Dropping Summarized

I tried googling first, but thought it would be useful to have all the possible drop scenarios summarized in one place.  I'll start the list and please correct me and/or add to it.

1.  "As near as possible" drops-

a. when re-hitting outside the teeing ground after a OB, lost ball or hitting into a regular or lateral water hazard. (1 stroke)

b. when taking relief from an embedded ball. (free relief)

c. when taking relief from a ball laying on or in a movable obstruction (free relief)

2. 1 Club length from the nearest point of relief drops-

a. when taking relief from a cart path, immovable obstruction, casual water, ground under repair, animal hole, wrong putting green ... (free relief)

3. 2 Club length drops-

a. from the entry point of a lateral hazard (1 stroke)

b. from the spot of an unplayable lie (1 stroke)

4. On a straight line back from the flag stick to point of entry when taking relief from a lateral or regular water hazard (1 stroke)

No drops may be nearer the hole.

You must re-drop if the ball rolls more than 2 club lengths or if it ends up nearer the hole.

5. Placing the ball instead of dropping it-

a. When taking relief from an abnormal ground condition on the putting green the ball should be placed at the nearest point of relief, no nearer the hole.  (free relief)

b. After a re-dropped ball rolls more than 2 club lengths or ends up closer to the hole, then the ball is placed at the spot it first struck the ground on the re-drop. (no extra penalty for re-drop)

6. The ball may be re-teed when re-hitting from the teeing ground. (1 stroke)

I, too, was tempted to respond, but it's a fool's errand.

To be clear, this is NOT a thread to criticize the current rules, just to have one place where the different drop possibilities are summarized.

When a playing competitor had a plugged ball the other day, I realized that I was not 100% sure if the drop was suppose to be as near as possible, 1 club length or placed as near as possible- a low handicapper with us who says he played lots of competitive golf as a JR and was offered College golf scholarships said it was a placement, but I later looked it up and saw it is a drop as near as possible.

I too played competitive golf in HS and College, but have not played anything serious in 20+ years, playing very little golf at all in my 20s and 30s.  In creating my OP, I learned that relief from abnormal ground conditions on the green is a placement- something that I don't think I have had need to think about in at least 20 years.

I already realized that I forgot to include sprinkler heads under the one club length category.  If I omitted anything else or have anything wrong, I hope people who know will step up and post.  I do realize that my OP is only useful for someone who already understands some of the dropping basics- I suppose I could have included how to drop, etc but the goal really was to educate myself and have a single reference point for those that already know the basics.

I tweaked it a bit- If I have it all right, please let me know.  Alternatively, if I am missing anything or have anything incorrect, please provide the correct information.  I promise that this is NOT a rules simplification thread.

1. "As near as possible" drops-

a. when re-hitting outside the teeing ground after an OB, lost ball, unplayable lie or hitting into a regular or lateral water hazard. (1 stroke)

b. when taking relief from an embedded ball. (free relief)

c. when taking relief from a ball laying on or in a movable obstruction (free relief)

2. 1 Club length from the nearest point of relief drops-

a. when taking relief from immovable obstructions (anything artificial, except boundary markers- i.e.cart paths or sprinkler heads), abnormal ground conditions (casual water, ground under repair and animal holes), or the wrong putting green  (free relief)

3. 2 Club length drops-

a. from the entry point of a lateral hazard (1 stroke)

b. from the spot of an unplayable lie (1 stroke)

4. On a straight line back from the flag stick to point of entry when taking relief from a lateral or regular water hazard (1 stroke)

No drops may be nearer the hole.

You must re-drop if the ball rolls more than 2 club lengths, if it ends up nearer the hole, rolls onto a putting green, crosses a hazard line (into or out of), rolls OB or rolls back into a situation from which you were taking free relief.

5. Placing the ball instead of dropping it-

a. When taking relief from an abnormal ground condition on the putting green the ball should be placed at the nearest point of relief, no nearer the hole.  (free relief)

b. After a re-dropped ball rolls more than 2 club lengths or ends up closer to the hole, then the ball is placed at the spot it first struck the ground on the re-drop. (no extra penalty for re-drop)

6. The ball may be re-teed when re-hitting from the teeing ground. (1 stroke)

1a)  Making Next Stroke from Where Previous Stroke Made

On the Putting Green : The ball to be played must be placed on the putting green .

See Rule 20-5(d)

I wonder why on course I would want to read a list "backwards", from solution to the problem. Usually I have a problem and then proceed to the solution.

Thanks for the input- does this look better?

