Written by: Darin Green, Senior Director of Rules & Competitions
There have been some debates circling around Florida in the rules official community regarding the concept of dropping from knee height. The debate centered around when a player is dropping a ball on a steep slope. Does the player need to release the ball from knee height of where they are standing or where they are holding the ball (away from their body)? The Rules of Golf gives the player a lot of leeway. There is a Clarification in the Rules of Golf that tackles this scenario (14.3b(2)/1 Ball Dropped from Knee Height in Uneven Area).
Basically, this Clarification states that the ball can be dropped from any height that the player’s knee would be if they were standing in any area around where they are dropping a ball. Where the player chooses to stand is irrelevant.
Imagine a steep grass-faced area adjacent to a bunker, and a player is required to drop on this steep area (embedded ball for example). The distance that the ball falls through the air could vary greatly. If the player would stand on top of the hill their knee would be very high and the dropped ball would fall a great distance to the ground; however, if the player stood in the bunker to drop on the grass bank, their knee might be near ground level. In this scenario the player could release the ball in inch or two above the ground, or a few feet above the ground because their knee could be various distances above the ground.
Please see the Clarification for further explanation.
