Another problem situation

[Gary Hill]

This comes from yesterday's Junior event at Upper Canada.

A player hit his ball into a lateral water hazard (red stakes) beside the putting green. He determined the point where his ball last crossed the margin of the hazard. He was unsure whether he was allowed to drop one club length or two clubs lengths from this point. To be on the safe side, he dropped one club length from this point. As his ball was only one club length from the hazard line, he inadvertently played his next stroke with one foot inside the hazard line.What's the ruling?

[spidey]

Although the player was entitled to drop the ball further from the point of entry, he may still have had a foot inside the hazard. It seems the rule gives relief to the ball, but not the stance of the player.

It would seem that he is always allowed to play a stroke from any place on the course except if his ball is out of bounds.

I think he would only have relief from that if the margin of the lateral hazard was an obstruction to him in making his stroke at a ball outside the hazard.

As long as he dropped the ball within two club lengths of the point of entry, not nearer the hole, and it came to rest outside the hazard, then it is the ball in play and he must either play it, or proceed under rule 28.

spidey

[Gary Hill]

This question had to do with the fact that the player took relief from the water hazard, but, by standing in the hazard, he had not taken complete relief.

[spidey]

Perhaps, then, you should clarify for us the distinction between relief, and line of play relief as it relates to each of the rules 26, 27 and 28?

I understood that f'rinstance you may take relief from an obstruction, but you are not guaranteed that you may play your ball towards the hole after such relief. (Isn't line of site relief applicable only on the PGA Tour?) In my infinite lack of wisdom about rules, I expected this to apply to relief from a hazard as well.

spidey

[Gary Hill]

You are right about the so called "line of sight" relief. There is no such thing (other than a local rule on the PGA Tour).

Interference by an immovable obstruction (Rule 24-1) occurs when a ball lies in or on the obstruction, or so close to the obstruction that the obstruction interferes with the player's stance or the area of his intended swing. You get no free relief from a sprinkler control box 5 feet in front of you.

One of the stipulations of the procedure for taking free relief from an immovable obstruction is that you must, in fact, take complete relief. This means that if you take free relief off the cart path and, after dropping, your stance in still on the cart path, you must re-drop.

This stipulation applies to Rule 24-2 (immovable obstruction), Rule 25-1 (abnormal ground conditions), Rule 25-3 (wrong putting green) or a Local Rule (Rule 33-8a), or rolls back into the pitch-mark from which it was lifted under Rule 25-2 (embedded ball).

However, in taking relief from a water hazard (as in our case situation), no such stipulation exists. If relief is taken under Rule 26-1b or c, the ball must be dropped outside the water hazard. If the dropped ball rolls back into hazard, it must be re-dropped. However, no stipulation is made to re-drop if the players stance or area of swing is still in the water hazard. In our case situation, the player was perfectly within his rights to stand in the hazard to play the ball dropped outside the hazard.

The unplayable procedure (Rule 28) is the most severe. There is no requirement for even the ball to get relief from the situation. If you invoke Rule 28 and happen to drop back into the unplayable situation, you must take ANOTHER unplayable penalty to get out.

TIP: When faced with any situation where relief may be involved, make it a habit to examine and confirm the proper drop area BEFORE you lift your ball. That way, if you ultimately decide that your best option is to play the play as it lies, it won't cost you a stroke for lifting your ball.