So many golfers get this rule wrong – they don’t believe they can take stroke and distance relief for a ball ANYWHERE on the golf couse. That lack of knowledge of this rule keeps them from taking advantage of this rule of golf that enables them to essentially get a do-over for just a one stroke penalty.
You can use the blanket rule 18.1 anywhere you want on the golf course- and I do mean anywhere. If your ball is in a bunker, ugly rough, a penalty area, or sitting in the middle of the fairway, and you want to take a drop from where you last played, you can use stroke and distance for a one stroke penalty. That’s it!
If you played your last shot from the teeing area, then you can tee the ball up again if you wish. And if your last stroke was made from the putting green, you won’t drop the ball or tee it up, instead you will replace the ball on the original spot on the putting green. If you’re not sure of the exact spot you may estimate the spot.
(When would you use stroke and distance from the putting green you say? Perhaps if you putting it with a little too much force and it rolls into a penalty area or a horrible bunker you don’t wish to play from.
Keep in mind that 18.1 is the blanket rule number for stroke and distance, but if your ball is in a bunker the actual rule you will use is 19.3 and If your ball is in a penalty area and you choose to take stroke and distance relief from there, that would be under 17.1d(1)
In all of these situations, this will cost just a ONE STROKE PENALTY, never two!
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I’m not sure how more clear I can be you can use 18.1 anywhere any time and if you’re playing with people who tell you that you can’t that if your ball is in a bunker and it’s a plugged liar for whatever reason it’s not a desirable lie in the bunker and you go H I want to take a drop right here at knee height from where I last hit a shot that got me into the bunker and you say that to them and they go oh you can’t do that it has to be stay in the bunker if you’re going to take a relief for an unplayable lie or oh if you can come out but that’s a two-stroke penalty not a one-stroke penalty it is stroke and distance you come back to the location of your previous shot you take a drop at knee height balls in play cost you one penalty and if you happen to have hit that shot from the teeing area you have the option from of teeing it up again if by random strange chance you want to go stroke and distance from a shot that you hit from the putting green and you want to come back 18.1 stroke in distance and your shot was hit from a putting green you actually will place the ball instead of dropping it or teeing it up 18.1 it’s your best friend it’s the best friend of the ladies that I teach in my girlfriend’s golf experiences it will always be their best friend it’s my best friend and you need to believe that it’s real okay can’t wait to hear your comments yes
3 Comments
Thank you
Very interesting. A quick jump to the R&A website and it turns out you're both correct! I think. If you don't like the lie of the ball in the bunker you can indeed drop it outside the bunker under a 2 stroke penalty OR you can elect to play under 18.1. But if you do the latter you can't play a provisional (as it's not lost) so must play the second ball no matter what happens next which might be very much worse. It's a bit six and half a dozen. Certainly where I play the following golfers might not take kindly to you going all the way back to replay the shot.
Is it fair to say that basically, one would want to use 18.1 anytime a shot ends up in a more difficult location than the previous shot. Examples: 1) You putt off the green into a trap or difficult spot. 2) Lateral shots that end up behind a tree or obstruction. In other words, you hit a shot that did not go very far and also ended up behind a bunch of trees. (You are risking hitting a tree on your next shot that could lead to even more strokes, so may as well hit again from the un-obstructed line since you did not gain much distance on the first shot). 3) You had an easy chip onto the green and had a terrible mis-hit into a difficult spot. So take the penalty and re-do the chip properly. Does all this sound right? (One should try to hit out of the trees if the first shot gave them a lot of distance, but if it was a sideways shot, may as well take the 18.1).