Given the recent weather

[little brit]

What are the rules regarding landing in a huge puddle in the middle of the fairway. Do you just have to play the ball as it lands? Last week when I was out, there were lots of big wet patches, and I mean swampy. I played all except for one from where they landed, but the one in the middle of the fairway was in pretty deep I wasn't going to totally ruin my shoes. Yes I really must get a rule book

[EDSGOLF]

It is considered "Casual Water" and you get a free drop at the nearest dryest spot (not Casual Water) not nearer to the hole.

[jvincent]

EDSGOLF is correct about the casual water drop.

However, if you take a drop from casual water you need to take COMPLETE relief. What that means is that you can't just move it out of the puddle to a less wet place. It has to be "dry". Given the amount of water that was out there last week "dry" could have been quite a ways away from your ball.

[LBH]

Also remember that if you can't find your ball in the casual water it is considered a lost ball so you get stroke and distance

[jvincent]

Also remember that if you can't find your ball in the casual water it is considered a lost ball so you get stroke and distance

Oh, oh, time for Gary to wade in.

Under 25c I am pretty sure that if you know that the ball is in casual water, i.e. you saw a splash in the puddle, but cannot find/retrieve it, you are still entitled to free relief.

[el tigre]

Oh, oh, time for Gary to wade in.

Under 25c I am pretty sure that if you know that the ball is in casual water, i.e. you saw a splash in the puddle, but cannot find/retrieve it, you are still entitled to free relief.

You are correct and Longballhitter is mistaken. Casual water is an Abnormal Ground Condition and you are entitled to relief under Rule 25-1c:

c. Ball Lost
It is a question of fact whether a ball lost after having been struck toward an abnormal ground condition is lost in such a condition. In order to treat the ball as lost in the abnormal ground condition, there must be reasonable evidence to that effect. In the absence of such evidence, the ball must be treated as a lost ball and Rule 27 applies.

If a ball is lost in an abnormal ground condition, the spot where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the condition must be determined and, for the purpose of applying this Rule, the ball is deemed to lie at this spot and the player may take relief as follows:
(i) Through the Green: If the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the abnormal ground condition at a spot through the green, the player may substitute another ball without penalty and take relief as prescribed in Rule 25-1b(i).

There was a long thread about this last spring when I lost a ball in "casual water" from a hazard that had overflowed onto the fairway.

[little brit]

Great, thanks very much. I will know for next year, hopefully not for this

So the other area that was difficult but I just played it, (not well) was around the green for chipping. not on the edge but down a slope about 10ft. I think it was technically rough, although the conditions at the course it was hard to tell. Riverbend. It was very sludgey.

[LBH]

You are correct and Longballhitter is mistaken. Casual water is an Abnormal Ground Condition and you are entitled to relief under Rule 25-1c:

c. Ball Lost
It is a question of fact whether a ball lost after having been struck toward an abnormal ground condition is lost in such a condition. In order to treat the ball as lost in the abnormal ground condition, there must be reasonable evidence to that effect. In the absence of such evidence, the ball must be treated as a lost ball and Rule 27 applies.

If a ball is lost in an abnormal ground condition, the spot where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the condition must be determined and, for the purpose of applying this Rule, the ball is deemed to lie at this spot and the player may take relief as follows:
(i) Through the Green: If the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the abnormal ground condition at a spot through the green, the player may substitute another ball without penalty and take relief as prescribed in Rule 25-1b(i).

There was a long thread about this last spring when I lost a ball in "casual water" from a hazard that had overflowed onto the fairway.

Actually, I just wasn't clear enough - there must be evidence as jvincent said. Say the casual water is behind a bunker and you don't know about it and you don't see a splash, in that case it becomes a lost ball