Unplayable ball: three options, one stroke.

This page summarises Rule 19 of the 2023 Rules of Golf, in effect from 1 January 2023. The R&A says the next edition is due on 1 January 2028.

Who decides, and where

Rule 19.1 leaves the decision entirely to the player: only you may treat your ball as unplayable. You can do it anywhere on the course except in a penalty area.

The penalty area exception matters. Rule 17.3 says a ball in a penalty area gets no relief under the unplayable ball Rule, so if your ball is stuck in a penalty area your options are the ones in Rule 17.

General area or putting green

Rule 19.2 gives three options, and each one costs one penalty stroke:

The back-on-the-line option was simplified in the 2023 edition: the ball is dropped on the line and must come to rest within one club-length of where it was dropped.

A ball up a tree

For a ball lodged above the ground, for example in a tree, Rule 19.2c says the reference point for lateral relief is the spot on the ground directly below the ball. You measure your two club-lengths from there.

In a bunker

Rule 19.3 keeps the same three options for one penalty stroke, with a condition: if you choose back-on-the-line or lateral relief, the ball must be dropped in the bunker. There is also a fourth option, added in the 2019 modernisation: for two penalty strokes in total, you may take back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker.

Rule 25.4n reduces the outside-the-bunker option to one penalty stroke for players who use a wheeled mobility device. The players with disabilities page covers Rule 25 in full.

Choosing an option

The Rules do not tell you which option to pick, only what each allows. A few points follow directly from the text:

• Stroke and distance is the only option measured from where you last played rather than from the ball.
• Back-on-the-line has no limit on distance, so you can go back as far as you like to reach a better lie or angle, as long as you stay on the line.
• Lateral relief is measured from the ball itself, not from the hole, and must not take you nearer the hole.
• In a bunker, only the two-stroke option gets you out of the sand without going back to where you last played.

Unplayable is not the same as lost

A ball that is not found within three minutes is lost under Rule 18.2a, which has its own procedure; see lost ball and out of bounds. Even where a Committee has adopted Model Local Rule E-5 (it applies only if the Committee adopts it), the club-hosted copy of its text says it cannot be used for an unplayable ball.

The mechanics of dropping, measuring club-lengths and what happens if the ball rolls out of the relief area are on the relief and dropping page.