Okay, let’s talk about hitting a golf ball somewhere you just can’t play it from. Happened to me more times than I care to admit, honestly. Last Saturday, for example, hooked one deep into these thick, nasty bushes off the fairway on the 7th. Went looking for it, found it after a couple of minutes, but man, there was no way. It was jammed right under a root, surrounded by thorns. Couldn’t even get a club on it, let alone make a swing.
So, what do you do? You gotta know the ‘unplayable’ rule. It’s a lifesaver sometimes, even though it costs you a stroke. First thing I did was stand there, look at the ball, and say out loud to my playing partners, “Okay, this is unplayable.” You kinda have to declare it. It’s your decision, nobody else’s.
My Options Right There
Once I decided I couldn’t play it, I basically had three choices. It’s always these three, and you gotta pick the best one for your situation. Here’s what I thought through:
- Go back to where I last hit from. This is always an option. You just estimate the spot you played your previous shot from, drop a ball there, and add one penalty stroke to your score. Sometimes this is the best bet if the other options leave you in trouble, but walking back can be a pain, especially if it was a long way. I hit that shot from the tee, so going back meant re-teeing, hitting my third shot from there.
- Drop back on a line. Imagine a straight line going from the hole, through the spot where my ball was stuck in the bush, and extending backwards as far as I want. I could drop a ball anywhere on that line, again, adding one penalty stroke. When you drop it this way, the ball has to land within one club-length of where it first hits the ground on that line, and can’t roll closer to the hole than that spot. This looked okay, but the line back took me into some pretty rough grass.
- Drop sideways (lateral relief). This is often the go-to. From where the ball lay unplayable in the bush, I could measure two club-lengths to the side, making sure the spot I picked wasn’t any closer to the hole. Then I’d drop the ball within that two club-length area. This also costs one penalty stroke. This seemed like the quickest and potentially best option for me on Saturday. The ground two club-lengths over was rough, but definitely playable.
What I did: I took the third option, the lateral relief. Pulled out my driver (longest club in the bag, except a putter, for measuring), measured two club-lengths sideways, no closer to the hole, found a spot in the lighter rough, and dropped my ball. Took my penalty stroke like a grown-up. Ended up making a double bogey on the hole, which wasn’t great, but way better than trying to hack it out of that bush and maybe taking three or four shots to get it back in play.
So yeah, that’s the unplayable lie drill. Find your ball, realize you’re stuck, declare it unplayable, figure out your three options, pick the best one for you, take your one-stroke penalty, drop it right, and get on with the game. It’s just part of golf sometimes.
