Long par 5, water on left marked with red line and stakes about one foot from waters edge. Ball lands between red line and waters edge. What is the rule,and the player's options?

You can play it but you can't ground your club withing the hazard

terpsno1 wrote:

You can play it but you can't ground your club withing the hazard

Really? I always assumed that once the ball crossed the red stakes that it was out-of-bounds and that I would have to take a penalty stroke and drop a ball.

It's good to know that as long as the ball does not make it into the water that I can still play the ball.

Thanks Terps

greendevil97 wrote:

terpsno1 wrote: You can play it but you can't ground your club withing the hazard Really? I always assumed that once the ball crossed the red stakes that it was out-of-bounds and that I would have to take a penalty stroke and drop a ball. It's good to know that as long as the ball does not make it into the water that I can still play the ball. Thanks Terps

Red stakes/lines indicate hazard. White usually means out-of-bounds, but white lines are often used in-bounds to denote ground under repair.

I think the rule is that red stakes define a hazard.You are allowed to play the ball from a hazard if you like.Even if the ball is in the water you can opt to play it if you can find it.

In the situation described, there are several drop options as well as the option to play the ball as it lies (from within the hazard), as pointed out. It's a good idea to read up on the rules and the definitions that the USGA (and R&A) use. http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Rules-and-Decisions/

Yellow stakes typically define "water hazards" and red stakes typically define "lateral water hazards". There is a slight difference in the drop rules if your ball enters the hazards and I suggest players read up on those differences in Rule 26 ( http://www.usga.org/bookrule.aspx?id=14304 ).

You can play the ball in any type of hazard (note that out of bounds is not a hazard and you have no choice when out of bounds but to hit from where you last played a stroke), but as correctly pointed out above, you cannot ground your club, nor touch the water or ground with your hand, nor remove loose impediments. The restrictions are covered in Rule 13-4 ( http://www.usga.org/bookrule.aspx?id=14278#13-4 ).