Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Ask Linda #1776-Ball crosses hazard and rolls back in

Linda,
My wife was playing in a league. Her opponent hit over a creek and hit a tree, which caused her ball to bounce back into the creek. This was a yellow-staked water hazard. Her opponent said the tree she struck was over the water hazard, so she was allowed to hit from the far side of the water hazard. I say that is wrong. What do you say?
Lou from Findlay, Ohio

Dear Lou,

Your understanding is correct, Lou.

The player must ask herself: “Where is the ball?” If the answer is: “The ball is in a yellow-staked water hazard,” the player must either play the ball as it lies in the hazard, or proceed under one of the relief options in Rule 26-1a or b (play another ball under stroke and distance, or drop a ball behind the hazard on the flagline). Regardless of which relief option she chooses, her next shot must cross the hazard; the drop must be on the tee side of the water.

The fact that the ball hit outside the hazard and ricocheted back in does have an effect on where she will drop the ball, if she chooses to drop on the flagline behind the hazard. The player must calculate the flagline by drawing an imaginary line that begins at the hole, passes through the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard (somewhere near the tree), and continues on to infinity behind the hazard.

Linda
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