1. "As near as possible" drops-

a. when making next stroke from where previous stroke was made after an OB, lost ball, unplayable lie or hitting into a regular or lateral water hazard. (1 stroke)

b. when taking relief from an embedded ball. (free relief)

c. when taking relief from a ball laying on or in a movable obstruction (free relief)

2. 1 Club length from the nearest point of relief drops-

a. when taking relief from immovable obstructions (anything artificial, except boundary markers- i.e.cart paths or sprinkler heads), abnormal ground conditions (casual water, ground under repair and animal holes), or the wrong putting green  (free relief)

3. 2 Club length drops-

a. from the entry point of a lateral hazard (1 stroke)

b. from the spot of an unplayable lie (1 stroke)

4. On a straight line back from the flag stick to point of entry when taking relief from a lateral or regular water hazard (1 stroke)

No drops may be nearer the hole.

You must re-drop if the ball rolls more than 2 club lengths, if it ends up nearer the hole, rolls onto a putting green, crosses a hazard line (into or out of), rolls OB or rolls back into a situation from which you were taking free relief.

5. Placing the ball instead of dropping it-

a. When taking relief from an abnormal ground condition on the putting green the ball should be placed at the nearest point of relief on the putting green, no nearer the hole.  (free relief)

b. After a re-dropped ball rolls more than 2 club lengths or ends up closer to the hole, then the ball is placed at the spot it first struck the ground on the re-drop. (no extra penalty for re-drop)

6. The ball may be re-teed when re-hitting from the teeing ground. (1 stroke)

I might have misunderstood what you meant, but I quoted the post and made the underlined comments/changes below to the original.

I see that I did not explicitly cover the situation where you are hitting from a hazard and need/want to re-hit for an OB, LB, unplayable, hazard, etc.  Did you not see the updates based on post #7 or did I still get it wrong?

I'm a bit confused. I was trying to point out that if you play again from where you made your last stroke, the ball must be placed , not dropped, if your last stroke was played from the putting green.

20-5 . Making Next Stroke from Where Previous Stroke Made

When a player elects or is required to make his next stroke from where a previous stroke was made, he must proceed as follows:

(a) On the Teeing Ground : The ball to be played must be played from within the teeing ground . It may be played from anywhere within the teeing ground and may be teed.

(b) Through the Green : The ball to be played must be dropped and when dropped must first strike a part of the course through the green .

(c) In a Hazard : The ball to be played must be dropped and when dropped must first strike a part of the course in the hazard .

(d) On the Putting Green : The ball to be played must be placed on the putting green .

I misunderstood your post 7- I thought you didn't like my re-hit wordding on my section 1 a....what you were really saying is that if you have to re-hit from a putting green because you hit it OB, etc, then you place the ball as near as possible instead of dropping it as near as possible like you do from other areas of the course.  Thanks for the clarification.   I fixed 1a and added the putting green re-hit into 5. I also added 1d and 5c.  Does it look better now?

1. "As near as possible" drops-

a. when re-hitting from anywhere except the teeing ground or putting green after an OB, lost ball, unplayable lie or hitting into a water hazard or lateral water hazard from. (1 stroke)

b. when taking relief from an embedded ball . (free relief)

c. when taking relief from a ball laying on or in a movable obstruction (free relief)

d. when your ball has been moved by an outside agency and the precise location/lie is not known. (free relief)

2. 1 Club length from the nearest point of relief drops-

a. when taking relief from immovable obstructions (anything artificial, except boundary markers- i.e.cart paths or sprinkler heads), abnormal ground conditions (casual water, ground under repair and animal holes), or the wrong putting green (free relief)

3. 2 Club length drops-

a. from the entry point of a lateral water hazard (1 stroke)

b. from the spot of an unplayable lie (1 stroke)

4. On a straight line back from the flag stick to point of entry when taking relief from a lateral or regular water hazard (1 stroke)

No drops may be nearer the hole.

You must re-drop if the ball rolls more than 2 club lengths, if it ends up nearer the hole, rolls onto a putting green, crosses a hazard line (into or out of), rolls OB or rolls back into a situation from which you were taking free relief.

5. Placing the ball instead of dropping it-

a. When taking relief from an abnormal ground condition on the putting green the ball should be placed at the nearest point of relief on the putting green, no nearer the hole.  (free relief)

b. When re-hitting from the putting green after an OB, lost ball, unplayable lie or hitting into a regular or lateral water hazard from. (1 stroke)

c. When your ball has been moved by an outside agency and the precise location/lie is known or can be reasonably estimated. (free relief)

d. After a re-dropped ball rolls more than 2 club lengths or ends up closer to the hole, then the ball is placed at the spot it first struck the ground on the re-drop. (no extra penalty for re-drop)

6. The ball may be re-teed when re-hitting from the teeing ground. (1 stroke)

Is there ever a situation when you would drop on a putting green?  If it is ALWAYS placement, I think I should just note that at the bottom.

Dropping on green is not prohibited when taking relief from water hazards or when deeming ball unplayable.

This^^

What about 1 club length relief situations? i.e. it is ok to take relief from a sprinkler head on the fringe and drop on the green if it is within 1 club length of your nearest point of relief, correct?

Is it correct to say that when your ball lays on a green and relief is being taken, that you always place the ball as near as possible to the original spot?