Rule 19.3 · Video, 48 seconds
Unplayable in a bunker: can you get out?
Your ball is stuck under the lip of a bunker. You can declare your ball unplayable in a bunker too. Then you have four options (Rule 19.3).
For one penalty stroke
- Back to your last stroke. You play again from where you made your last stroke, see stroke and distance. That spot is usually outside the bunker.
- Back on the line, in the bunker. You draw a line from the flag through your ball and go back on it, but you must drop in the bunker, see back-on-the-line relief.
- To the side, in the bunker. You drop within two club-lengths of your ball, no nearer the hole, also in the bunker, see lateral relief.
Out for two penalty strokes
Since 2019 there has been a fourth option: for a total of two penalty strokes, you drop back on the line from the flag through your ball, but outside the bunker.
Remember: getting out on the line costs two penalty strokes. Going back to your last stroke costs only one. How it works outside a bunker is shown in the video Unplayable ball.
