Rule 19: Rescue action: your ball is unplayable
What this is about
Sometimes your golf ball ends up in such an awkward spot that you can't make a normal stroke. This rule gives you options to move your ball. You always do this for a small penalty.
What you need to do
You decide for yourself whether your ball is unplayable. You can use this rule anywhere, except when your ball is in a penalty area. Different rules apply there. You choose one of the following options, each time with one penalty stroke:
- Back to where you played your previous stroke: Play a new ball from the spot where you played your previous stroke.
- Back-on-the-line relief: Drop a new ball somewhere behind the original spot. Draw an imaginary line from the flagstick through the original spot. The spot where you drop must be on that line, but further from the flagstick. You can go back as far as you want. The ball must land and come to rest within one club-length of the reference point. That club-length is the length of your longest club, other than your putter.
- Lateral relief: Drop a new ball within two club-lengths of the original spot. The spot where you drop the ball must never be closer to the flagstick than your ball was originally. The ball must land and come to rest within this two club-length area.
Is your ball in a bunker? Then the same three options apply. However, with back-on-the-line or lateral relief, the ball you drop must stay within the edges of the bunker.
Common mistake
A common mistake is thinking you can move your ball for free. This rule is there to help you, but it always comes with one penalty stroke. This applies to all the relief options.
Example
Your ball has ended up deep in a bush and a normal stroke is impossible. You decide to declare your ball unplayable. With one penalty stroke, you drop a new ball two club-lengths to the side of the bush. You then continue playing from that better spot.
Practise this rule with real exam questions in the free app.
19.1 You may declare a ball unplayable anywhere (except in a penalty area)
You may declare your ball unplayable at any time. This is entirely up to your own judgment; it doesn't have to be objectively unplayable. A penalty of one stroke always applies.
19.2 Relief options for an unplayable ball in the general area or on the putting green
The player has three options (each with one penalty stroke):
- Stroke and distance: play the ball from where the previous stroke was made
- Back-on-the-line relief: drop the ball on a line going straight back from the hole through the spot where the ball lay, with no limit on how far back you can go
- Lateral relief: drop the ball within two club-lengths of where the ball lay, not nearer the hole
19.3 Relief options for an unplayable ball in a bunker
If the ball is unplayable in a bunker, you have four options:
- Stroke and distance (one penalty stroke): play from the previous spot
- Back-on-the-line relief in the bunker (one penalty stroke): drop the ball back on a line, but the ball must be dropped in the bunker
- Lateral relief in the bunker (one penalty stroke): drop the ball within two club-lengths, but the ball must stay in the bunker
- Back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker (two penalty strokes): drop the ball on a line behind the bunker, outside the bunker