RULE 26-1 - RELIEF FOR BALL IN WATER HAZARD

Sometimes there is confusion concerning the rule that governs the treatment of a ball in a water hazard (including lateral water hazard). Let's try to simplify it.

Here are the basics…

To begin, understand that an area that is designated a water hazard does not have to actually have water in it to fall under the definition but it must have stakes or lines that define the margin of the hazard. There are two designations of water hazards: a (regular) water hazard and a lateral water hazard.

A water hazard is defined by yellow stakes and/or yellow painted lines on the ground. Normally, this type of hazard is one you must hit over to reach the hole like a creek that crosses the fairway at 90 degrees. If your ball is lost in or not playable out of a water hazard, the Rules offer you two options for relief under penalty of one stroke. The first option is to re-hit from the previous spot. The second option is to drop a ball anywhere along an imaginary line and play from there.

The orientation of this imaginary line is often misunderstood.

IMPORTANT: When you hit a ball into a hazard (water or lateral) you should immediately note where it last crossed the margin of that hazard for this is the point you will work with for all options other than re-hitting from the spot of your previous stroke.

It doesn't matter where the ball ends up in the hazard. All that matters is where did it last enter th e hazard. Think of a hazard as having a wall of glass around it that extends vertically upwards from the hazard margin. When you hit your ball into the hazard it made a hole in the glass. The point on the hazard margin

directly below the hole you made in the glass is the point on the ground that you are going to use for your relief options other than replaying the stroke from the previous spot.

Sometimes you may make multiple holes in the glass: one on the near side and a second on the far side and then a third after it hit the ground on the far side and bounced back or rolled back into the hazard. The point on the ground directly below that third hole is the last hole and is thus the point on the margin that you

need to reference. It never matters where it first crossed the hazard margin, but where it last crosses. You must remember this, it is necessary to correctly take relief under R26-1.

Now, hopefully you understand the meaning of the phrase "last crossed the margin" of the hazard because we will need to reference this point for three different relief options. I said the second option for a water hazard uses an imaginary line. In order to draw any line we need two points. The first point, or anchor for the line is the hole (use the flagstick if you cannot see the hole).

The second point for our line is that spot on the ground discussed above where your ball last crossed the margin of the hazard. The line starts at the hole and goes away from the flagstick over top your reference point on the hazard margin and

continues on behind and away from the hazard till it becomes impractical to follow-but far enough for you to use if you choose this relief option. In practical sense, here is how to apply this option:

1. I hit my ball into the hazard and I immediately take notice where it last broke the plane of the hazard margin.

2. I line that point up with the hole.

3. I now walk backwards away from the hazard keeping that point on the margin directly between me and the hole.

I can retreat as far as I want and drop the ball. I can drop it in the rough right near the hazard or in the fairway if that's where the extension of my line takes me. I can even drop in a bunker or another water hazard. I could also continue back, crossing over a second hazard and drop the ball. The point is, I can go back along this line as far as I need to for my drop.

NOTE : If the spot where your ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard is on the far side, meaning your ball cleared the hazard then came back into it, works no differently than if the spot were it last crossed was on the near side. You still line that point up with the flag and retreat backwards on the near side

(i.e., behind the hazard) to drop a ball.

Picture number 12 at the Masters: from the tee, the players must hit a ball over Rae's Creek to reach the green. If they come up short and dump one in the creek, where are they permitted to drop? Because this is marked as yellow, back in the fairway. They must still successfully negotiate the creek.

Sometimes they make it over Rae's Creek only to have the ball roll back into it--same relief option of dropping back in the fairway requiring a shot over the creek. Less common, but it happens, is a player may put a ball in the bunker behind the green, then

when they play the ball out, do so with too much force and hit it back into Rae's Creek from behind the green. The requirement to keep the point the ball last crossed the margin between them and the hole still applies and they join everybody else and drop back in the fairway for their 4th stroke.

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Notes:

When both stakes and lines are present, the stakes identify the hazard and the lines define the hazard margin. What this means is, if you encounter both stakes and lines around a hazard, treat the stake like a sign that says "here is a hazard". It has no meaning beyond a visual cue. The painted line becomes your reference point for all the measuring, reference points, etc.

• · The painted lines often fade away over time. If you can no longer see the line, you must then reference just the stakes. There should be a sufficient number of stakes so the margin of the hazard is adequately defined along the natural boundaries of a hazard. The stakes themselves are inside the hazard. So to determine the precise margins using only stakes, sight along the fairway side of any two stakes at ground level.
• · If the lines and stakes are missing, the player must reference the naturalboundaries of the hazard to define the margin.
• · A ball touching the margin of a hazard is considered "in" the hazard. So if it touches the line, consider it in the hazard.