100% Plugged In Bunker

[oneunderbogey]

Had an interesting case over the weekend when out playing by myself and was curious on the actual ruling. 

 

Hit an approach from ~100 yards, came up just short and landed at the very top of the upslope in a bunker.  Got up to the green and could not locate my ball in the bunker, but I was 100% sure the ball was in the bunker somewhere.  Since I wasn't in any real competition I just grabbed the rake and found my ball which ended being completely under the sand.  Without moving some sand it would of been impossible to identify my ball so does that have to be played as a lost ball, stroke and distance?   

 

Thanks!

[nsxguy]

11 minutes ago, oneunderbogey said:

Had an interesting case over the weekend when out playing by myself and was curious on the actual ruling. 

 

Hit an approach from ~100 yards, came up just short and landed at the very top of the upslope in a bunker.  Got up to the green and could not locate my ball in the bunker, but I was 100% sure the ball was in the bunker somewhere.  Since I wasn't in any real competition I just grabbed the rake and found my ball which ended being completely under the sand.  Without moving some sand it would of been impossible to identify my ball so does that have to be played as a lost ball, stroke and distance?   

 

Thanks!

 

If you don't find it, it's lost.

 

If you do find it you are allowed to take reasonable action(s) to identify the ball as, if you hit the wrong ball, even out of a bunker, it's a penalty and you have to find the right one.

 

Once you've identified it you must recreate the lie as best you can. In doing so you are allowed to leave a little bit of the ball showing before you hit it.

 

[oneunderbogey]

So would I have been allowed to use the rake or hand (moving lots of sand) to find and identify my ball?  That wouldn't go against the rules on testing bunker conditions? 

[davep043]

Rule 7.1a specifically allows you to move sand and water while fairly searching.  Just do the minimum required to find and identify your ball.  

[TerpFangolfer]

Yeah, I was involved in the exact same situation last year (and this was during a competition) we used fingers (primarily) to "probe" into the sand - as the clock ticked the player whose ball it was got a bit more aggressive with his probing, but not excessive (he didn't start scooping out handfuls of sand!), and amazingly we never found it. We had seen it hit sand - the tell-tale splash, and there was nowhere it could have popped out and disappeared (as far as we could tell) - it must have gone more than 6" under.

 

He had to go back and hit again...

[rogolf]

53 minutes ago, TerpFangolfer said:

Yeah, I was involved in the exact same situation last year (and this was during a competition) we used fingers (primarily) to "probe" into the sand - as the clock ticked the player whose ball it was got a bit more aggressive with his probing, but not excessive (he didn't start scooping out handfuls of sand!), and amazingly we never found it. We had seen it hit sand - the tell-tale splash, and there was nowhere it could have popped out and disappeared (as far as we could tell) - it must have gone more than 6" under.

 

He had to go back and hit again...

You are permitted to use hands, feet, a rake, a shovel, clubs or whatever to move the sand.  Just need to restore the lie etc, as nsxguy posted above.

No issue with "testing".

[vandyfan]

I had a ball completely plugged in the wall of a bunker, like I could see a speck of the ball. I proceeded to take two shots just to extract it leading to a triple bogey. For future reference, if I deemed it unplayable...where would I place it? In the bunker but no closer to the hole with a 1 shot penalty?

[rogolf]

2 hours ago, vandyfan said:

I had a ball completely plugged in the wall of a bunker, like I could see a speck of the ball. I proceeded to take two shots just to extract it leading to a triple bogey. For future reference, if I deemed it unplayable...where would I place it? In the bunker but no closer to the hole with a 1 shot penalty?

For an unplayable ball, the procedure is to drop the ball, not place it.  Unplayable ball in bunker has these options. in addition to stroke and distance:

- for one stroke drop it in the bunker within two club-lengths, but no nearer the hole, or also for one stroke, drop in back on the line created by the flagstick and the ball's original spot, but still within the bunker

- for two strokes drop it outside the bunker back on the line created by the flagstick and the ball's original position in the bunker

Edited October 24, 2022 by rogolf

[davep043]

10 minutes ago, rogolf said:

For an unplayable ball, the procedure is to drop the ball, not place it.  Unplayable ball in bunker has these options:

- for one stroke drop it in the bunker within two club-lengths, but no nearer the hole, or also for one stroke, drop in back on the line created by the flagstick and the ball's original spot, but still within the bunker

- for two strokes drop it outside the bunker back on the line created by the flagstick and the ball's original position in the bunker

Yet another option, which is available for just about any shot any time, Stroke and Distance.  Take one Penalty Stroke, and go back to the spot from which you hit it into the bunker originally.

 

[Augster]

6 hours ago, oneunderbogey said:

So would I have been allowed to use the rake or hand (moving lots of sand) to find and identify my ball?  That wouldn't go against the rules on testing bunker conditions? 

Were you testing the conditions or were you searching for your ball?

 

If you are testing the conditions, yes, it’s a penalty. If you’re searching for your ball, no penalty. 
 

See the difference? 
 

Lastly, to add on to nsxguy’s post, it has to be found in 3 minutes. 

[rogolf]

1 hour ago, davep043 said:

Yet another option, which is available for just about any shot any time, Stroke and Distance.  Take one Penalty Stroke, and go back to the spot from which you hit it into the bunker originally.

 

Thanks, fixed it!

[Colin L]

8 hours ago, Augster said:

.......Lastly, to add on to nsxguy’s post, it has to be found in 3 minutes. 

Not really enough time to send for a JCB, then?

[ChaosTheory]

14 hours ago, vandyfan said:

I had a ball completely plugged in the wall of a bunker, like I could see a speck of the ball. I proceeded to take two shots just to extract it leading to a triple bogey. For future reference, if I deemed it unplayable...where would I place it? In the bunker but no closer to the hole with a 1 shot penalty?

See this…

 

[davep043]

13 hours ago, rogolf said:

Thanks, fixed it!

I knew you knew, but its an option that lots of players (including me) will forget in the heat of the moment.

[jholz]

I had this happen on the 17th of the "Links" course at RTJ Grand National, probably 12 years ago. Very downhill tee shot. 3w off the tee hit in the far face and completely disappeared.

 

Located it, recreated lie, and took a mighty hack, just trying to dig the leading edge as far into the sand as I could. Ball managed to pop out and rolled to 20 feet behind me.

 

Standard fairway bunker shot to short of the green ("standard" = heavy and ineffectual). Was hoping for an up-and-down bogey, but walked away with a double.

 

Oh golf....

 

Given the other options, I probably wouldn't take this approach again. I was lucky my ball was only "just" buried. If it was down several inches, this becomes a very risky play.

 

Taking all of this into account, it seems that the best strategy to play in this situation is:

 

Take an unplayable lie with a one stroke penalty and hit your next shot from the bunker.

[oneunderbogey]

Thanks for the info everyone.  Correct play seems like it would be find ball with rake like I did, then take unplayable and drop within bunker with 1 shot penalty (2 club lengths or back on line).