CalderwoodMike

Thank you all who participated in this thread. We also have a couple of unmarked culverted fairways on our course and we have always taken relief without penalty. One last question on lateral water hazard. Picture this scenario... you have a sharp dogleg to the right ahead of you. On the right had side is a LWH with dense jungle behind it. You watch your ball bounce off the jungle and into the LWH. You have positively identified your ball and you know it has entered the hazard from the jungle side. Your preferred option is to reference the point opposite the entry point no nearer the hole as in rule 26-1c . Do you only have the two club length rule or can you also take line and distance?

Just dawned on me.. the fifth option would be to play the ball as it lies???

Lihu...... I am a little confused regarding a fifth option when taking relief from a ball in a LWH. Looking at rule 26-1 there is only four options, (a) replay, (b) line and distance, (c) talks about the other two options, point last crossed & opposite margin. I would have thought that the first option in (c) would also apply in a water Hazzard. That being said then there is only one additional option with a LWH. Am I reading this right. Text from 26-1 below. Calderwoodmike. 26-1. Relief For Ball In Water Hazard It is a question of fact whether a ball that has not been found after having been struck toward a water hazard is in the hazard. In the absence of knowledge or virtual certainty that a ball struck toward a water hazard, but not found, is in the hazard, the player must proceed under Rule 27-1. If a ball is found in a water hazard or if it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in the water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke: a. Proceed under the stroke and distance provision of Rule 27-1 by playing a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

Thankyou Fourputt. This is most helpful.

Thankyou Colin. Our local course (Calderwood Valley GC, NSW, Australia) is privately owned and they have not deemed it nessessary to mark any hazards so I can appreciate Shortys response that strictly speaking there are no hazards so play should proceed accordingly. We questioned the course management re marking the hazards as there is some substantial water bodies with the addition of a couple of creeks. The management suggested that we adopt the position that all water and creeks are lateral water hazard and all dense bush within the property also be treated as hazard. We realize that this is a generous interpretation and our calculated social handicaps are a little low as a result... cannot hurt the ego. You have cleared up the answer to my question though. Unless we are absolutely sure the ball has crossed the vertical line of the far margin then we must adopt the near margin as the point last crossed and play accordingly. Thankyou. Calderwoodmike

I play 2 to 3 times a week in what you would describe as a group of social bogey golfers. However we like to play as best we can to the rules of golf. Our local course is an unrated social course with no slope rating and hazards are not staked so we have made the rule within our group that all hazards within the boundary of the course are lateral. However we have in particular one repeated instance where we are unsure of the ruling. We have a number of places where trees are over hanging or just past a water hazard. On numerous occassions we hit some part of the tree and it has rebounded directly back into the water or we have not seen the path of the ball after hitting the tree but the result is still the same. My question is if the ball has not been grounded past the far side of the hazard or seen to grounded can it be assumed to have passed the far boundary of the hazard. Bear in mind that some trees overhang the hazard and some are clearly just past the hazard. Does the ball clearly have to be seen to have entered the hazard from the far side to take advantage of a closer drop? Calderwoodmike.