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
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
