A Fellow Golfer Dropped A Ball From Well Below Knee Height And Then Played A Shot. What Should Have Happened Next?

Competing in a monthly medal, the person you're playing with finds their ball resting against the base of an on-course bench. It’s an immovable obstruction so they are entitled to a drop.

They go through the correct procedure under Rule 16 – ascertaining the nearest point of complete relief and measuring one club length from that point to determine a relief area.

You watch on and think all is good before walking away. But as you turn back, you see your fellow golfer dropping the ball from ankle height rather than knee height.

Before you can get back to them to advise them they have dropped incorrectly, they play a shot. What happens next? Do they need to play again or is it too late – is that a disqualification?

Firstly, if a ball was dropped incorrectly under Rule 14.3b – so not from knee height for instance – a player can correct it before making a stroke. If they drop again in the right way, there is no penalty. They can drop again as many times as they like until they get it right.

But if the player drops incorrectly (from below knee height say) and then they play a shot, there are two things that could happen.

If the player’s incorrectly dropped ball came to rest in the relief area and they then played it, they would face one penalty stroke.

If the player’s incorrectly dropped ball had come to rest outside of the relief area and then they played it, they would face the general penalty (two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play) for playing from a wrong place, against Rule 14.7a.

In the first instance, (incorrect drop in relief area) they would not be required to play the shot again and there would be no chance of disqualification – a straight one-stroke penalty would apply.

In the second instance, (incorrect drop outside relief area) the player would have to decide how to proceed with a ball played from the wrong place, with a general-penalty.

That is determined by whether or not they gained a significant advantage by playing from the wrong place.

If their incorrect drop had moved from thick rough in the relief area to a pristine lie on the fairway, and they had then played a shot, that would likely be deemed a significant advantage.

If that happened, they should correct their mistake by playing a ball from the right place (in the relief area.) If they didn’t correct their mistake before completing the hole, they would be disqualified.

If their incorrect drop had moved outside the relief area but into a lie that didn’t give a significant advantage, they would not be required to correct the mistake and could play out the hole with the ball played from the wrong place. General penalty still applying mind you.

The lesson here is - Be sure to drop from knee height and within the relief area!

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