Hi Linda, played a course with a yellow and a red marker right next to one another on the bank of a creek right next to a bridge...what happens if you hit into the water?
Lou Lou
Dear Lou Lou,
Sometimes a body of water is so shaped that part of it meets the definition of a lateral water hazard and part of it would be defined as a water hazard. Think of an L-shaped pond – the bottom of the L would be marked with yellow stakes (water hazard), and the side of the L would be marked with red stakes (lateral water hazard).
In marking such a hazard, golf course superintendents customarily place a red marker next to a yellow marker at the point where the hazard changes from a water hazard into a lateral hazard.
The decision whether to treat your ball as lying in a water hazard or a lateral hazard will depend on at what point it crossed the margin of the hazard. Regardless of where it lands in the water, you must use the point where it crossed into the hazard to determine whether you are taking relief from a water hazard or a lateral. Note that your ball may have crossed the margin at a yellow stake and landed in the water where it is marked with red stakes. Where it landed is irrelevant. Where it crossed determines how to proceed [Decision 26-1/12].
You may be interested in reading Ask Linda #71-red- and yellow-staked hazards, posted on June 26, 2008. I would also recommend that you read Rules #4-Relief Options, Part III: Water Hazards, posted on April 6, 2008, for a detailed review on how to take relief from a water hazard. In trying to find these columns, remember to first click on the arrowhead to the left of “2008,” then on the arrowhead to the left of the appropriate month, and finally on the specific column.
Linda
Copyright © 2009 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
