Once again in 2025, our Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame rules official, Sue May, will be providing fin and information Rules of Golf clarifications.
Question: If I drop my ball from shoulder high and play it how many penalty strokes do I get? My friend says 3, I say 2.
Sue’s Ruling: Well, in this case it’s going to depend on where you played the ball from. If you improperly drop your ball and it lands in the relief area and you play it, that’s a 1 stroke penalty. If you improperly drop your ball and it ends up outside the relief area and you play it, that’s a 2 stroke penalty. If you improperly drop your ball and correct it before playing it there’s no penalty. Correcting it would be making a proper drop and playing it from the relief area.
Dropping the ball in the right way means:
The Player (or Partner) must drop the ball.
The ball must be dropped straight down from knee height without touching the player or equipment.
It must fall straight down, without the player throwing, spinning or rolling it or using any other motion that might affect where the ball will come to rest.
It must not touch any part of the player’s body or equipment before it hits the ground.
“Knee height” means the height of the player’s knee when in a standing position.
