Rules Guy: My ball was submerged outside an overflowed pond’s penalty area. Do I get relief?
What do the rules say about an overflowed pond?
Getty Images
The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.
We recently played following a significant rainfall. The water from a penalty area—a pond—had risen beyond the clear red line marking it and onto the playing area. Sure enough, a ball came to rest in the water but outside the still-visible red line. Is the ball considered in the penalty area or in casual water? —Kevin Klein, via email
The water was likely murky; the rules in this instance are not.
“Casual” water is officially temporary water, and under Definition of Temporary Water, water that has overflowed from a penalty area is indeed temporary water.
Thus, the player is not all wet, nor penalized, but simply takes appropriate relief.
Rules Guy: I *know* my ball landed in temporary water, but I can’t find it. What now?
For more water-related guidance from our guru, read on …
If a retention pond isn’t staked, is it still considered to be a water hazard? —Paul Neubert, Surfside Beach, S.C.
The Zen philosopher Ty Webb once said, “A flute with no holes is not a flute. A donut with no hole is a Danish.”
Similarly (or perhaps dissimilarly — it’s hard to say), Decision 26/3 clarifies that if a water hazard is unmarked by the committee it does not lose its status as a water hazard.
Hit into it, and you can still take relief under the water hazard rule … or, better yet, don’t hit into it.
Tour Aim With 3 Alignment Sticks
Need help unriddling the greens at your home course? Pick up a custom Green Book from Golf Logix.
Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.
Latest In Instruction
