Rules question...

[Losttheplot]

I'm just watching the masters final day that I recorded from Sunday.
I've just seen Fred Couples play a par 3 and from the tee he hit his ball and it hit the bank and rolled into the water.
Now I'm under the impression he should hit another from the tee. Unless there is a dropping zone am I right in my thoughts???

I have little competition experience so these basic rules sometimes sound like silly questions.

 

[Yerman]

If its a water hazard you drop (for one shot penalty) in a line from the flag to where the ball crossed the hazard as far back as you like -so you lose a shot but not the whole distance.

 

[Robobum]

If a ball is in a water hazard or if it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:
a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or
b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or
c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

 

[CliveW]

I have little competition experience so these basic rules sometimes sound like silly questions.

For a player with a handicap of 8 and having little competition experience, you must be a natural!
As for the original question, you do not need to go back to the tee, you can drop a ball behind the water hazard keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit on how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped, under penalty of one shot.

 

[Losttheplot]

For a player with a handicap of 8 and having little competition experience, you must be a natural!

To be honest I understand a lot of the basic rules and unfortunately I rely on my playing partners to keep me right on the course as I get confused sometimes about things. I don't know why I get confused but I am trying to learn exactly what I can and can't do (rules wise).

I've only played for 3 years, 2 years playing with mates now and again and then last season had my first membership and this year is my second membership. I haven't managed to play many competitions because I was always working when the monthly medal was on but this year with a different club they play comps every week. Hopefully I will become more clear with rules without having to ask anyone

 

[Losttheplot]

I understand the point that you can drop behind the point of entry into the hazard no nearer the hole.
I was under the impression that if you tee off and it enters a water hazard and it will be a lost ball that you play from the tee.
If it was your second shot from the fairway say, and you hit it into the water and it is obviously a lost ball then you can play from the point of entry no nearer the hole.

Is that right from the point of it being off the tee???

 

[Fyldewhite]

Read Robobums post above (or the rule book from which it is quoted perhaps). It tells you what you can do if your ball is in a water hazard. As it doesn't say anything about it being a tee shot or from the fairway it means that where you played from is not a factor. Simply do one of the options that the rule lays out. The rules of golf are very specific about what you can and can't do. If the place you played from was a factor then it would say so. It doesn't, so it isn't.

 

[Losttheplot]

Read Robobums post above (or the rule book from which it is quoted perhaps). It tells you what you can do if your ball is in a water hazard. As it doesn't say anything about it being a tee shot or from the fairway it means that where you played from is not a factor. Simply do one of the options that the rule lays out. The rules of golf are very specific about what you can and can't do. If the place you played from was a factor then it would say so. It doesn't, so it isn't.

thanks for clearing it up, I know I asked a silly question but I'd rather ask the silly question and know the correct answer than just pretend I do and maybe get it wrong one day.

Thanks everyone much appreciated.

 

[Leftie]

I refer the gentleman to the answers previously given above.

If further clarification is needed, go on to the RandA web site, click on Rules and find the relevant info. If still not satisfied, go to their rules decisions section and all will be revealed.

 

[CliveW]

I suppose most players elect to play the shot from the tee is down to the fact that they have an exact yardage to the centre of the green, a flat lie on short grass. Most par 3s with water do not have good lies between the tee and green.

As a point of interest, are you allowed to tee-up the ball if you elect to play it from the tee? I always asssumed you could but are you not then placing the ball rather than taking a drop?

 

[Leftie]

As a point of interest, are you allowed to tee-up the ball if you elect to play it from the tee? I always asssumed you could but are you not then placing the ball rather than taking a drop?

http://www.randa.org/rules/home

 

[CliveW]

http://www.randa.org/rules/home

Thanks for the link to the Rulebook, but where is the actual ruling on teeing the ball rather than taking a drop?

 

[Ethan]

You can always tee the ball up if you are playing a tee shot, i.e the first shot on a hole or any further shot played within the Rules from the tee (3 off the tee etc). You obviously can't tee it up if your ball lands on another tee en route to the hole or if you duff your first shot 2 feet and are still on the tee.

 

[Sam]

if you duff your first shot 2 feet and are still on the tee

?? declare ball unplayable and you can

Sam the pedant!