{"id":561069,"date":"2026-03-24T12:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T12:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/561069\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T12:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T12:17:09","slug":"my-ball-embedded-in-a-bunker-lip-can-i-take-free-relief-rules-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/561069\/","title":{"rendered":"My ball embedded in a bunker lip. Can I take free relief? Rules Guy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"first\">The\u00a0Rules of Golf\u00a0are tricky! Thankfully, we\u2019ve got the guru. Our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.golf.com\/instruction\/rules\/2019\/09\/10\/rules-guy-are-rubber-tees-legal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Rules Guy\u00a0knows the book front to back<\/a>. Got a question? He\u2019s got all the answers.<\/p>\n<p>My second shot on a par-5 embedded into the front lip of a bunker. At least half of the ball was embedded into the grass lip, but part of it was definitely touching the sand. Is this ball considered embedded, or in the bunker and played as it lies? \u2013 Nick Monti, via email<\/p>\n<p>Both. The ball is in its own pitch-mark made by the previous stroke and below the surface of the ground, so it is indeed embedded. But it\u2019s also touching sand, so it lies in the bunker \u2014 here, we point you to Rule 12.1 \u2014 and relief for an embedded ball is not allowed when the ball is in a bunker (or even when in the general area but embedded in sand in an area not cut to fairway height or less). <\/p>\n<p>Ergo, per Rule 16.3 and definition of embedded, you need to play it as it lies or take an unplayable.<\/p>\n<p>For more bunker-related guidance from our guru, read on \u2026<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/instruction\/rules\/taking-stance-made-ball-move-bunker-rules\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                <img class=\"lazy inner\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/viktor-hovland-plugged-bunker.jpg\" alt=\"Viktor Hovland of Norway climbs into a bunker where his ball was plugged under the lip for his thir shot on the 18th hole during the second round of the 2022 U.S.Open Championship at The Country Club on June 17, 2022 in Brookline, Massachusetts. (Photo by David Cannon\/Getty Images)\"   style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/viktor-hovland-plugged-bunker.jpg?width=30);\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/instruction\/rules\/taking-stance-made-ball-move-bunker-rules\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rules Guy: Taking my stance made my ball move in a bunker. What now?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>        By:<\/p>\n<p>                    <a href=\"https:\/\/golf.com\/writers\/rules-guy-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                Rules Guy            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The deer around my home course often run through the bunkers. Charming\u2026 but can I smooth the tracks if my ball comes to rest in a hoofprint? \u2013 Shay Ballard, Prescott, Ariz.<\/p>\n<p>While deer tracks may, er, tick us off, you can\u2019t smooth them, because smoothing isn\u2019t allowed if it improves the conditions affecting the stroke \u2014 aka CATS.<\/p>\n<p>Even if Model Local Rule F-13, which treats damage by animal hoofs (or paws) as ground under repair, is in effect, you still wouldn\u2019t be allowed to smooth but would get a free drop instead. We will discuss deer droppings another time.<\/p>\n<p>Want to find the right gear for your bag in 2026?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/truespecgolf.com\/?utm_source=golfcom&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=ball-embedded-bunker-lip-take-free-relief-rules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><a href=\"https:\/\/truespecgolf.com\/?utm_source=golfcom&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=ball-embedded-bunker-lip-take-free-relief-rules\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won\u2019t throw the book at you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0Rules of Golf\u00a0are tricky! Thankfully, we\u2019ve got the guru. Our\u00a0Rules Guy\u00a0knows the book front to back. Got a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-561069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}