Surface & Panel Golf Tip #2

[Ryan Wagner]

Water Comes With Options

 

Don’t worry it is still only May.  We have plenty of the season to work out the rust in our game.  With that in mind, let’s take this week to remind ourselves the options for water hazards, as well as lateral water hazards.

 

For water hazards, or hazards you see marked with yellow lines or stakes you have three different options.  Consider each option to find your best point to take your drop.

           

1.      Play the ball as it lies in the hazard.  Remember you are not allowed to ground your club in the hazard. 

2.      Replay the shot from as near to the point where you last played your previous shot incurring a one-stroke penalty.

3.      Keeping the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard between you and the flag, go back as far as you would like to drop.

 

For lateral water hazards, or hazards that are marked with red lines or stakes, you have two more additional options.

 

1.      From the point where your ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, drop within two-club lengths incurring a one-stroke penalty, no closer to the hole.

2.      Drop on the opposite side of the hazard equidistant from the hole location where your ball last crossed the margin of the hazard within two club lengths, incurring a one-stroke penalty.

 

Knowing these rules can pay off.  You always have more than one option; use the best option to get yourself back in play.

[Laura Rowlett]

I'm thinking back to how many times I was sneaky and used my driver to gain that couple of extra inches necessary to get my drop out of the cabbage and into a decent patch of rough. Heh, heh. And don't forget about the old favorite: "Ooops! My ball keeps rolling down that darned slope. I'd better place it (in a favorable lie)."