Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2010 - 12

(Qschool
)
( Rules Primer
How to Spell Relief: T.H.E. R.U.L.E.S.
When it comes to relief from water, know the rules-don't
hazard a guess.
By Joseph Oberle
I
n an early spring tournament, touring pro Phil Mickelson
hit his ball into a lateral water hazard. Dropping the ball
two club lengths from the margin did not afford him a
clear shot to the green, so he employed the rarely used relief option-Rule
26-1c(ii)-and dropped his ball on the opposite side
of the hazard, equidistant from the hole location where he had a
better angle to the green. Mickelson took a penalty stroke, hit the
ball on the green and had a putt for par. Knowledge of the rules
greatly benefi ted him.
" If you know the rules you can use them to your advantage, "
says MGA tournament director Doug Hoffmann. " Some golfers
think the rules are a negative and exist to hurt them. Well, they're
not if you know them well enough. "
Rule 26-1 for Water Hazards is possibly the most well-known
rule in the book. It's possibly the most ill-used as well. Most (if
not all) golfers have hit into a water hazard and had to drop their
ball, but not everyone knows all the relief options and how they
differ from red and yellow demarcations.
Water hazards marked with yellow stakes or lines are designated
as direct water hazards. There are three relief options to
consider if you fi nd your ball within the boundary of a direct
water hazard.
The fi rst is playing the ball as it lies, which does not incur a penalty.
You can't ground your club, touch the water with your club
nor move a loose impediment within the hazard, but depending
on your lie, hitting a ball from a water hazard isn't always the most
prudent plan of action.
Rule 26-1a is the stroke and distance option (and it incurs a
penalty). Simply return to the spot from where the last shot was
played and drop or re-tee the ball.
For Rule 26-1b, you must keep the point where the ball last
crossed the margin of the hazard on a line with the fl agstick and
drop the ball (with a penalty stroke) behind the hazard anywhere
on that line. Hoffmann urges players to remember that you must
use the point where the ball last crossed the hazard margin and
not the line of fl ight the ball took getting to the hazard.
" Aside from stroke and distance (26-1a), all of the relief options
are controlled by where the ball last crossed the hazard, " he says.
" Line of fl ight is never a relief option. "
If the hazard area is marked with red stakes or lines, it is a lateral
water hazard and two additional relief options-arguably the most
10
MINNESOTAGOLFER Fall 2010
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often and least often used options-are available.
Rule 26-1c(i) allows for a player to drop within two club
lengths of the spot where the ball last crossed the hazard.
With more courses marking hazards red, for reasons of pace of
play and convenience, Hoffmann says " most players know they
can drop within two club lengths of where the ball last crossed
the hazard. "
Rule 26-1c(ii), which Mickelson used, occurs in very unique
situations. It is unusual to fi nd a place where there is a spot on the
opposite side of the hazard that is the same distance to the hole
(equidistant) and is a better position to drop the ball than where
two club lengths from the original spot would be. Conditions are
not right very often.
" An even bigger issue is that people don't think about this
option, " Hoffmann says.
But Mickelson did, and it helped him.
" If you're going to play golf you should know the rules, because
the rules can assist you, " Hoffmann adds. " Just ask Mickelson. "
RELIEF FROM LATERAL WATER HAZARDS
Hit from Point A, the ball
last crosses the hazard
at Point B. Relief options
include playing it as it
lies; returning to hit from
A (stroke and distance);
dropping anywhere on a
line alongside the hazard
keeping B and the hole on
the line (C); drop within
two club lengths from
where the ball last crossed
the hazard (B); or at a spot
equidistant from B across
the hazard (D)-which is
the option Phil Mickelson
employed.
A
D
B
C
D
B
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