Hi Linda,
I continue to very much enjoy your blog posts. Thanks so
much. You've clarified many a situation for me.
Yesterday I hit my 2nd shot straight into some large bushes
(small trees) to the left of the fairway. I found my ball, some 15 to 20 feet
inside the bushes. I was unclear of my options in terms of taking penalty
drops. I knew I could have played another ball from the same spot under penalty
of stroke and distance, but could I have:
1. taken a 1 shot penalty and played my ball from within 2
club-lengths of where the ball entered the bushes?
2. taken a 1-shot penalty and gone back as far as I liked to
drop the ball on a line between where the ball entered the bushes and the flag?
Also, on point 1, can that 2-club relief be in any direction
from the point of entry but no nearer the hole?
My opponent suggested that the 2 club-lengths had to start
from where the ball was found rather than where it entered the bushes meaning
that the ball would still be in the bushes, even after 4 club lengths.
Cheers,
Lou from Wales
Dear Lou,
Your understanding of the “stroke and distance” relief option for an unplayable ball is correct. Your suggestions that you "drop within two club-lengths of where
the ball entered the bushes" or drop on a line between where the ball entered the bushes and the flag" are not.
If you choose to drop behind the bush, you must drop on the line that begins at the hole, passes through where the ball lies under the bush (not where the ball entered the bush), and continues to infinity. I refer to this procedure in my columns as "dropping on the line of sight to the hole."
Clearly, if you will need several drops to escape your predicament, it might be in your best interest to select one of the other two relief options.
Linda
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