Drop Correctly to Avoid a Penalty
When I was a new Rules Official, I was partnered with Ron Read, Western Regional Director of the USGA, to learn the techniques of officiating. As we watched a player take a drop from a water hazard, we were both surprised to see her spin the ball as she dropped it. Ron calmly walked over, introduced himself and asked about her method of dropping. “Oh,” she said in all innocence, “We practice that at my club.” Ron explained it was not a proper drop as it is considered exerting influence on the ball, and that she would have to re-drop, happily without penalty, as she had not made a stroke at the ball. She dropped the ball properly and we left her to make her next stroke. Decision 20-2a/2 is the reference.
The Rules of Golf require three things of the player when dropping. The golfer must stand erect, hold the ball at shoulder height and arms length and then drop. It does not matter if the arm is in front or to the side, if the golfer faces the hole or faces away as long as the golfer’s posture is correct and the ball strikes the appropriate part of the course. If the drop is in an improper manner, or if the ball is dropped by the wrong person and the ball is played, the player incurs a one-stroke penalty.
Ryan Gregg, Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions, needed that very information during the beginning of his career with the NCGA. In a stroke play tournament, two players hit tee shots in the same area and found both balls were in positions where there was interference with the cart path. Player A who had been the shorter hitter all day, found the nearest point of relief from the path for the ball farthest from the hole and dropped it. Before he played the ball Player B realized the other ball was not his and questioned whether Player A had dropped his (B’s) ball. Knowing the ball was dropped on the correct part of the course, Player B said “Thanks for doing all the work for me,” and hit his ball as it lay.
Poppy Hills Assistant Professional Holly Juergens demonstrates two good drops, one to the front and one to the side. Since the ball is dropped below shoulder height, the drop is illegal.
When one of the officials heard the story he thought something was wrong but could not find a Decision that gave him guidance. Ryan found the answer in the first sentence in Rule 20-2. “A ball to be dropped under the Rules must be dropped by the player himself.” Relief without penalty tuned into a one stroke penalty.
While dropping a ball seems like a simple procedure, sometimes the area where the ball must be dropped and where it will not be nearer the hole than its original position or nearer than the nearest point of relief is quite small – maybe just a few inches. The drop is not a good one until the ball first strikes that small area when dropped. It can bounce out of that area, but it must first strike the course within the prescribed area.
John Morrissett, director Rules of Golf for the USGA, helped a player who wanted to take relief from an obstruction at the US Girl’s Junior Championship at Merion GC. It turned out the player had only a few inches to drop the ball within and not be nearer the hole. Normally a player has one club-length in this situation.
As the gallery watched from the hill above, they observed the player dropping a fourth and fifth time. John’s wife was in the gallery and heard someone say, “Doesn’t that official know you drop twice and then you place?” That is true in most situations because the ball easily strikes the course with in the required club-length when dropped. In that case, when the target area is only a few inches sometimes a few drops are required. Remember, the drop does not count until the ball finally lands within the target area. With this eventually accomplished, the player was able to proceed with her game.
When playing golf with your friends, next time one of them has to take a drop in the rough, watch out for a “rough magnet.” The player will start out correctly with his arm at shoulder height, but as he looks at the deep rough from which he will be playing his next shot, his arm gets lower and lower until he finally lets go of the ball at about waist-height. Nice try ¾ you need to re-drop it correctly.
so when the ball lands on the edge of a cart path and you take a club lenght and drop and the ball rolls back to the cart path and you drop again and the samething happen do you place it on the spot it hit?
thx
April 17th, 2008 at 11:44 pmroc
The drop above, where it would not land in the small are that was the nearest point of relief it is stated – “That is true in most situations because the ball easily strikes the course with in the required club-length when dropped. In that case, when the target area is only a few inches sometimes a few drops are required. Remember, the drop does not count until the ball finally lands within the target area.
So, if the area is small and sloped and you cannot get the ball to drop and stay there, what do you do. I usually see them drop a couple times and if the ball rolls closer or outside of the 1 club length from the nearest point of relief, then they place the ball in the intended drop area.
What I am seeking is what the difference between situations is for being able to place after a few attempts to drop. I know at a lateral water hazard, with a bank, you can place after a couple of tries if the ball keeps rolling back toward the water. What is the definitive difference?
Thanks in advance for any clarification.
J
May 16th, 2008 at 3:04 pmDear J,
When taking a drop the ball must first strike the course within the 1 or 2 club-lengths prescribed under the applicable rule. (1 club length for drops without penalty; 2 clubs-lengths for drops with penalty.)
The ball can strike anywhere withing that area and can roll up to 2 club-lenghts from the point where it first strikes the course as long as it is not nearer the hole, etc. (see Rule 20-2c for when to re-drop)The ball does not have to stay within the drop area. If a re-drop is required as outlined in 20-2c, it is dropped a second time. At this point if the ball is in a spot that would require a re-drop, the ball is placed on the spot where it first struck the course on that second drop. Basic rule of thumb drop in the proper spot twice and then place.
Gail
May 19th, 2008 at 3:26 pmHello, I’ve got a few questions that seem appropriate to this topic:
1. I’ve come across the situation where a (usually lateral) water hazard lies next to the cart path, but the path itself is not in the hazard. There is not enough room to drop the ball outside the hazard and have sufficient relief from the cart path (sometimes one edge of the cart path is essentially the border of the hazard). Every time I have encountered this on the course (including tournaments), the player has dropped within one club length of the nearest point of relief from the cart path. However, I see no place in the rules where that would be permitted. As I see it, the player would have to drop the ball on the cart path or the small strip of grass between the path and the hazard, then after the ball has come to rest (if within two club lengths of where it landed) take relief from the cart path (on the other side because the nearest point of relief cannot be in a hazard). Is this correct?
2. When dropping after hitting into a lateral water hazard under 26-1(c), am I correct that the player is not guaranteed to have a stance outside the water hazard after the ball is dropped? For example, if there is a hill that slopes towards the water, and the ball is dropped a few feet away from the hazard and rolls back to the very edge, the ball is in play even though the player has no stance?
3. If a player is dropping near a water hazard and the ball is clearly rolling into the hazard (and has crossed the margin of the hazard), can another player stop the ball from going into the water so that the player does not lose one or two balls during the dropping process? I don’t see anything in the rules about this, so I would assume this is not allowed, although I have seen this practice in tournaments.
Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to reading the answers.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:21 pmA couple of weeks ago, we played Sunol Valley Golf Course Tournment play. we played the PALM Course on hole number 15 it is a par 5, 1 player hit it into the water hazard/creek on the left hand side of the cart path(RED STAKES), he did not have a 5th shot. He read in a Rules book that he can bring the ball back as far as he can, and i told him(only if there are YELLOW STAKES).I think all players need to carry a RULES OF THE GAME.
please e-mail me who is right and who is wrong, i feel like i am playing with a bunch of CRY-BABIES.
October 20th, 2008 at 9:56 pmRED STAKES
October 20th, 2008 at 9:58 pm