Lateral Hazard

[Jaay77]

Question. I hit into a red staked lateral hazard off the tee, note, this was not a water hazard just an area that was covered with heavy brush. After searching my ball was considered lost. Now do I go back to the tee and hit another one or do I take 2 club lengths from where the ball entered the hazard and hit from there?

["Richard"]

2 club lengths from point of entry. You might be able to declare it unplayable and re-tee but not sure if you can do that in a hazard...

[Gary Hill]

Question. I hit into a red staked lateral hazard off the tee, note, this was not a water hazard just an area that was covered with heavy brush.

There is no such thing as a lateral water hazard that is "just an area covered with heavy brush."

Go to the management of the course and complain.

If they don't change the markings, turn them in to the R.C.G.A.

[Gary Hill]

You might be able to declare it unplayable and re-tee but not sure if you can do that in a hazard...

You cannot declare a ball unplayable in a water hazard.

[AAA]

Question. I hit into a red staked lateral hazard off the tee, note, this was not a water hazard just an area that was covered with heavy brush. After searching my ball was considered lost. Now do I go back to the tee and hit another one or do I take 2 club lengths from where the ball entered the hazard and hit from there?

Your options are in Rule 26.
However, as Gary says, what you were in is not a Lateral Water Hazard according to the Rules of Golf.

["Richard"]

So if there are red stakes there has to be water?? I've seen this many times where that isn't the case

[AAA]

Any Water Hazard has to have water. See the definition.
It seems to be an increasing practice, particularly in the US, to mark woods or rough terrain as a Lateral Water Hazard illegally. The argument being that it saves searching and then playing again for a 'lost ball'. Why they don't play a provisional I can't understand but is does save a potential 5 minutes searching.
I don't like it myself. It's certainly against the Rules. But US pay & play courses seem to be a law unto themselves

[jvincent]

Many of the courses up here have "Environmentally Sensitive" areas which are usually staked as laterals, and sometimes have notes on the scorecards/tee boxes stating to play them as such under a local rule.

I'm pretty sure this has been discussed here before and as I recall I believe that it is allowable to do so, but it was never confirmed whether the courses had actually implemented the local rule properly.

[Gary Hill]

Many of the courses up here have "Environmentally Sensitive" areas which are usually staked as laterals, and sometimes have notes on the scorecards/tee boxes stating to play them as such under a local rule.

I'm pretty sure this has been discussed here before and as I recall I believe that it is allowable to do so, but it was never confirmed whether the courses had actually implemented the local rule properly.

Only an authoritative agency (Environment Canada,etc.) may define Envirionmentally Sensitive areas. The Committee may not define these areas on their own.

The Committee has some discretion in terms of whether this pre-defined area is defined as ground under repair, a water hazard or out of bounds. However, it may not simply define such an area to be a water hazard if it does not meet the Definition of a “Water Hazard” and it should attempt to preserve the character of the hole.

[byerxa]

For Joe Bloe play I don't mind seeing areas of junk marked as a lateral. Yes, it may not be a real water hazard hence against the basic rules, but it speeds up play. It drives me nuts seeing someone slash a ball off to the right, spend 5 minutes looking for it, then end up coming back to the tee and re-hitting during recreational golf. As for provisonals, a lot of people end up doing the same thing with the second attempt as they did with the first one! I think the whole stroke and distance thing is just a time wasting PITA for the average weekend golfer. There is much banter about slow play and I feel this is a significant area that affects slow play.


That said, I play by the rules as I want to maintain a legit index. I will hit a provisional and I will take the extra minute to club differently and get the second ball in play. Consequently if a course starts marking a bunch of stuff as laterals, their rating would have to be adjusted accordingly. For me I would guess it would make a 1-2 stroke difference on my index.

[AAA]

If the club had wanted reasons to speed up play they would have designed the junk out of the course when they built it. They would also have not included any hazards, trees or rough. Each 'fairway' would be 100 yards wide and the hole would be 6" across.

[spidey]

So if there are red stakes there has to be water?? I've seen this many times where that isn't the case

No. If it has red stakes, it's deemed to be a water hazard by the committee, so it is played as a water hazard. There are occurrences where an area which is not a water hazard has been marked as a hazard, but that's a different animal.

A water hazard is a water hazard whether it is marked or not. If it is marked, the markings denote the margin of the hazard.

Water Hazard
A “water hazard’’ is any sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface drainage ditch or other open water course (whether or not containing water) and anything of a similar nature on the course.

All ground or water within the margin of a water hazard is part of the water hazard. The margin of a water hazard extends vertically upward and downward. Stakes and lines defining the margins of water hazards are in the hazards. Such stakes are obstructions. A ball is in a water hazard when
it lies in or any part of it touches the water hazard.

Note 1: Stakes or lines used to define a water hazard must be yellow. When both stakes and lines are used to define water hazards, the stakes identify the hazard and the lines define the hazard margin.

[byerxa]

If the club had wanted reasons to speed up play they would have designed the junk out of the course when they built it. They would also have not included any hazards, trees or rough. Each 'fairway' would be 100 yards wide and the hole would be 6" across.

I do not disagree with what you are saying, but unfortunately the average golfer will burn too much time playing proper stroke and distance on a course with any amount of crap. Since courses cannot afford to restrict who is allowed to play on their course, they have to resort to such tactics to keep the pace of play reasonable.

[AAA]

No. If it has red stakes, it's deemed to be a water hazard by the committee, so it is played as a water hazard.

Water Hazard
A “water hazard’’ is any sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface drainage ditch or other open water course (whether or not containing water) and anything of a similar nature on the course.

All ground or water within the margin of a water hazard is part of the water hazard. The margin of a water hazard extends vertically upward and downward. Stakes and lines defining the margins of water hazards are in the hazards. Such stakes are obstructions. A ball is in a water hazard when
it lies in or any part of it touches the water hazard.

Note 1: Stakes or lines used to define a water hazard must be yellow. When both stakes and lines are used to define water hazards, the stakes identify the hazard and the lines define the hazard margin.

Rule 33-1 The Committee has no power to waive a Rule of Golf.

The Definition you gave is a Rule (see definition of Rule).

The expression 'whether or not containing water' in the definition simply means 'not containing water all the time but would normally contain water or is designed to contain or conduct water'