Rules Of Golf: Unplayable Ball In Bunker

Unplayable ball in bunker? Jeremy Ellwood looks at what you can and can't do if you decide it would be impossible or unwise to attempt to play it

Rules of Golf: Unplayable Ball in Bunker

While many golfers are eager to have a go at the ball regardless of where or how it is lying, there may come a time when you face a bunker lie that is pretty much unplayable.

Maybe it’s so close to a steep face that you just can’t get a stance; maybe it’s right under an overhanging lip and there’s no way of getting the ball up and out; or maybe it’s right at the back edge with virtually no chance of getting the club to the back of the ball however steeply you pick it up on the backswing.

Why you SHOULD mark your golf ball

As elsewhere on the course, you as the player are the sole judge as to whether you wish to declare your ball unplayable if you believe that’s the most prudent option to avoid racking up a potentially card-destroying number

Rule 19.3 covers unplayable balls in bunkers and, in essence, your three options for dropping under penalty of one shot are the same as they would be elsewhere on the course. Your first option is to go back to where you hit the previous shot and play again under penalty of stroke and distance. Perhaps crucially sometimes, this is your only option to drop outside the bunker for just a one-shot penalty (although you might still be in another bunker if the original shot was played from one!).

You could also decide to drop within two club-lengths of where the ball is lying in the bunker no nearer the hole, but if you go for this option you must drop within the bunker, again under penalty of one stroke.

Penalty Areas: How to proceed under Rule 17

The third option is to keep the original position of the ball in line between you and the flag, and take back-on-the-line relief by choosing a reference point any distance behind the point where the ball is lying for a one-stroke penalty. From 2023, you must actually drop on that line, with the spot on the line where the ball first touches the ground when dropped creating a relief area that is now one club-length in any direction from that point. 

With both the two club-lengths and back-on-a-line options, it’s worth factoring in the likelihood of your ball potentially plugging in soft sand even when dropped from only knee height.

Golf Rules: Putting Green Essentials

Finally, there is a further option, which although coming at a cost of two penalty shots, crucially allows you to drop back on a line between the flag and the original position of the ball as far as you like outside the bunker.

Only you can decide if the extra penalty shot is worth it and, while it’s unlikely to be commonly used, it could just be your best option if bunkers are a real problem for you and the other three options don’t appeal for various reasons – perhaps you would have to play over water again from a long way out under stroke and distance, or the sand is particularly soft and any ball dropped in it from any height could plug badly.