Linda,
We have a hole that has a yellow-staked hazard a short
distance in from the tees. This hazard crosses the entire width of the fairway.
A missed tee shot can put you in there.
Today one of our players missed her shot, saw the ball enter
the hazard and played a second ball. After everyone teed off and we rode across
the bridge to the fairway, we saw the ball in the hazard.
Question: There isn't much water in the hazard these
days, and the ball was in an area that was dry, but with typical
hazard growth in it. The ball was sitting up in a spot where it
looked like you could get make decent contact. If our player had called her
second ball a provisional, could she have climbed down into the
hazard and hit it?
Thanks,
Lulu from Florida
Dear Lulu,
Unfortunately, no. A player is not permitted to hit a
provisional ball for a ball that she has hit into a water hazard.
A player is permitted, of course, to hit her ball as it lies
from a water hazard. However, the player lost that chance when she played a
second ball from the tee under the stroke and distance relief option for a ball
in a water hazard [Rule 26-1a]. Once a ball has been put into play under stroke
and distance, it becomes the ball in play.
Linda
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