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Read more Rules Workshop questions and answers. Part One - Part Two - Part Three
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We have a water drain at the corner of a dogleg right covered with a grate containing holes large enough for a golf ball to fall through. The drain is in the rough but inbounds. I have always been curious about how to handle a ball that falls into the drain. If the ball goes in the drain and can be retrieved, I assume the player would get a free drop from the obstruction within one club length of the nearest point of relief. If the ball falls in the drain, can be seen in the drain and identified but not retrieved, I assume the player would also get a free drop. If the ball is clearly seen to fall in the drain but goes down the pipe and cannot be identified or retrieved, what is ruling? If the ball is hit in the area of the drain, can't be found and it is unclear as to whether or not it fell in the drain, what is the proper way to proceed? |
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The answer to your questions is found in Rule 24-3, however, there must be reasonable evidence that the ball is in fact in the immovable obstruction (see Preamble to Rule 24-3). You are right that if the ball is retrievable that you may take relief using the point where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the obstruction as being the point where the ball lay. If there is reasonable evidence that the ball is in fact within the obstruction you may still take relief using the above procedure whether or not it is seen and identified. If there is not reasonable evidence that the ball is lost in the obstruction the player would be required to proceed under Rule 27. |
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If one side of a sand trap opens into a pond and a ball rolls through the sand trap and then into the pond, should one drop in the sand trap or outside?
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I am assuming that the ball is in a lateral water hazard and unless the Committee provided a “ball drop" as an additional option for Rule 26-1 and the player opted to drop a ball within two club-lengths of the point where the ball last crossed the margin, one would be required to drop in the bunker. |
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Are you entitled to relief if your ball does not lie in a hazard, but a bridge or railroad tie wall that is in a hazard effects your swing, and there is no statement on the card indicating that the bridge/wall is declared an integral part of the course.
Thanks, Bob
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Yes. The key thing to remember in cases such as this is, “where does the ball lay”? If the ball lay through the green it would make no difference where the obstruction was. The player would be entitled to relief if there was indeed interference as defined in Rule 24. However, if the ball lay in a water hazard the player is not entitled to relief no matter where the obstruction is located. The player would either play the ball as it lies or take relief under Rule 26-1. |
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In our partners league play, Team One, Player A putts to within 3-4 inches of the hole and leaves his ball without marking it. Players from Team Two request the ball be marked and (Team One, Player A) marks his ball. Team One, Player B is about to putt and requests his partner (Player A) replace his ball in its original location on the slim chance Player B can use it as a backstop. Team Two objects but Player A replaces his ball and to make the match interesting Player B ball hits Player A ball and it is re-directed it into the hole. Player A replaces his ball to its original position and taps in to win the hole. Team Two goes ballistic and no one knows how to proceed. Can a player replace his ball after it was marked to assist his playing partner? Joe Raaymakers |
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Since player A did not comply with Team Two's request to mark his ball he is disqualified for the hole and if Player B strikes A's ball he is also disqualified for the hole, hence Team One would lose the hole. See Rule 22-1 and Rule 30-3f. |
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In your last series of Q&A the answer to the imbedded ball question got connected to another answer. This was the original question:
The other day after watching a gentleman play an imbedded ball from the edge of a red lined water hazard I asked him if he was or was not entitled to a free drop. He answered that he always played the ball down and he didn't seem to know what I was talking about although he plays in our "gangsome" every day.
My question is: The ball was definitely imbedded so are you entitled to a free drop if the ball was inside the red lined edge of the hazard? Thanks, Earl Martin Tri-Cities, WA My take on the question is that the imbedded ball was not in the fairway or closely mown portion of the hole and therefore the imbedded ball ruling does not apply. I watched the Palmer Cup at Kiawah Island a couple of years ago and this rule was incorrectly invoked twice by the rules official. |
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You are right in that Rule 25-2 provides relief for an embedded ball through the green in the closely mown area. It does not provide relief in any other area (water hazards, bunkers or area not closely mown. In reference to the Palmer Cup incident, I would assume that the reason for relief was the fact that the Local Rules for the event probably provided for relief through the green as is the case on all the professional tours. |
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Our par 4, hole 2 has a elevated tee. 100 Meters down the hill is a creek ( water hazard) which is out of view. Growing out of the water hazard are some large trees. Many golfers hit the trees and the ball drops mostly in the hazard and sometimes outside the hazard.
The argument is that because the golfer has not seen the ball cross the boundary margins of the hazard, the ball should be considered lost and the player should then go back to the tee and continue as if the ball is lost. Some golfers play a provisional ball and if they find the ball in the hazard take relief from the hazard and continue. Other golfers search for their ball and if they cannot find it declare their ball in the hazard, drop behind the hazard taking a penalty and continue. Could you please help me with this ruling Regards G Harding |
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Players are entitled to play a provisional ball in these circumstances and if the ball is not found and there is not reasonable evidence that the ball is in the water hazard they can proceed by playing the provisional ball under penalty of one stroke. If the ball is found in the water hazard they provisional ball must be abandoned and the player may proceed under Rule 26-1. (See Rule 27-2).
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This is a follow-up to the question in Rules Workshop Part 1 about hitting your ball into a water hazard that is past the green. Let's assume the hazard is bordered by yellow stakes, and the ball is in deep water and hence unplayable. Since it is not a lateral water hazard, one cannot drop the ball using Rule 26-1, options 3 and 4 [(3) drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard; or (4) within two club-lengths of a point on the opposite side of the water hazard that is equidistant from the hole.] Furthermore, let's say that the water hazard is a big lake and the opposite shore of the lake is hundreds of yards away, so that it would be absurd to drop there. Does this mean that the only option for the player is to drop the ball as close to the spot where the original ball was last played (so that essentially, hitting into this kind of water hazard is equivalent to hitting the ball out-of-bounds)? |
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Unfortunately the lone option for this player is to return to the spot from where the ball was played prior to its entering the water hazard. In this case, the Committee would be advised to put in a ball drop as an additional option for cases such as this. |
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I'm so glad to find this forum as I was unable to answer to these questions using my USGA pocket rule book.
There is a small pond adjacent to the fairway. It is staked in red identifying it as a lateral hazard and there is no line delineating the boundaries of the hazard. A ball comes to rest in the edge of the water; however, it is outside of the line created by the two nearest stakes. What prevails as the boundary of the hazard – the stakes, or the “natural” edge of the water? If it is the stakes, then is the ball considered to be in casual water? And, as a follow on, after heavy rain the pond overflows its “natural” boundaries. What is the boundary between casual water and the hazard?
Paul Deming |
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In this case the Committee erred in not properly defining the water hazard correctly. However, a player is not entitled to take technical advantage of such an error. If the ball lay in the natural boundaries of the water hazard the player should proceed accordingly. (See Decision 26/2). |
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