well, I think we're on rule 19, unplayable ball.
00:54Yeah.
00:5419.1, you can declare an unplayable ball
00:57anywhere on the golf course
00:59other than in the penalty area.
01:01That's quite important, actually.
01:02If you're in a penalty area, rule 17 applies
01:05and that deals with penalty areas.
01:07In this instance, you're not in a penalty area,
01:09you're going to have three options from here.
01:11Okay.
01:12The first option is that you could go back to the tee
01:14and play three off the tee.
01:16Yeah.
01:17That's not the worst of options here.
01:19Yeah.
01:19Option two would be that you would take back on the line, relief.
01:23Now, the hole's over there, you take a line between this ball
01:27and the hole and go straight back as far as you want.
01:31Now, you may find that over the top of this rise,
01:34there might be a clear patch.
01:35It doesn't look too clever in this direction at the moment.
01:38It probably looks worse that way than it does here.
01:39Probably looks worse that way, but of course,
01:41the line extends from the ball,
01:43so there could be an area back on a line
01:44that looks a little bit more promising.
01:46Okay.
01:48Third option would be a lateral drop of two club lengths
01:51from the spot of the original ball, no closer to the hole.
01:55And if you can find an area within two club lengths
01:58that you think I could proceed the ball effectively from there,
02:01you could do that.
02:02Okay, so it's a semi-circle sort of area,
02:04no nearer the hole, so it's sort of forming around this way.
02:07Exactly, two club lengths, no nearer the hole.
02:09So the choice is yours, really.
02:12I mean, but almost certainly here, back on the line,
02:16or two club lengths is going to produce a tough lie,
02:19but perhaps with a drop, you're going to be in a better position
02:22than when you've buried in there.
02:24So let's assume I'm going to take the two club length option.
02:26So let's just go through the process
02:28to make sure the viewers sort of know exactly
02:30what they need to do, so.
02:31First is first.
02:32Yes.
02:33Must always mark the position of the ball, right?
02:34Mark the position of the ball.
02:35Okay, there we go.
02:37Good stuff.
02:37That's marked.
02:39And then, two club lengths.
02:42So I'll go.
02:42You're going in that direction.
02:43That's absolutely fine.
02:44You're going backwards.
02:45One, two.
02:47Now mark the ball, the end of the club,
02:50no further than the end of the club, at the end.
02:53There we go.
02:54Not beyond the end.
02:55Okay.
02:55That's fine.
02:56You've marked the relief area.
02:58You can now pick up the ball.
03:00If I can find it.
03:00If you can find it.
03:02Oh, there it is.
03:02Yeah, that is well and truly buried.
03:05Here we go.
03:06That's definitely mine.
03:06Okay.
03:07Make sure it's yours.
03:08Quite right.
03:08You've identified that it is yours, so that's fine.
03:11Okay.
03:11And then knee-high drops.
03:13Yes.
03:14That's very important.
03:14Somewhere within this relief area.
03:16See, I'm quite lucky here.
03:17The grass is growing with us, so I think if I can drop it here.
03:21Knee-high.
03:22Knee-high.
03:24There you go.
03:24That is actually quite a nice result.
03:26That's sitting up quite nicely.
03:27And I think you're in play there, and I think you can get it down the fairway a little
03:31way from there.
03:31I agree.
03:32I think it's important to know the three different options you have available to you.
03:35Because certainly in my experience playing golf, I'm pretty sure I've used all three
03:38at some point.
03:39Yeah.
03:39It depends on the situation.
03:41So make sure you pick the right one to give you the best advantage.
03:44But obviously, worth pointing out, that's a penalty shot, right?
03:47So I'm now playing three.
03:48It is.
03:48Because all those options are under penalty of one shot.
03:51There we go.
03:52So if you're looking to take an unplayable, those are the options available to you.
03:54And that's how you execute it in this particular situation.
03:58Right, Fergus.
03:59I've got another shocking tee shot.
