Lateral Water Hazard

Hi thang,

If a ball is in or is lost in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:

a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or

b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or

c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard (defined by red stakes or lines), drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than
(i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or
(ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

The ball may be cleaned when lifted under this Rule.
(Ball moving in water in a water hazard - see Rule 14-6.)

Hope this helps.

Greg

Thanks Gandalf for your quick reply.

However my case is slightly different. Allow me to be more precise with the scenario. The hazard is guarded by yellow sticks on one side (nearer to the ball) and red sticks on the other (nearer to the green). The ball flew over the hazard, hit a tree, and went back into the hazard.

Thus, did the ball enter the lateral hazard just because it went back into the hazard through the red sticks (in which case, the ball will be played 2 clubs length where is entered the water) or would it be considered it did not pass the hazard at all ?

It should be either one or the other. I understand either way there is a 1 stroke penalty but where do you think the ball should be played after the penalty is taken?

Thanks

Three Options

Hi thang,

The ball last crossed the margin of the lateral water hazard.
Meaning that any of the above three options can be applied.

Greg

To understand on the best option to take it best to know the difference between a Lateral Water (LWH) hazard and an ordinary one. A LWH is define in the Rules of Golf as being

where as a water hazard is defined as

Now normally a water hazard on a golf course is either marked as a water (WH) hazard or a lateral water hazard {LWH). Rarely do you see a hazard dived between a WH and a LWH. This can cause some confusion.

I have done a quick sketch to illustrate a scenario similar to the one you described. If you look at the image attached you will see marked areas such are the green tee and the tree. The red and yellow dots mark the LWH and WH respectively. The black dot marks the spot where the ball crossed the LWH after it hit the tree.

Now you have three options as describe by gandalf above. Now lets apply the three rules to the scenario.

1) Play a second ball from where the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5). No problems there.
2)
2) Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped. Now we have a problem here don't we. As you can see in the image, as indicated by the gold line, we can't drop behind the WH as we would be dropping out of bounds. This is the source of many arguments on a golf course. A lot of people just drop a ball anywhere behind the WH. You can't do that. You have to draw an imaginary line from the flag through the last point the ball crossed the WH to find the place to drop the ball. It can't be done in this instance. The black line in the image just divides the line of the WH from The LWH.

3) option three is the best option in this scenario


hope that helps

rgdz

Keeks