A. The player used reasonable judgment in determining the reference point for relief, therefore their judgment is accepted (Rule 1.3B(2)) as being correct even though the determination has been found to be incorrect. The player must proceed with the dropped ball without correction.

B. Because this information became known before the player made a stroke at the dropped ball, they must correct the error. In doing so, the player must proceed under the Rule initially selected (Rule 17.1) with respect to the correct reference point and must use the same relief option (back-on-the-line) initially selected under that Rule.

C. Because this information became known before the player made a stroke at the dropped ball, they must correct the error. In doing so, the player must proceed under the Rule initially selected (Rule 17.1) with respect to the correct reference point and may use any relief option under that Rule.

Purpose of Rule: Rule 17 is a specific Rule for penalty areas, which are bodies of water or other areas defined by the Committee where a ball is often lost or unable to be played. For one penalty stroke, players may use specific relief options to play a ball from outside the penalty area with options being:

• 17.1d(1)            Stroke and Distance Relief

• 17.1d(2)            Back on the Line Relief

• 17.1d(3)            Lateral Relief

Interpretation 17.1d(3)/2 gives us a clear understand of what a player is required to do in a situation when a player has dropped a ball based on the estimate of where the ball last crossed the edge of Penalty Area and that turns out to be the wrong point.

If the point where a ball last crossed the edge of a penalty area is not known, a player must use their reasonable judgment to determine the reference point.

Under Rule 1.3b(2), the player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if that reference point turns out to be wrong. However,there are situations when, before the player has made a stroke, it becomes known that the reference point is wrong and this mistake must be corrected.

For example, in stroke play, it is virtually certain that a player’s ball is in a red penalty area. The player, having consulted with the other players in the group, estimates where the ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area. The player takes lateral relief and drops a ball in the relief area based on that reference point.

But before making a stroke at the dropped ball, one of the players in the group finds the player’s original ball in the penalty area in a position indicating that the ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area approximately 20 yards closer to the hole than the reference point the player had estimated.

Because this information became known before the player made a stroke at the dropped ball, he or she must correct the error under Rule 14.5 (Correcting Mistake Made in Substituting, Replacing, Dropping or Placing Ball). In doing so, the player must proceed under Rule 17.1 with respect to the correct reference point and may use any relief option under the relevant Rule (see Rule 14.5b(2)).

Based upon this guidance we now know that C is this week’s correct answer.

While in this ruling the player was allowed to use any of the relief options under Rule 17.1d in dropping in the correct relief area, it is important to note that that is not always the case. In some instances, like when a ball was dropped or placed in the right place, but a rule requires the ball to be dropped or placed again, the player must proceed using the same rule and the same relief option as originally selected. Rule 14.5b(3).