04:00I've snap hooked it on the amazing 10th hole here at Trump Turnberry.
04:05And my ball is buried in this thick lie in the rough again.
04:10I don't think I can play it.
04:11I don't think I can get it out of this really heavy grass.
04:13I want to take an unplayable drop because two club links within that sort of range.
04:18I've got some lovely sort of flattened down grass here.
04:20I'm pretty confident I'll get a very nice lie here for my third shot.
04:24Please tell me that's perfectly fine within the rules of golf, please.
04:28I'm afraid I can't tell you that.
04:29And the reason for that is this red stake.
04:31Right.
04:32You're in a penalty area here.
04:34I am.
04:34And rule 19.1 says that you can declare an unplayable ball anywhere on the golf course
04:41except in a penalty area.
04:43Right.
04:43Now in a penalty area you have to go by rule 17 rather than rule 19.
04:48You cannot take a two club length drop in the penalty area for an unplayable ball.
04:53Your options are back to the tee.
04:56Yeah.
04:56Stroke and distance relief.
04:57These are all under penalty of a shot.
04:59Three off the tee.
05:00Three off the tee.
05:01Back in a line from where it crossed the penalty area, keeping the hole at the point where it crossed.
05:07That might be an option for you.
05:08Could be, yeah.
05:09Or you can take a two club length drop from the point across the penalty area.
05:14A lateral drop there.
05:15Which is down in some fairly difficult looking terrain.
05:19I'm afraid you're not going to be able to drop it here though.
05:21That is a shame.
05:22But I think in this particular situation I would probably go back on a line from where it entered
05:27obviously which would be around about here.
05:28Yeah, yeah.
05:29And go back that way.
05:30So that's interesting.
05:31That's what you've got to do.
05:32Yeah.
05:32Interesting distinction there.
05:33If you are looking to get relief from a bad lie in a penalty area, the unplayable rules do not
05:38apply.
05:45I can't help but notice you're struggling a bit, Fergus.
05:47Have you thought about subscribing to the Golf Month YouTube channel?
05:50Why would I do that?
05:50Oh, it's great.
05:51Not only have they got equipment reviews, rules videos, but they've also got some really good tips videos which clearly
05:56you need to watch.
05:57I think I'd better get on it.
05:59Good man.
06:00Have you?
06:02Right, Fergus, I've got a bit of a case of the less as you probably tell.
06:05Off the tee and now with my approach shot, I found myself into this horrific lie.
06:11And we have a look at the line of the red stakes on this penalty area.
06:15And I'm technically actually not in the penalty area here.
06:17Not in it, no.
06:19I know I want to take a drop.
06:20I can't really play this.
06:22I believe you're about to tell me there's sort of an interesting option that's available to me when you want
06:27to take an unplayable lie close to a penalty area.
06:29What is that, please?
06:30Well, although you can't take an unplayable ball situation in a penalty area, there's nothing to stop you taking a
06:36drop into a penalty area if you're unplayable on any other part of the course.
06:42Now here, I think your best option is going to be to take back on the line relief, the pin
06:47is over there, the ball is here.
06:48You can get it back onto that nice bit of sand on the beach here.
06:52There's nothing to stop you taking a drop there.
06:54Okay.
06:54And I think that would be your best option in this situation.
06:57I tend to agree.
06:57It's a nice flat lie.
06:58I'm a pretty competent sand player at the bunkers.
07:01You don't say to yourself.
07:02Definitely, you know, the flat lie on the beach there is going to be way better than trying to hack
07:05it out of this stuff.
07:06So that's an interesting option to have at your disposal.
07:09Let's go and give it a go.
07:10Give it a go.
07:12Mark the ball.
07:15Yeah, it is yours.
07:16There's mine.
07:21Okay, so back on a line.
07:23Yeah.
07:24Sort of here.
07:25Just about here.
07:26Yeah.
07:27Knee high drop.
07:30Oh, it didn't plug.
07:33That ball's in play.
07:34Lovely.
07:34In play?
