Unplayable lie

Question
Recently whilst playing golf I tried cutting the corner on my drive on a dog leg right Par 4 fairway. I sliced my drive into deep rough and immediately gave up on the ball and played a provisional ball which I hit to 20 feet from the green. Pleased with my second effort I walked towards my ball. One of my fellow golfers also hit is ball similar to mine and went looking for his ball, instead he found mine well surrounded by bush but in a slightly clear spot with a clear track back towards the tee. He said was not able to call the first ball unplayable as I could play a shot at the ball even though it was away from the green. 7 shots later I sunk my ball.

Could I have called an unplayable lie and taken my second shot off the tee.

Answer
HI Ian,

Yes, you could have declared the ball unplayable.

Rule 25 of the rules is very clear.

The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course, except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable.
If the player deems his ball to be unplayable, he must,
under penalty of one stroke:
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 club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.

Learn more about the rules at www.usga.org

Please visit and patronize my site, www.probablegolfinstruction.com

Best regards,
Ken Tannar