2 Tee or not 2 Tee

So you hit your tee-shot into a water hazard and decide to play your third stroke from the tee as the water is directly in front of the tee.  There is no doubt about your first shot hitting the water, you both see and hear it go in, so you are now going to play a penalty stroke.

The question is " Can you tee it up a second time or not?"

Looking at the R&A; rules, it is difficult to understand their answer to this question; do any of my fellow golfers know for sure?

Yes.

When a player is putting a ball into play from the teeing ground , it must be played from within the teeing ground and from the surface of the ground or from a conforming tee (see Appendix IV ) in or on the surface of the ground.

Q. A player played his original ball out of bounds from the teeing ground. Under Rule 27-1 , he teed up another ball. When addressing the ball, he touched it and it fell off the tee. What is the ruling?

A. There is no penalty, because a teed ball is not in play until a stroke has been made at it (see Definition of "Ball in Play"). The ball may be re-teed (Rule 11-3 ).

If it's a Par 3 and there's no designated drop zone I believe you can re-tee.  If there is a drop zone then local rules apply.

The OP said

So you hit your tee-shot into a water hazard and decide to play your third stroke from the tee

But replaying the previous shot, I believe, is always an option in the case of OB/Lost ball/hazards of any kind/etc.

That is what he said but I've played at courses where the local rules were if you hit into the water hazard you proceed to the drop zone (I'm guessing to speed up play).  I was under the impression if the local rules state you play from the drop zone you don't get the choice to re-tee.  Am I mis-interpreting that rule?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bad Golfer

So you hit your tee-shot into a water hazard and decide to play your third stroke from the tee as the water is directly in front of the tee.  There is no doubt about your first shot hitting the water, you both see and hear it go in, so you are now going to play a penalty stroke.

The question is " Can you tee it up a second time or not?"

Looking at the R&A; rules, it is difficult to understand their answer to this question; do any of my fellow golfers know for sure?

Rule 20-5a covers it:

If the Committee considers that it is not feasible or practicable to proceed in accordance with a Rule providing relief, it may establish dropping zones in which balls may or must be dropped when taking relief. Generally, such dropping zones should be provided as an additional relief option to those available under the Rule itself, rather than being mandatory.

I don't think he was questioning where to hit from but whether or not an actual tee could be used.

Thanks to all for their contributions.  As a European, the R&A; rules apply, although I quite take on board rule 20.5 from USPGA, which may be easier to understand than those of the R&A; which appear to be full of ambiguity and over complex with continual references to other rules.

I have seen pro golfers tee-up after such a shot, but because it is in fact a penalty stroke, the luxury of a tee seems inappropriate.

R&A; and USGA rules are identical.  They are agreed upon by a joint rules committee composed of members from both organizations.

The USPGA (ie the United States Professional Golfers Association) has nothing to do with the Rules. The USGA (United States Golf Association) is a completely different organisation.

The USGA, in conjunction with The R&A; in St. Andrews, Scotland, writes, interprets and maintains the Rules of Golf to guard the tradition and integrity of the game. The two organizations are joint authors and owners of The Rules of Golf and Decisions on the Rules of Golf. Through an agreement with The R&A;, the Rules jurisdiction of the USGA includes only the United States, its possessions and Mexico. The latest version went into effect Jan. 1, 2012, with the next revision taking effect Jan. 1, 2016.

The stroke from the tee is not a penalty stroke. It is simply another stroke.

A ball may have to be played again from the teeing ground for a variety of reasons. Not all involve a penalty. See Rule 11-4a.

I think you would still have a choice even when it is a bad choice because the drop zone is the only good choice. But I can understand your question. I can also imagine a hole where the local rule would "require" you to use the drop zone. - perhaps an island green where the thrill of trying again and again may outweigh the practical aspects of taking advantage of the drop zone.

I was referencing that exact situation in my post.

Upon starting the round, the Starter told us that hole 10 was a 170 yard Par 3 island green and that if our tee shot went into the water the local rule required using the drop zone, not teeing up another ball.   I was under the impression in that case that the local rule trumped the USGA rules which is why I asked the question.

Oh, I get it ... that makes sense.  Reminds me of the thread started several months back on here about the "worst golfer ever" or something like that.  The guy scored some god-awful high double digit number on the 17th at Sawgrass.

Found it: http://thesandtrap.com/t/58181/worst-avid-golfer-25-years-later/0_30

The Local Rule I quoted earlier is a USGA/R&A; Rule.

You should have noticed that the wording allows the committee to make the use of the dropping zone mandatory or make it optional.

There is no other rule about dropping zones other than this specimen Local Rule.