Dropping Under Penalty

There are various times in golf when you need to lift your ball under penalty. Be aware of the options when you find yourself in this situation.You take a drop under penalty when you hit a ball out of bounds, lose a ball, or when you decide that your ball is unplayable.

If you hit your ball out of bounds or lose it from the tee, you may tee the ball up for another attempt. You don't need to play from the exact spot of your previous shot - anywhere within the teeing area is fine. Elsewhere, you must drop a ball as near as possible to where the previous one was played. You add 1 penalty stroke.

Unplayable ball
You may declare your ball unplayable at any point on the course except in or touching a water hazard. You don't have to accept anyone else's opinion - weigh up the chances of playing the ball successfully from a particular spot. Often you see high handicap players attempting shots which professionals would probably avoid by taking a drop.

Once you have decided that your ball is unplayable, you lift it under penalty of 1 shot. You then have three options:

• As with a lost or out of bounds ball, you can play your ball as near as possible to the spot where you played the last shot from. This option is useful if there is nowhere suitable to drop a ball - for instance if you're trapped'deep in the woods.

• Drop your ball within two club lengths of where it lay, but not nearer the hole. If it rolls more than two club lengths from where it strikes the ground, you drop again. If it is again outside the limit, you place the ball as near as possible to the point where it hit the ground when re-dropped.

• Drop your ball behind the spot where it lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot where you now drop it-you may go back as far as you like. This is a useful alternative to dropping within two club lengths, but sometimes it can take you deeper into trouble or beyond the bounds of the course.

If your ball lies in a bunker and you decide to declare it unplayable you can't use the options of two club lengths or going back on the ball's line. You must drop your ball in the bunker. When you lift your ball under penalty in this way, you may clean it if you want to. You can also play from where your last shot landed, under penalty. If the ball touches you, your partner, your caddies or your equipment, whether before or after hitting the ground while you take a drop, it should be re-dropped.