THE RULES EVERY GOLFER SHOULD KNOW
Ball unplayable in bunker – Rule 28
a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or
b. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or
c. Drop a ball within two clublengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.
Let’s go back to the bunker and the sand now, and that ball that is perhaps lodged firmly under the lip, tight against a steep back edge, or right next to a steep wall or bank that would render any form of stance impossible or virtually impossible.
The first thing to stress is that all three options remain available to you, with one important distinction – if you go for options (b) or (c) under Rule 28, the ball must be dropped in the bunker. The only option to drop Unplayable lie in a bunker? You must drop in that bunker unless you opt to go back to where you last played from the ball outside of the bunker is to proceed under option (a), provided you last played the ball from outside the bunker!
This may well cast a very different light on your final decision, as we all know that a golf ball has an infuriating tendency to plug when dropped from shoulder height into sand. You will need to decide whether the risk of a plugged or semi-plugged ball is preferable to going back and playing what may have been a very difficult shot again from some distance away.
One final thing – if your ball is so buried that you can’t even see it, you may touch or move the sand in order to locate it without penalty, as long as you recreate the lie as nearly as possible afterwards by replacing any sand moved (Rule 12-1a)… and you are allowed to leave a small part of the ball visible should you then decide that it’s playable enough to warrant having a go after all!