Did any of you guys see that shot Robert Allenby made standing in the lake? I forget which hole it was but he hit it left of the green and it rolled down a hilll on to a little bit of a beach (or just muddy edge whatever). He had to roll up his slacks, take off his shoes and stand in the water to hit his shot...and he hit to less than 10 feet. I would have hit it fat covered myself in mud and fallen over in the lake. Then the Irish kid McCory was in pretty much the same situation and he put on a rain suit, didn't take off his shoe because he could stand on the mud flat, but he did hit it a little fat and he didn't get it out and had to hit it again that shot went over the green into the bunker. If you didn't want to stand in the water and hit the shot could you have called an unplayable lie? If so where could he have dropped the ball?
I believe that you cannot call an unplayable in a water hazzard. Rehitting the shot he hit into the water or hitting from the other side is probably his only choice.
Without looking it up, I'm pretty sure you can call an unplayable. You would then take a stance out of the hazzard at the point the ball crossed into the hazzard plus 2 club lenghts and a drop. All with a 1 stroke penalty. That's off the cuff, I'll look it up now. Think of the French guy that choked at the british when he was in the burm on 18. He had the chance to hit it, but decided on the penalty drop. Jean ?....
I think the key is he could not have addressed the ball without standing in the lake, it's hard to imagine the rules requiring you to stand in the lake to address the ball. I know we occasionally see guys stand in the lake and even try and hit the ball if it's in the water (in this case it wasn't it was on the mud flat), but it would seem logical that it would be their choice. McCory did not have to stand in the lake he could at least stand on land (albeit muddy land) and address the ball.
In my group, we'd just pickup the ball and toss it on a decent lie and take a stroke like it was a water ball.
Rule 28. Ball Unplayable Definitions All defined terms are in italics and are listed alphabetically in the Definitions section. The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course, except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable.
Funny but when you look at that rule it clearly states there are different rules for a ball in the water hazzard. I looked up the definition of a water hazzard and the ball doesn't have to be actually in the water and no mention of issues with where the player has to stand to address the ball. Just that if it's in the hazzard you have the option of taking a stroke and essentially do the same thing as if you declared the ball unplayable. I like my rule...toss it back towards where you hit it on dry land, take 1 stroke!!
Gipper, How about we invite Doc to play with us in K.C. Well do front/back/overall for $20 a side, and then let Doc play his game. :wink:
Terry there are differences between latteral and other water hazzards. If the hazzard isn't latteral then the player must rehit if he hasn't cleared the water. AJ Sounds good to me.
Careful now....The offical O'Keefe rules of golf might not be to your liking. Unless you like morphing golf balls and do overs(not the same as mulligans) as well as the two putt rule for those over 60.