Linda,
Is a player (me in this case) entitled to relief from debris
which has been piled for removal inside a marked lateral hazard?
The situation: I hit a poor shot, which drifted towards a
patch of woods. When I got to the area where we guessed the ball would be, we
found that it was marked as a hazard because here in Florida it was a swampy
area. We then found the ball within the hazard, luckily in a spot where the
ball could ordinarily be fairly struck at and advanced. However, as part of
ongoing tree removal work on the course, there was a pile of logs of varying
diameter and about 3' long, stacked into a column within the hazard, and as
luck would have it the logs were preventing me from taking a stance &
swing. A club member who was in my group assured me that the logs were indeed
'debris piled for removal' and we happened to see the same situation in two
other places on the course.
We were unsure if relief should have been in order, so I
played two balls under 3-3. I made a bogey when I took 'conventional' relief,
and saved par when I dropped within the hazard but away from the column of
logs. Thank you.
Lou from Panama City Beach, Florida
Dear Lou,
No. A player is not entitled to free relief from debris
piled for removal in a water hazard.
You must play the ball as it lies or choose one of the relief options for a
ball in a water hazard in Rule 26-1, all of which include a one-stroke penalty
[Rule 25-1, Note 1].
Linda
Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
