Thursday, April 7, 2016

Ask Linda #1281-Stick partially in hazard

Linda .. I recently hit a ball into a lateral hazard. The ball was dry and playable although it was about a foot inside the red line. A stick was about an inch behind the ball but the stick was long enough that part of the stick was inside the hazard line and part of the stick was outside the hazard line. I played the ball without moving the stick but since part of the stick was outside the hazard it got me to wondering if it would have been OK to move it. Can you tell me what the rule allows in this case?

Thanks,
Lou from Texas

Dear Lou,

If any part of the stick lies in or touches the hazard, it is in the hazard. You did the right thing by not moving it, Lou. If you had, you would have incurred a two-stroke penalty (loss of hole in match play) for a breach of Rule 23-1.

Linda
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