Thursday, September 4, 2014

Ask Linda #909-Ball hit from hazard remains in hazard

Linda,

I hit my second shot from 178 with a hard draw (hooked it). It hit the apron of the green and the ball found the lateral water hazard (a lake). The lake had been drawn down about 3 feet and I found my entire ball sitting up nicely in the mud. I drudged in the mud to hit the ball. I topped it and it buried in the mud a foot from where I hit the ball. Unable to declare an embedded ball, I took a drop on a line where my ball last crossed the hazard (my second shot)! My playing partners stated I had to go back on a line from where I attempted to hit the ball from the mud within the lateral hazard. This would have put me 300 yards across and behind an all-water carry! I protested and dropped where my ball had last crossed the hazard no closer to the hole! I then declared I was lying 4, hitting 5. This has been a month ago and they still say I was wrong! Please settle this so we can move on to another friendly debate!
Thanks,
Lou from Arkansas

Dear Lou,

There are several relief options when you try to hit a ball out of a hazard and are unsuccessful. They are all explained in Rule 26-2. I will limit my answer to your situation.

One of the relief options under Rule 26-2 for a ball played within a lateral water hazard that remains in the hazard after you try to hit it out is to proceed under Rule 26-1c [Rule 26-2a (ii)]. 26-1c is the relief option for a ball in a lateral water hazard that allows you to drop within two club-lengths and not nearer the hole of the spot where your ball last crossed the margin of the hazard.

Think about this for a minute. When you try and fail to hit your ball out of a hazard, you have not crossed the margin of the hazard. The only time you crossed the margin was on your second shot, the one that hooked into the water. Following 26-1c, you must establish where your second shot last crossed the margin of the hazard. You may drop a ball within two club-lengths of that spot, no closer to the hole. If you prefer, you may drop on the opposite side of the hazard, at a point that is equidistant from the hole. Another option is to hit a ball from the spot where you made your last stroke outside the hazard [Rule 26-2a (iii)], but I doubt you would want to march back 178 yards to hit another shot when you have a better option much closer to the hole.

Let’s count your strokes:

• second shot enters the hazard
• third shot remains in the hazard
• one-stroke penalty to take relief from the lateral hazard

Your next shot, after the drop, will be your fifth shot on the hole. Both your procedure and your calculations were correct. Well done, Lou!

Linda
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