Linda,
Our Club has a long dogleg left that has a lateral water
hazard (15-yard-wide creek) that runs parallel to and left of the first 300
yards of the hole and then crosses the fairway in the crook of the dogleg.
Because it's lateral, players who hit their tee shots in the hazard have the
option of dropping on the opposite side. Most players drop at a point
directly across from where they entered the hazard. However, doing that results
in their ball being closer to the hole. If they want to drop on the opposite
side, aren't they required to drop further back to allow for the 15 yards they
pick up by crossing the creek?
Thanks,
Lou from Western Springs, Illinois
Dear Lou,
You bet they are!
Players choosing to take advantage of the option to drop on
the opposite side of a lateral water hazard must drop within two club-lengths
of a point that is just as far from the hole as the point from which they would
have dropped on the side where the ball entered the hazard. Rarely does this
mean going straight across the hazard.
Tell your friends to imagine they have stretched a cord from
the hole to the point where their ball last crossed the margin of the hazard.
Holding onto that cord, hop over the hazard. They must drop a ball no closer to
the hole than the full length of that cord. This is what is meant in Rule 26-1c
by “a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.”
Linda
Copyright © 2016 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
