News
The Coomer Corner: Unplayable, Even on the Fairway?
Unplayable, Even on the Fairway?
(Rules for the Game of Golf by Bill Coomer, PGA)
One of a multitude of blessings that have occurred in my life is to have met and worked with
some outstanding individuals in many walks of life. Some of my dearest friends have been or
are currently rules of golf officials. They have come from varied careers in other fields such as
bankers, lawyers, physicians, politicians, coaches, business owners, scientists, pilots, and even
a few air traffic controllers.
Unfortunately, some of my friends have passed away in recent years and I miss them very
much. Just recently during the summer of 2023, we said goodbye to Milt Toby, a lawyer,
photographer, award-winning author in the field of thoroughbred racing and teacher. Our mutual
love of writing and the rules of golf provided some wonderful conversations during those long
days on and off the golf course.
One of the many subjects we discussed was the evolution of rules and decisions. Milt gifted me
with a number of his own penned works, but I was especially honored to receive a publication
that came from his private collection of keepsakes. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St.
Andrews once published the Decisions by the Rules of Golf Committee every few years,
approximately 20 years in fact. For the two decades between 1909 and 1928, a compilation of
decisions was formed by the R&A Committee and was published and made available to clubs
through the United Kingdom. Milt told me he found the book at a little shop in Pinehurst, N.C.
As I look through this book, it reminds me of the many times I have scratched my head when
presented with questions about the rules that did not have a clear answer in the current version
of the rule books. The R&A Committee at the time received and responded to 328 inquiries
during those twenty years. The book includes inquiries, decisions, and an index for research.
One of those entries has to do with the next rule on our docket, Rule 19 – Unplayable Ball.
Truant’s Golfing Society was troubled that the “Unplayable Ball” rule may have provided players
with too lenient an option when their ball came to rest in a ditch, a bunker or other areas of the
golf course. The players did have an opportunity to play the ball in a direction that may not have
been their favorite choice, but many were choosing the relief option of this rule instead. So, the
question was asked whether this is in the true spirit of the Rule.
The answer and therefore the decision published in 1926 was that “the player is the sole arbiter
whether a ball is unplayable or not and the decision rests entirely with him.” It’s now 2024 and
the decision and rule are still the same.
Rule 19 – Unplayable Ball – Purpose of Rule: covers the player’s several options for an
unplayable ball. This allows the player to choose which option to use – normally with one
penalty stroke – to get out of a difficult situation anywhere on the course (except in a penalty
area).
The key element to this rule is to remember a player may use the rule anywhere on the course,
except in a penalty area. Those areas are restricted to use of the relief procedures in Rule 17.
When using the Unplayable Ball rule, there are three options for taking relief, adding one penalty
stroke in each case.
1. Stroke-and-distance relief option and play your ball from where you last took a stroke.
2. Back-on-the-line option, dropping the ball on a visualized line between where the original
ball would be at rest and the hole.
3. Lateral relief is a measurement of two club-lengths from where the ball is at rest.
When the ball is dropped, it must first touch one of the allowed areas of the course and it must
stay in that area when it comes to rest. Otherwise, the ball would be in a Wrong Place and, if
played, the General Penalty would apply.
Speaking of Areas of the Course, as we discussed in Rule 2, there are five areas defined by the
rules. Sometimes we forget that Bunkers are among that list and therefore this rule applies to
them. A player has all the Unplayable Ball relief options available in the bunker but also has an
additional option to consider. If the player decides that even if they take relief in the bunker, the
ball must be dropped and stay in the bunker before their next stroke. For an additional penalty
stroke, the player may choose to drop the ball outside the bunker using the back-on-the-line
relief option; a total of two penalty strokes.
As the R&A stated so well almost one hundred years ago, the player is the sole arbiter
(determiner) whether the ball is unplayable. No one else can make that decision for them. The
decision can be quite easy if you are a novice to the game whereas a player that is highly skilled
may attempt a shot many of us would never even consider.
One last thing for you to keep in mind when determining whether a ball is unplayable is what
other rules apply that may help you. If you are looking at an embedded ball, you get free relief. If
you are on or in an obstruction, you get free relief. If you are in ground under repair, you get free
relief. See where I’m going with this?
Thanks to all the men and women that have been a vital part of the corpse of rules official
throughout Kentucky and in other parts of the country where I have had the privilege to share
these experiences. Please let them know how much we appreciate their service to the game we love.
Golf House Kentucky Sponsors
