By Chris Gaffney
During the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, Cam Davis found himself in a spot of bother on the par-5 18th hole in the final round. His ball wound up between a couple of roots at the base of a tree near the green, leaving little room for him to get a club on it. He was in a precarious position with a lot on the line: He was sitting within the top 10 on his 72nd hole and facing what looked like a near-impossible shot. But he was there in two, so if he could get out of this situation and make par, he would assure himself a top 10 and more than a half-million dollars. If he made a stroke and couldn’t get it out of the roots, he would likely seal his fate for a bogey (or worse), lose out on a couple hundred thousand dollars, and potentially fall out of the top 10. For anyone who saw this play out, Davis hit a perfect shot. He clipped the ball from the tight lie, spun it back right next to the hole, and tapped in for an easy birdie. The difficulty of the shot was a 10/10, and somehow, he made it look easy.
The first question that came up when the announcers saw his ball in there was, what will he do? Does he declare it unplayable? Does he make a swing at it and run the risk of not getting it out? While the decision a PGA Tour player makes might not be the same as you or I, when an amateur finds their ball in this lie, the first question is, “I might hurt myself if I hit this. Do I get relief?” It’s an important question to ask, but there is no relief available, just as if the ball was up against a tree or another natural fixed object. While the ball might be in a position you don’t want to play it from, there is a major distinction between the word unplayable and the golf application of unplayable. A shot for Davis might be feasible, even when it looks like there’s no possible way to make contact, while the same shot for your average golfer might be impossible. Enter the Rules. The Rules provide an option for a player to declare their ball unplayable at any time. There is no set Rules definition of when a ball is unplayable and because of this, there is NEVER an instance where a player is automatically in an unplayable situation. An unplayable is an option for the player, and they are the sole decider of when it applies.
With that, if I were in the same situation as Davis was, I would have been looking for my options under the Rules to get out of those roots. Often a player needs to take an unplayable not just because they can’t get a club on the ball, but also because they might be worried about injuring themselves.
With the player being the sole authority on whether or not their ball is unplayable also brings in a unique wrinkle. Taking relief from the unplayable doesn’t guarantee that where you drop the ball will be in a location that you find “playable.” Most Rules that involve relief require the player to get out of the situation. When a ball is in the penalty area, and a player takes penalty relief, they are required to drop the ball outside of the penalty area. When a player decides to take free relief from an obstruction, the Rules require the player to be certain that their lie, stance, or area of intended swing isn’t impacted by the obstruction. But when a player takes unplayable relief, the only guarantee is that their ball needs to come to rest in one of the defined relief areas. The player should be acutely aware of where their relief options take them and ensure that when they drop, they'll be able to play their ball. Davis was in the general area, which is anywhere on the course except bunkers, penalty areas, and the teeing area and putting green of the hole you're playing, so he had three options for unplayable relief. Under one penalty stroke, he could drop the ball within two club lengths, play under stroke and distance from the last location he played from, or he could go “back on the line,” using his ball and the flagstick as reference points, and drop on that line.
Note: The two-club length relief can often create a situation where numerous roots are still in the player’s relief area. If the player took that option and their ball ended up right next to a root again but in the designated relief area, they would either have the option to play the ball or take another unplayable.
The unplayable rule should be a tool all golfers keep in their on-course tool kit. Hopefully, there isn’t a need to utilize it, but if you play long enough, there will come a time where you need to decide that your ball is unplayable.