Dear Linda,
On crossing a red-staked water hazard, the ball skipped
along the water, landed on the other side beyond the stakes, and rolled back
into the water.
Does the player take a 2-club drop from the side it rolled
back into the water, or does she have to go back to the other side where it
first crossed the hazard?
Please advise,
Lulu from Sydney, Australia
Dear Lulu,
The two-club-length relief option for a ball in a lateral
water hazard is taken from the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard [Rule 26-1c]. If the ball
first crosses the hazard at Point A, skips across the hazard, passes the margin
on the other side at Point B, and rolls back across the margin into the hazard
on the far side at Point C, the reference for taking relief is Point C. The
player may drop within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than Point C, or she may find the point
on the near side of the hazard that is the same distance from the hole as Point
C and drop within two club-lengths of that point.
Similarly, in the case of a regular water hazard (yellow
stakes), if the player’s ball first crosses the hazard at Point A, exits the
hazard on the far side at Point B, and rolls back into the hazard at Point C,
flagline relief [Rule 26-1b] will be measured through Point C, the point where
the ball last crossed the margin of
the hazard. This drop will take place behind
the hazard (on the tee side, not the green side).
Linda
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