Entire course marked lateral water hazard?

[iacas]

Yet, everyone one of us who played one or more of those 3 courses in a recent very large tournament will be expected by the tournament committee to report those score(s) to our handicap system.  I know I did...this year and last year, and all the years before.

I'd simply tell the committee they weren't played under the Rules of Golf. Unless you ignored the "lateral hazard" option and always played stroke and distance for lost balls.

[NJpatbee]

I thought I would start this thread up again since I have never liked the ruling that the only hazards that allow a drop are water.  I understand the lateral hazard rule and play by it, but I believe it is a relic from the time when most golf was played on terrain similar to the links courses in Scotland and Ireland.  Dense forest and steep drop offs into wooded gorges are two examples that I run into and from a penalty point of view, I do not agree that hitting it into impassable brush deserves a more severe penalty than hitting it into a pond.  There are some shots where he ball cannot be retrieved and it is not due to water which should make it a hazard.   But, we have precedence to consider and I abide by the USGA rules but disagree.  (As you can probably tell this rule cost me the chance at achieving one of my scoring goals a couple of days ago).

[Fourputt]

I thought I would start this thread up again since I have never liked the ruling that the only hazards that allow a drop are water.  I understand the lateral hazard rule and play by it, but I believe it is a relic from the time when most golf was played on terrain similar to the links courses in Scotland and Ireland.  Dense forest and steep drop offs into wooded gorges are two examples that I run into and from a penalty point of view, I do not agree that hitting it into impassable brush deserves a more severe penalty than hitting it into a pond.  There are some shots where he ball cannot be retrieved and it is not due to water which should make it a hazard.   But, we have precedence to consider and I abide by the USGA rules but disagree.  (As you can probably tell this rule cost me the chance at achieving one of my scoring goals a couple of days ago).

To be considered, the areas you refer to have to be definable.  Just because there are trees, or brush or rough, it doesn't automatically mean that the ball can't be played from there.  Water hazards are easy to define, easy to mark.  What you ask is not.  If it can't be positively defined, then a rule can't really be written to encompass it without creating confusion and ambiguity.

I've lost out on good rounds due to such situations too, just about every golfer who ever played has done so.  We manage to survive and move on.

[NJpatbee]

To be considered, the areas you refer to have to be definable.  Just because there are trees, or brush or rough, it doesn't automatically mean that the ball can't be played from there.  Water hazards are easy to define, easy to mark.  What you ask is not.  If it can't be positively defined, then a rule can't really be written to encompass it without creating confusion and ambiguity.

I've lost out on good rounds due to such situations too, just about every golfer who ever played has done so.  We manage to survive and move on.

You make a good point and that is likely why the rule has not been changed.  I would accept however, rulings from USGA officials when determining the slope and difficulty of a course as to where lateral hazards should be marked based upon (new) specific guidelines defined by the USGA.  This would prevent courses from adding hazards just to speed up play.  I imagine it would take years to get agreement on the guidelines and I do not really expect this to happen in my lifetime, but its a thought.

Anyway, I still enjoy every round I play under the current rules and wish my lateral hazard complaint was my biggest problem!

[Jgarner]

I find this discussion very interesting as it is very relevant to the desert golf courses we play here in Arizona. I understand that you should just not post your scores when not played under the rules of golf, but what do you do if the committee or tournament club posts the scores? Many courses here will list the "desert rule" right on the scorecards as will many (but not all) of the tournament rules sheet. What is a person to do in those situations? I never play 'desert rules' in my casual rounds but I am certainly not giving away strokes in a tournament where everyone else is taking them and since I am not the one posting those scores, what is my responsibility then. I tried to get a bogus posted score changed once that was posted from the City of Phoenix amateur tournament this year and it turned into an act of god, and in the end did not get changed. (They did not apply esc to my score) At the end of the day it does not effect my index, but trying to do the right thing took alot of time and got me nowhere. On a side note: the 'desert rule' states the boundary as where the grass line ends. That seems like a definable area no? Not that I advocate the desert rule because I don't. When my handicap was 5 or 6 strokes higher it was a godsend though and I do think it speeds up play and makes the game more enjoyable if you are spraying the ball around. John