Water on a Bridge

[Gary Hill]

A small pool of rainwater has accumulated on a bridge over a water hazard.
The player's ball ends up on the bridge and in the puddle.

May he ground his club?
May he take relief from the puddle?

[LBH]

I'll try to answer this one by stating some facts

1. The bridge is part of the water hazard.
2. You can't ground your club in a hazard
3. You can't get relief (casual water) if you decide to play your ball from a hazard.

So the answer:

No!!! You can play the ball as it lies but you can't ground your club or you can play your next shot exactly as if your ball had dropped in the water (penalty + take a drop at nearest point of relief).

Gary, what if the ball comes to rest on an island in the water hazard and you can walk to the island? What if the island is surrounded by a sand trap? Can you ground your club in those situations?

[Gary Hill]

LBH - Your facts are flawed. Please try again.

I can't give hints until more people have had a chance to post.

[JimmyW]

Originally posted by Gary Hill
1. May he ground his club?
2. May he take relief from the puddle?

1. Yes...
2. and no. (the bridge IS considered an immovable obstruction, isn't it?)

JW

[el tigre]

Okay, I'll try this one:

The margins of the hazard extend vertically upward, therefore the bridge is in the hazard and the puddle is in the hazard. There is no such thing as "casual water" WITHIN the margins of z hazard, therefore there is no relief from the puddle.

However, the player may ground his club on the bridge AS LONG AS HE DOES NOT TOUCH THE WATER in the puddle.

[Gary Hill]

el tigre - CORRECTAMUNDO !!!!!!

<ding> <ding> <ding> Circle gets the square.

[nice_lag]

Gary,

I appreciate the question and ruling. It was quite interesting.

Now my question is as follows: if I'm not mistaken, casual water can exist in a bunker. I can take relief within the boundaries of the bunker, not nearer to the hole, as long as I'm off the area affected by the casual water. If I can't take relief, I play as it lies or I take it out the bunker, in line with where I was and the hole and take one stroke penalty.

What are the differences from the bridge example? Thanks for lighting up my lantern Gary.

[Gary Hill]

The difference is that casual water cannot exist in a water hazard, but casual water can exist in a bunker.

You have summed up the relief from casual water in a bunker pretty well.

However, you don't actually have to be off the area affected by the casual water in all situations.
If complete relief is impossible, you may drop the ball, without penalty, in the bunker as near as possible to the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole, at the spot which affords maximum available relief from the casual water.

(ie, if the bunker is completely covered with water, you can drop at a shallow spot.)

This might be a good time to clarify the concept of "complete relief".

When you take relief from an immovable obstruction (e.g. cartpath), an abnormal ground condition (e.g. GUR), or a wrong putting green, you must take complete relief.

For example, if you take relief from a cartpath, you cannot stand on the cartpath to play your next stroke.

However, no such stipulation exists when taking relief from a water hazard.

For example, if you are taking relief from a lateral water hazard, you may drop a ball within two club lengths of and not nearer the hole than the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard.

Let's say you drop the ball 2 inches from the margin line. Now, because you so close to the margin line, you are forced to play your next stroke with your stance inside the margin of the hazard. Perfectly legal.

[nice_lag]

Yeah... should have known better... it's kind of hard to have casual water.... in the water... I guess that for a moment I concentrated too much on the bridge... :o

But thanks again Gary for the help... As for the casual water in the bunker, well I have to thank Dan and a wet bunker in Pakenham for that...