2010 #9 Water Hazard Tee Shot

THE SCENE:

You are playing hole #3 on the Charger. Your Tee shot flies low across the cart path then veers right into the water. You mentally mark where your ball crossed the red line and entered the hazard.You are climbing back into your golf cart when your fellow competitor says, “Where are you going? You have to hit from the Tee again.”

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

A. Point out that this is a lateral (red staked) water hazard and you can drop close to where the ball went in.

B. Tell her that even if it were a regular (yellow staked) hazard you would still have other options.

A  AND B ARE BOTH CORRECT

Your ball is in a lateral water hazard so you can drop within 2 club lengths of where your ball actually entered the hazard.

There are two kinds of water hazards, regular and lateral. The regular water hazards are surrounded by yellow stakes or lines. The lateral hazards have red stakes.

Your options, when your ball is in a water hazard are described in Rule 26:

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 water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

Basically what this says is that if your ball is in either a regular or a lateral water hazard, and you want to take relief, it will cost you a penalty of one stroke. Then you have two options. Now, suppose the water is a great distance from the tee, like on hole #7.  You can walk down towards the water and drop your ball on an imaginary straight line. Mentally draw  that line, starting at the flag, coming straight back across the water, across the point where the ball entered the hazard and on back as far as you wish. You can drop your ball anywhere on that line. Or as another option, you can re-hit from the tee.

If your ball is in a lateral water hazard (with red stakes) there are additional options available. Note where your ball entered the hazard (last crossed the line which defines the margin of the hazard). You can drop within two club lengths of that spot, no nearer the hole.

REMEMBER: When your ball goes into the water, there are a lot of options. You never have to hit again from the teeing box.