07:35Yeah.
07:35Okay, let's give it a go.
07:39Oh, nipped it nicely.
07:43I'm pretty happy with that.
07:45There you go.
07:46You can take a drop in a penalty area if you want to.
07:49It might just give you a better lie than you had before.
07:53Fergus, my golf ball has plugged in the sand within possibly one of the deepest pot bunkers I've ever seen.
08:00Yeah.
08:01Here by the 10th green at the Elsa course at Trump Turnberry.
08:04And I'm almost certain I'm not going to get it out from this position.
08:09Right.
08:09Also, even if I have a swipe at it, you know, the ball runs down into the sand.
08:13Even then, I'm not even sure I can get it out of this bunker.
08:15Okay.
08:16I think there's a lot of golfers out there who really struggle with this shot in terms of getting out
08:19and could rack up a seriously big number.
08:21Yep.
08:22Can the rules of golf come to my aid in this particular situation?
08:26They might just be able to.
08:28Now, rule 19.3, which deals with an unplayable ball in a bunker, gives you one extra option compared to
08:35an unplayable ball in another part of the golf course.
08:38And that extra option is that you can, under penalty of two shots, drop it back on a line with
08:45a flag outside of the bunker.
08:47Yeah.
08:47Now, that's important. It is two shots that you're going to be adding to your score, but you might decide
08:51that that is the more sensible option than spending quite a long time hacking it around in this bunker.
08:57I think that's definitely preferable because, obviously, if you take an unplayable lie for the one-shot penalty and dropping
09:02it in the bunker, the chances are it's going to semi-plug in the sand.
09:04That could happen.
09:05That could happen.
09:06Which would then make it even less likely that you're going to get the ball out of this particularly deep
09:09bunker.
09:10So, I'm going to do exactly what you said. Take a two-shot penalty option, mark the position in the
09:15ball.
09:16That is definitely my ball. I'm going to go back on the line from the flag to where that tee
09:21is. So, it's around about here.
09:23Obviously, with this particular shot, I can get a pretty clean lie here.
09:30That's okay.
09:31Happy with that?
09:32That's gone within my club rank.
09:33So, I've got a two-shot penalty, but I've got, hopefully, a relatively easy chip shot.
09:37The last thing I want to do, though, is duff it back into this bunker and have it all over
09:41again.
09:42It is.
09:46Oh, played nicely.
09:47Beautifully done.
09:48Now, that might just be the most sensible option, though.
09:50There you go. So, be pragmatic about this situation.
09:53Stop, take a moment, consider the options available to you, and don't forget about the extra option in a bunker
09:58because it could really save you racking up a big number on your scorecard.
10:03Fergus, you may have just witnessed the worst drive I've ever hit. I've toe shanked it off this tee. It's
10:09hit that water fountain there, flown over our heads, gone quite a long way back straight into a gorse brush
10:15over there.
10:17Not a very good result.
10:19No.
10:19I know it's my ball over there. I want to take an unplayable, and I also know under the rules
10:24of the unplayable rule, I'm allowed to take stroke and distance from where I last played my shot, which is
10:29clearly here, but this position is obviously a lot nearer the hole than where my ball currently rests.
10:36Presumably, in this case, that's not allowed.
10:39It is allowed. You're in luck, kind of.
10:43We've been over and identified your ball over there, so we know it's yours, so you can declare an unplayable
10:49ball.
10:51Yeah, your options would have been you could have taken a two-club length lateral drop from there or back
10:56in the line relief, but neither of those are very appealing at all.
10:58No.
10:59So, stroke and distance, even though you are closer to the hole than where your ball originally ended up, you
11:06can play it from here, and to top it off, you can tee it up again.
11:10I mean, that is a bit of a result, isn't it?
11:12Because it's on the teeing area.
11:13It's considerably noticeably closer than where I was before, so let's see if I can make a better fist of
11:19it this time around.
11:22Hopefully, you're safe there. We'll see.
11:27Oh, look at that.
