Re-drop’, ‘no-drop’ as similar as cheese, chalk

At the recently concluded KCB Karen Masters, I overheard a conversation between some golfers who were following one of our local professionals.

The golfers were drawing parallels between supporters of Arsenal Football Club in the English Premier League and those of Kenyan professional golfers; they reckoned that it was not a matter of “if” but “when” they were going to falter.

This happened as the local professional looked set to drop a shot or two after an errant tee shot. It was not long before their criticism was turned to one of my decisions that they felt was wrong.

“That is not how it should be done!” I overheard one say.

“One should drop the ball twice and then place...” he continued.

The player had hit his ball into a bush and decided to declare the ball unplayable. The player sought my help in determining the two club lengths not nearer the hole. I asked the player to mark the spot and he duly did.

That was not all. As a good referee, when called to make a decision, I stayed nearby and watched as the player dropped the ball. I noticed that the ball first struck the ground in a position closer to the hole than the point that he had marked.

The point was nearer the hole than the point where the ball was originally.

This is considered a “no-drop”. The drop does not count. I informed the player of the mistake, he picked the ball and dropped it. For the second time, the ball struck a point on the course that was nearer the hole.

The player had to drop for the third time. This is when I started hearing murmurs from the spectators thinking that I had made an error by asking the player to drop for a third time.

Tempted as I was to engage the spectator and let him know the difference between a “no-drop” and a “re-drop”, I had to focus on the player lest he made another mistake. After the player holed out, the spectator had moved on and I did not get an opportunity to explain the difference.

“No-drop” vs “re-drop” situations. When a player is dropping a ball under a Rule, then the player must stand erect, hold the ball at shoulder height and at arms length then drop it. The following are situations that are considered a “no-drop”:

1. if the player drops the ball below shoulder height or with a folded arm.

2. If the ball first strikes a part of the course that is nearer the hole than; (a) The nearest point of relief under a Rule that provides free relief; (b) Or nearer the hole than where the ball lay when the ball is declared unplayable (this was the case with the player at Karen).

3. If the player strikes the player or his equipment before it comes to rest

In the “no-drop” situations, there is no limit as to how many times a ball should be dropped again. On the other hand, we have “re-drop” situations. These occur when the ball is dropped in accordance with the Rules but then one of the following situations occur:

1. The ball rolls and comes to rest at a position closer to the hole

2. Rolls back to the situation from which the player was taking relief from e.g. casual water or ground under repair. This however does not include nasty situations where a player has declared his ball unplayable.

3. Rolls more than two club lengths

4. Rolls and comes to rest on a putting green or in bunker (or out of the bunker if the ball was being dropped in one)

5. Rolls out of bounds

In the “re-drop” situations, the ball must be dropped one more time and if it comes to rest in a place that does not include the situations mentioned above, then the player can go ahead and play it.

Most of the times, I have found that the probability of the same situation happening again is high.

If the ball for example rolls closer to the hole after a second drop, then the player must place the ball at the point where the ball first struck the ground when it was dropped a second time.

When the spectators saw the player dropping the ball a third time, they were very surprised since they expected the player to place the ball after the second drop.

What they didn’t realise was that the first two drops were “no-drops”. His third drop was okay.

The same situation happened at the Barclays Kenya Open with another referee when a player who was taking relief from an embedded ball dropped the ball closer to the hole than where it was embedded.

The next time you see a referee requesting a player to drop a ball for a third or fourth time, do not be quick to judge. What you thought was a re-drop, may as well have been a no-drop.