Rules Guy: The drop zone is full of divots. Can I drop behind it instead?
What do the rules say about dropping your ball behind a divot-filled drop zone?
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The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.
If an encircled drop area is all chewed up with divots, is a player allowed to make his drop behind the designated area? It seems like a fair accommodation to me. —Phil Riley, San Diego
Phil, if the dropping zone were posh and inviting, everyone would want to play from it!
No, you can’t back up from it — the DZ is the DZ (see Model Local Rule E-1), and the ball must be dropped into it and played from it when the Committee has put one into effect. (This is assuming you choose to use the dropping-zone option; doing so is typically optional.)
For what it’s worth, if a dropping zone gets badly chewed up, the Committee can paint a new one between rounds.
For more drop guidance from our guru, read on …
Rules Guy: Does a ball have to cross a certain point in order to use a drop zone?
Playing with my friend in a stroke-play event, he came to the 17th hole four shots ahead of the field but with only one ball left. Not knowing if the rules allowed for borrowing a ball from another player and facing a long par 3 over water, he asked whether he could bypass hitting his tee shot and head directly to the drop zone across the water, lying 3, to prevent the possibility of losing his last ball. He would still have a two-shot lead, with a much safer shot to the green. Legal? Creative thinking in any case, no? —Dave Trent, Wilmington, N.C.
Creative, yes; legal, no. Think of the drop zone as an exclusive nightclub called, well, “The Drop Zone,” where you can’t just talk your way in — you must be on the guest list. (Yes, Rules Guy knows what a nightclub is, even if he prefers libraries.)
Under Rule 17.1b, access to the drop zone requires a ball to come to rest in the affiliated penalty area. The “1-ball rule,” Model Local Rule G-4, is rarely in effect other than for elite professional and amateur competitions. Assuming it wasn’t, your friend could indeed have borrowed a ball from another player if he ran out.
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