Let me set the hole up first. Par 3, 178 yards, all carry over water...virtually no bailout. I choose a 6 iron, hit it well, clears water, lands on green but spins back into very heavy rough just short of green, about 3 feet from the hazard (and 2 feet from hazard line). I get to the ball...horrific lie deep in the 4-6 inch heavy rough. Here is where the fun starts....I pull out my pitching wedge (30 degree uphill lie), and proceed to take a good swing at it...the ball comes out, I double hit it...but the double hit caused it to fly backward over my head about 30 feet in to the water behind me... NOW the debating began, because this was a pretty cutthroat money match. What would your ruling be ....I will tell you what went down after I hear from all of you where I should drop, and what I would be hitting. FIRE AWAY .. it was pretty funny looking back on it...but not at the time !!!

Tough one.I say your hitting 5 from the tee box.

I will take a guess...

stroke 1 - tee shot
stroke 2 - pitch shot
stroke 3 - penalty for double hit
stroke 4 - penalty/drop for going in water hazard

So, you are then hitting five, dropping on the line created on vector backwards from from the point crossing where entered the hazard, in-line with flagstick on the other side of the hazard (back towards tee box).

Looked up water hazards in my pocket illustrated rules guide (not the official book, but I think it's accurate). It also states playing the ball from the last hit, which in this case would be dropping back in the green side rough where you hit the pitch. But something about that seems weird, but maybe correct.

You could have played two balls, one from each spot, recorded both scores, and asked the club pro to clear it up after the round I suppose.

I agree with the previous posters that probably the best option is to drop on the other side of the hazard and hit your 5th shot.

Play it from the same spot or drop on the other side of the hazard back in a straight line, both for 5.

Back to the tee as suggested by Werepuppie is NOT an option. Playing out two balls as suggested by jfurr is not an option in matchplay either.

The main question is whether it is marked yellow or red.

There shouldn't be any problem with this:

Stroke 1: tee shot to the rough
Stroke 2: hit from rough
Stroke 3: penalty for double hit
Stroke 4: Best idea here would be to drop from where you hit from the rough in front of the green - under rule 26-1a.
Stroke 5: hit it on the green
Stroke 6-?: putt it in the hole

i'm not sure where the question of ruling comes from if you know the rules. Under the water hazard rules, you have the option to play from where you previously played. In this case, you previously played from the correct (green) side of the hazard. just because it went in doesn't mean you have to do anything special. Just play from the last spot. This usually isn't prudent because under "normal" circumstances, you'd be on the tee or back in the fairway, and who wants to play another 175 yard shot when you can play a pitch?

srogers13 wrote:

The main question is whether it is marked yellow or red.

"all carry over water", you think that it is possible that it is a frontal water hazard? Where would you like to drop it than?

You can drop back on the tee box ore at the place where you made your last stroke, drop it at where the ball was 2nd hit(not the 1st hit).

player wrote:

You can drop back on the tee box

No he cannot. That ship has sailed when he hit his second shot.

jev wrote:

player wrote: You can drop back on the tee box No he cannot. That ship has sailed when he hit his second shot.

If the tee box was directly over the water from where the second ball went in,he should be able to drop on it.He could not retee,but why would he not be able to drop there?

If it's match play, just concede the hole.



I want to hear what went down afterwards.

Werepuppie wrote:

If the tee box was directly over the water from where the second ball went in,he should be able to drop on it.

He could if the teebox is on a straight line from flag to the place where the ball entered the water hazard, but that chance is pretty slim. If it is on the line, it is not different from dropping anywhere else on the line.

It is not a special rule that allows you to go back to the tee. Writing 'go back to the tee' is the kind of thing that makes people misunderstand the rules and come up with weird ideas like thinking it is always allowed to go back to the teeing ground.

Last but not least, there is another difference with 'going back to the tee'. Yes, you can't tee it up again, but now the teemarkers may be removed (which is not allowed when teeing up).

Many good answers here...but here is what went down...or should I say I was made to do by consensus. First of all it was a stroke play match with 2 foursomes... front, back, total, skins on par 3's, etc..

JFURR hit it pretty much right on, as to what I was told to do, when someone pulled a rule book out. I went back to the drop area about 30 yards in front of and to the left of the teebox, hitting 5 ... I hit it on and 2 putted for a 7. It was explained by the head pro later that "had the ball gone over land after my double hit, I would have been entitled to a drop there'....BUT since I basically was standing up against the hazard when I double hit it, it did not go over any land that was not marked with a red line....ergo...must go to drop area back over the water.

A very strange shot to say the least ...

Has anyone ever had a shot as weird as that !!!