2 Hazards- How to play?

Originally Posted by MEfree

Suppose you hit it in the direction of two distinct water hazards with short grass between the two.  You can`t find your ball and are virtually certain that your ball is in one of the two hazards, but are not certain which hazard it is in.  How do you proceed?

Originally Posted by Fourputt

You have to make your best honest estimate of where it last crossed into a hazard.  Since most of us don't have the luxury of forecaddies to spot the ball, we often have to use our best judgment.  As long as you use something to spot the line where the ball was last seen, you should be able to get pretty close.  If it's a case of one hazard being beyond the other on the same line of flight, and you are unsure as to whether the ball carried into the farther hazard, then I would make the assumption that it was in the nearer one and proceed from that margin under Rule 26-1.   You just have to try to be as correct as you possibly can.

Originally Posted by MEfree

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Originally Posted by Fourputt

You have to make your best honest estimate of where it last crossed into a hazard.  Since most of us don't have the luxury of forecaddies to spot the ball, we often have to use our best judgment.  As long as you use something to spot the line where the ball was last seen, you should be able to get pretty close.  If it's a case of one hazard being beyond the other on the same line of flight, and you are unsure as to whether the ball carried into the farther hazard, then I would make the assumption that it was in the nearer one and proceed from that margin under Rule 26-1.   You just have to try to be as correct as you possibly can.

That makes sense to me...so are  you saying that you just have to be virtually certain that your ball is in a hazard and don`t have to be virtually certain which hazard it is?

Originally Posted by Fourputt

In the case you describe, I don't see how you can be virtually certain if you couldn't see which hazard the ball entered and both were close enough to each other to cause some doubt.  You know it's lost in a hazard and you have to use what little information is available to make your decision.  It's something which would be decided on a case by case basis.

Originally Posted by MEfree

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Originally Posted by Fourputt

In the case you describe, I don't see how you can be virtually certain if you couldn't see which hazard the ball entered and both were close enough to each other to cause some doubt.  You know it's lost in a hazard and you have to use what little information is available to make your decision.  It's something which would be decided on a case by case basis.

I am saying you are virtually certain it is in one hazard or the other, but not sure which.  Not sure why that wouldn`t be possible.  i.e. suppose there are two creeks that crosses a wide firm fairway 40 yards apart.  You hit a low shot right down the middle that you hope carried the first creek and stayed short of the second one.  You get up to where you suspect your ball to be and see it nowhere with no long grass in site.  The only two real possibilities are that you didn`t carry the first creek or that you carried the first creek and rolled into the the second creek.  You are virtually certain that it is in one of the two, but not sure which.

Originally Posted by MEfree

I am saying you are virtually certain it is in one hazard or the other, but not sure which.  Not sure why that wouldn`t be possible.  i.e. suppose there are two creeks that crosses a wide firm fairway 40 yards apart.  You hit a low shot right down the middle that you hope carried the first creek and stayed short of the second one.  You get up to where you suspect your ball to be and see it nowhere with no long grass in site.  The only two real possibilities are that you didn`t carry the first creek or that you carried the first creek and rolled into the the second creek.  You are virtually certain that it is in one of the two, but not sure which.

Originally Posted by Dormie1360

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Originally Posted by MEfree

I am saying you are virtually certain it is in one hazard or the other, but not sure which.  Not sure why that wouldn`t be possible.  i.e. suppose there are two creeks that crosses a wide firm fairway 40 yards apart.  You hit a low shot right down the middle that you hope carried the first creek and stayed short of the second one.  You get up to where you suspect your ball to be and see it nowhere with no long grass in site.  The only two real possibilities are that you didn`t carry the first creek or that you carried the first creek and rolled into the the second creek.  You are virtually certain that it is in one of the two, but not sure which.

Maybe possible, but extremely unlikely to have something designed like this.  This is more of a hypothetical.  I think with a 40 yard difference you still would be able to judge which hazard you got to by your estimated distance of the shot you played.  If a hole were actually designed where the ball could not be lost outside the hazard, however which hazard it was actually in could be impossible to determine..............I'd make the limits of the hazard cover both hazards.........or a drop zone.......which to me means a badly designed hole.

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Actually I've seen holes with a winding creek where the ball could cross in and out of several hazard margins in its flight and it would be quite difficult to determine what part of the hazard it actually last crossed into if you didn't find the ball.  Its a real possibility and you just have to assess as honestly as possible where you think that the ball would have most likely ended up.  It isn't a common situation, but it's certainly possible.

Originally Posted by stangmark

Re-hit from the original lie, drop on your line anywhere behind the first hazard crossed, or drop two club lengths perpendicular to the line and behind the first hazard encountered.  Any of the three with an added stroke.  To save time, you may take your relief and declare the second ball a provisional before you honestly search up to five minutes for the first ball---if you find your first ball the provisional is no longer in play.

Originally Posted by stangmark

Re-hit from the original lie, drop on your line anywhere behind the first hazard crossed, or drop two club lengths perpendicular to the line and behind the first hazard encountered.  Any of the three with an added stroke.  To save time, you may take your relief and declare the second ball a provisional before you honestly search up to five minutes for the first ball---if you find your first ball the provisional is no longer in play.