Where do I drop the ball?
I have seen many variations of the correct place to drop your ball if it’s out of bounds, lost in the weeds or in a Penalty Area. My hope is to show everyone the correct place to drop with this communication. I have included a couple of illustrations created by Rick Hines (Thank you Rick). You must scroll down and put your glasses on to see them.
There is some confusion about the term “Back on the Line Relief” as well. Most golfers I have talked to, thought that meant the line from their previous shot to where the ball came to rest, but that is not correct. The best way I can describe “Back on the Line” is to, stand behind the ball while looking at the pin and then taking your relief back on that line 1 club to either side of it. Then drop the ball from your knee height. Metro seniors allows us to roll the ball with our club up to a foot, left, right or back to try and improve our lie.
Lift, Clean and Place of the ball within one (1) foot, not nearer the hole, allowed on the whole of the course except:
- 1. The putting green of the hole being played; and
- 2. All Penalty Areas on the course including Bunkers
- 3. If the grass your ball is in, is longer than 6”
- 4. NOT ALLOWED to improve line of play, to get relief from behind tree, in a different cut of grass (rough to fairway),
Enjoy this video of the proper way to use “Back on the Line” relief: http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/procedure-for-taking-back-on-a-line-relief.html
Lateral Relief: Is another option for determining your drop options in some cases. This option may be used to your advantage, depending on where your ball entered the Red Staked Penalty area (Sand traps are not Red staked). I have also included a video on the proper Drop Procedures.
Lateral Relief: http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/procedure-for-taking-lateral-relief.html
USGA and PGA rules will apply for professional tournaments. In that case, Stroke and Distance penalty is allowed. Fowler could have picked his ball up, gone all the way back to his previous shot position and replayed the shot. In this case there is a 1 stroke penalty. Metro Seniors does not allow Stroke and Distance relief, because going all the way back to the previous shot position would be a huge time problem for Pace of Play.
In dropping at the edge of the Penalty area, Fowler was using Lateral relief from a Red Penalty area, 1 penalty stroke and a drop 2 club lengths from where the ball last crossed the Red Penalty boundary. He did the drops correctly, ending by placing the ball properly. Then unfortunately, the ball by itself moved rolling into the water, creating a new, added penalty for removing the ball from the water (Penalty Area) and re-dropping.
To take a Back-On-The-Line relief, it would have had to been on a line from the hole through and past the place where the ball last crossed the Red Penalty boundary for 1 penalty stroke. His relief area would have been in the water. Since there was nothing but water on the Back-On-The-Line, it was probably impractical or impossible to do a Back-On-The-Line.
Back-On-The-Line is NOT on a line from where the ball came from or line of flight. It is Back-On-The-Line from the HOLE through where the relief is initiated (water, red boundary).
We will continue with USGA rule – 2 drops then place. This should be exceptionally rare, especially with the knee high drops. Also the relief area is pretty large. Why drop it on a steep slope?
Ricky Fowler (and others) might think twice in picking a spot for a drop, especially since for them $$$ is in the outcome. For us it is just a ball (probably a found ball at that) and maybe a couple of bucks.
Hey Charles thanks for your comment. According to the USGA you should drop it twice before you place the ball. I just suggest you use your judgment we’ve all been playing this game a long time. So if you think there’s no way the ball will stay where you drop it, I would say once is enough as I don’t want this to affect our pace of play. We have all worked too hard to get where we are.
Gary B
Thanks for comment Robert. The relief option the commentator was talking about was the “Stroke and Distance” option. Allowing him to replay his last shot for a 1 stroke penalty.
I have included a link to explain the 3 drop option for the USGA rules. However Metro Seniors has eliminated the “Stroke and Distance” option in most cases, in an effort to improve our Pace of Play.
Red Stake rules link: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Atf9NKTNQNOykmYW2K2FQJ9mp67t
Drop Scenarios 2&6: How can you drop on the far side of a Penalty Area and be “no closer to the hole” than where it went in? If you don’t require that rule then you can’t call it a Red Penalty Area.
The description of “Out of Bounds” in the illustration should not say “back-along-the line-of-flight relief”. Follow #14 in 2019 Tournament Rules, i.e. drop the within two club lengths of the spot not nearer the hole where the ball went out.
If a ball is lost in the “deep rough” as shown in the illustration it is unlikely that a 2 club length relief for a “lost ball” will get you out. Most likely it would be treated as an unmarked Penalty Area as described in #17 of the 2019 Tournament Rules.
In both drop scenarios your shot has crossed the margin of the penalty area. So, you have the option of dropping on the other side. On # 2 it looks as though you could drop to the left of where the ball last crossed the margin of the penalty area. On # 6 If you stand where the ball last crossed the margin of the penalty area when it bounced back in, while looking at the pin, either right or left 2 clubs should be an option no closer to the hole. You will have to use your best judgement when applying the rules of golf to your benefit.