WHY?

[Fileygolfer]

OK, this is for you guys who give us the REASONS why a Rule is there.

Why do you NOT get a re-drop from an Unplayable Lie when the ball rolls back into its origional spot?
After all you have incurred a shot penalty already.

[jwaldrop]

That one doesn't make any sense. Rule should be the same as the drop from a hazard.

[straightshooter]

I think the reason has to be that the unplayable lie exists only in the player's head, it is not defined in any other way. Because the unplayable lie exists only in the player's head, his perceived (and currently non-existent) "right" to take a "fair" re-drop after an unfortunate first drop cannot be verified.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by straightshooter

I think the reason has to be that the unplayable lie exists only in the player's head, it is not defined in any other way. Because the unplayable lie exists only in the player's head, his perceived (and currently non-existent) "right" to take a "fair" re-drop after an unfortunate first drop cannot be verified.

Exactly. It's the player's decision to declare his ball unplayable, and it's up to him to determine a drop point that will relieve him of that condition. If there is a real chance that when proceeding under Option c ("c. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.") the ball might roll back to its original position, or into something even worse, then he should be considering...

Option a:

a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5);

or Option b:

b. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped

... instead of Option c. When in a difficult situation, it's wise to always give at least a momentary consideration to all of one's options before proceeding. Sometimes stroke and distance is the least costly in the long run.

[Ty_Webb]

On a connected note, if you hit your ball into the woods, find it and decide you have a shot out in spite of the fact that you have maybe thirty yards worth of trees to get out from, hit it and it hits a tree and bounces back further into the trees behind you, do you have the option of declaring that unplayable and dropping it back where you played your second shot from and then declaring that one unplayable again and going back to the tee? Or in shortened version, once you have a go at hitting it, are you stuck in the trees or can you take an unplayable and get back out again (assuming b is not a reasonable option)?

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Ty_Webb

On a connected note, if you hit your ball into the woods, find it and decide you have a shot out in spite of the fact that you have maybe thirty yards worth of trees to get out from, hit it and it hits a tree and bounces back further into the trees behind you, do you have the option of declaring that unplayable and dropping it back where you played your second shot from and then declaring that one unplayable again and going back to the tee? Or in shortened version, once you have a go at hitting it, are you stuck in the trees or can you take an unplayable and get back out again (assuming b is not a reasonable option)?

Once you make a bad decision you are stuck with it. That is why you should be very careful when choosing an option under Rule 28. This is another way in which the unplayable ball rule is different from the water hazard rule. With Rule 26 the wording is "where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard", so no matter how many unsuccessful attempts you make to get out, you can still "escape" to the point of original drop option. This is NOT true for Rule 28.

[Bulls9999]

Sometimes your choice can be helped by the shape of the hole. This scenario comes up on our course on a par-5 banana-dog-leg-right...the tee is at 4'o'clock and hitting to the fairway at 8 o'clock, then a 2nd shot to 11 o'clock and 3rd to the green at 1 o'clock....the trees/woods are in the middle of the clock. The dogleg is a banana right turn, moving back on a line from the hole to the ball puts you out on the fairway about 150 yrd off the tee at ~7 o'clock, so in that case, much better than stroke and distance (or original tee shot).

But back to your original question....not sure..."can you stroke your way back to the tee?", lol, costly if allowed.

Originally Posted by Ty_Webb

On a connected note, if you hit your ball into the woods, find it and decide you have a shot out in spite of the fact that you have maybe thirty yards worth of trees to get out from, hit it and it hits a tree and bounces back further into the trees behind you, do you have the option of declaring that unplayable and dropping it back where you played your second shot from and then declaring that one unplayable again and going back to the tee? Or in shortened version, once you have a go at hitting it, are you stuck in the trees or can you take an unplayable and get back out again (assuming b is not a reasonable option)?