Linda, I recently had a disagreement with a fellow golfer regarding the red and yellow stakes surrounding an island-type green. The disagreement involves yellow stakes that define the margin of the hazard on the front side of the green and red stakes that define the margin on the hazard on the rear side of the green. There is roughly 10 feet of rough/fringe grass surrounding the green. There also is a drop area on the right side of the fairway across the water from the front side of the green.
My queston is--I overshot the green right over the pin and feel that I should be entitled to drop under the red stake relief rules, which are: re-tee, drop within two club lengths from the spot where the ball last crossed the hazard no closer to the pin, or go across the water on the other side of the red-staked water and drop within two club lengths no closer to the hole. Am I supposed to use the drop area when it is clear that I entered the hazard with the red stakes? Thanks for your prompt response to this query!
Lou
Dear Lou,
Unless there is a sign or a notice on the scorecard declaring use of the Dropping Zone to be mandatory (very unlikely in the scenario you describe, and rare in general), the use of a drop area is optional. Such areas are normally provided as an additional relief option, not a required one.
Your ball entered the hazard where it is marked with red stakes, which means that this section of the hazard is designated as a lateral hazard. You have four relief options under the Rules:
1. Hit a ball from where you hit your original ball. In your case, this would be from the tee. You may tee the ball.
2. Drop a ball behind the hazard on the line that starts at the hole and passes through the spot where your ball last crossed the margin of the hazard. I call this the line-of-sight to the hole. You may drop anywhere on this line, as far back as you wish.
The above two relief options are available for any water hazard. The following two are only available if your ball is in a lateral (red-staked) hazard.
3. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of where your ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, no closer to the hole.
4. Drop a ball on the opposite side of the hazard, within two club-lengths and not nearer the hole of a point that is equidistant from the hole. (It is possible that such a point may not exist for a hazard directly behind a green that is marked as a lateral hazard.)
If a drop area (officially called a “Dropping Zone”) is provided, you have the option of using it. In the situation you describe, using the drop area would not seem to be your best choice.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
