Linda:
If the area is marked as a hazard (say with red stakes or red stakes with green tips), can't the player drop the ball back adding 1 stroke and play from there and not go back to the original spot? I was confused with the 2 options you gave. I understand it if the area is not marked.
Lou
Dear Lou,
The reader in Ask Linda #357 was asking about a situation in which it was unknown whether the ball was in the hazard. Unless there is virtual certainty that the ball is lost in the hazard, a player is not entitled to relief under the water hazard rule.
Dropping a ball behind the hazard on the line-of-sight to the hole is a relief option only when it is known or virtually certain that the ball is in the hazard.
Linda
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