11:29Well, you've ripped that one.
11:30Straight down the middle.
11:30Did you do that the first time?
11:31That was a good question.
11:32Good second serve.
11:33I see. So, there you go.
11:34If you're in an unfortunate situation of ricocheting a ball back behind you, you can take stroke and distance, and
11:40you'll be even further up the hole than your ball currently was.
11:44Right, Fergus, things are going from bad to worse for me today.
11:46I've pulled my tee shot on this hole, and as we can see, my ball has lodged itself miraculously up
11:53in this tree here.
11:54Obviously, I could potentially get the driver out and try and think it off and get it off there, but
11:59there's a chance I could miss the ball completely, the ball could not come out.
12:03I think the safer option that I want to take here is to take an unplayable.
12:07Okay.
12:07How does that work in a situation like this?
12:10First things first is that you have to be able to identify your ball.
12:13If you can't identify it, then it would be a lost ball, and you'd have to go back and play
12:17again under penalty of stroke and distance.
12:19But in this instance, the ball is close enough that we can definitely say it's your ball.
12:24So, we just proceed under rule 19, the unplayable ball rule, in which you have three options.
12:31Yeah.
12:31I think the best option for you here will be the two club length lateral drop under penalty of a
12:36stroke.
12:37Now, obviously, you're not going to measure from the ball because it's up the tree.
12:41Yeah.
12:42So, you're going to measure two club lengths from a spot on the ground directly below where the ball is.
12:47Okay.
12:47And you're going to measure two club lengths no nearer the hole.
12:50Once I know that it's my ball, am I allowed to sort of shake the tree to try and get
12:55it down?
12:56Yeah.
12:57How does that work?
12:57Well, even if you didn't know it was your, if you wanted to try and identify your ball, you could
13:02climb the tree and have a look to see if it was your ball.
13:04Right.
13:04Or, yeah, you can shake the tree and if it comes down and it's your ball, then you can then
13:08proceed under the unplayable ball.
13:10But you have to be certain it's your ball.
13:12You have to be certain, yeah.
13:13Right.
13:13So, I mean, people might use a range finder.
13:16If it can't, if they're not going to get it down, you don't have to get your ball down.
13:19Okay.
13:19You can substitute a ball, but you have to know that the ball that's in the tree is your ball.
13:23Okay, so I don't have to use that one to take my lateral drop.
13:25You don't have to, no.
13:26That's handy.
13:27I don't have the ball on this one.
13:28I'm just going to knock this one down.
13:29Yeah, go for it.
13:30There we go.
13:30Got it out.
13:31So we know that it's here.
13:32Yeah, that's where it was.
13:33So you need to mark a spot where the original ball was on the ground.
13:37I would say that was around about here.
13:42Is that fair?
13:43Yeah, that looks right.
13:44And you've got two club lengths no nearer the hole from there.
13:48One, two.
13:49I've got a nice flat lie here, which is nice.
13:51Yeah.
13:51Definitely the best option.
13:54So I can drop within this.
13:55Drop within there.
13:56Two club lengths and see how we get on.
14:01Yeah, you're still in there.
14:02Just no nearer the hole.
14:03You're going to need a wedge.
14:04I am.
14:05This is quite a tricky shot, but I'll give it my best.
14:09Definitely better from being up in that tree.
14:12Let's give it a go.
14:21Oh, for the bank.
14:22Well, very nearly.
14:22I tried to kill it into the bank.
14:24Not my best shot.
14:25So there you go.
14:26If your ball does get stuck in a tree, those are the options available to you.
14:31So there you have it.
14:32I hope you found that useful in highlighting some of the unusual stuff.
14:35All situations that your golf ball can find itself in.
14:37Now you know, if you're in that situation yourself, how to proceed and take a correct
14:42unplayable drop under the rules of golf to make sure you don't rack up any big scores
14:47with some penalty shots.
14:48But that's all from us here at Trump Turnberry.
14:50We'll see you next time.
Comments