Ruling question about watered bunkers

[Undr Par]

I played on Thursday...(early afternoon) after a huge rain storm in the area over night...on #6 I hit into a green side bunker (on my 2nd shot) that was basically nothing but a Lake..(it was watered from each side (every dimesion possible).....so I took the ball out and dropped it behind the bunker (roughly point of where it entered, and basically chalked it up as water relief) and then played my 3rd shot, was this the correct thing to do or should I have went back and played my 2nd shot from where it was?...my playing partner basically could care less either way, it is me that is wondering.

[zeg]

You nearly played correctly.

Water in a bunker is casual water, i.e., an abnormal ground condition. From a bunker you are entitled to free relief to the nearest point inside the bunker (not nearer the hole) free of the condition. If complete relief is not available, you may take the nearest point offering the best available relief (i.e., shallowest water) not nearer the hole but still in the bunker.

You may also drop outside the bunker on the line between the pin and where your ball lay, in more or less the same way as the water hazard rule works. However, you must take a penalty stroke for this privilege. If your drop was in the right place by this rule (the line you must drop on is through where your ball lay, rather than the point where it entered the bunker), then your mistake was not taking the penalty stroke, so your shot from the drop should have been your 4th.

You could, of course, pick up and drop near where your 2nd shot was from, taking a stroke and distance unplayable lie penalty. That is always an option.