Dear readers,
The word is in from the USGA. Just as you all suspected,
Rule 20-2c (vi), which states that a ball must be re-dropped if it rolls more
than two club-lengths from where it hit the ground, applies to all situations where a player is
required to drop the ball.
When a player takes relief from a water hazard on the
line-of-sight to the hole under Rule 26-1b, if it rolls more than two
club-lengths in any direction it
must be re-dropped. While this is one of the rare instances where you do not
have to re-drop if the ball rolls forward, it is still governed by the
two-club-length limit of roll.
One reader questioned my use of the terminology “drop on the
line-of-sight to the hole.” This is the down-home term I use in place of the
language in the rulebook, which states: “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.” Please
remember that I am trying to explain the Rules in layman’s terms on this blog. I
believe that once a golfer understands the concept of a Rule, it becomes easier
to understand it in rulebook-speak.
My thanks to those of you who persistently beseeched me to verify
my information. I will edit Ask Linda #659 to reflect the correct ruling.
Linda
