I. Facts

A small creek bisects the dog-leg Par 5 6th Hole at HCC which often comes into play, particularly for long hitters. Imagining a clock face, the creek runs from about 10:00 o’clock to 4:00 from left to right, leaving a larger landing area, with a shorter and more direct approach from the left side as opposed to a drive right which may bring the creek into play.

Reader and opponent, JSu, hit a powerful drive which unfortunately meandered right. Sure enough, upon inspection, he found his ball within the Red Penalty Area in a hole half way up the slight mud wall on the far bank of the creek. He stepped over the creek (it’s only 3-4 feet wide at this point), identified his ball, and quickly took a penalty drop on that side of the creek after determining his ball was unplayable from the mud. He then played a nice lay-up shot advancing the ball back into the fairway.

Foremost, most reluctantly, called a penalty on JSu as he had taken relief no closer to the hole, but from a reference point on the opposite margin of the hazard, rather than from the point his ball had last crossed the edge of the PA. F pointed out that the rule changes of 2019 had eliminated the option of dropping from the opposite margin. The penalty for playing from a “wrong place” under R17.1 is the General Penalty, Loss of Hole.

JSu graciously accepted this verdict, although he pointed out in his own defense that he had been seeking no unfair advantage, and that he would have had a neater and flatter lie, with a better angle to the hole had he dropped on the nearer side of the creek where he was supposed to drop. F, of course, acknowledged the truth in this explanation, and nodded his head in vigorous support at the unjustness of this Ruling as applied to this particular scenario, but he could not help but think of the timeless response he would heard from Reader MM after a similar speech….”would you like some cheese with that whine?”

II. General Observations

F …definitely, and perhaps a few others, have been confused as to the correct course of play after certain mishits on the finishing holes of HCC:

(1) F recently hit a nasty, sharp duck-hook drive into the tall, dense line of bushes left on the Par 5 Hole 17. (Chirping birds had clearly interfered with the tempo of his swing). He was, thereafter, unable to find his ball after a brief search, eliminating the possibility of a penalty drop for an unplayable ball. (R16).

As he pondered a strenuous and time-consuming return to the tee box, and balanced that option against a close-at-hand Bud Lite, he considered what he remembered of the Local Rule for balls Out-of -Bounds. But was his ball even OB? F didn’t see stakes or a boundary-line anywhere, although a “Do Not Play” line was painted and staked further down the hill along the property line of a residence.

F couldn’t remember. Does the LR, also, apply to a Lost Ball? F wasn’t about to go back to the tee box at this point , so he decided he would take a chance on the LR and the Lost Ball relief. But where should he drop? He vaguely remembered something about a fairway reference point for a drop under the LR, but his ball had disappeared in the bushes at least twenty yards short of the fairway. (Ok, in his defense, F had teed off from the back tees … back, the Reader may recall, where the birds party.)Since there was no fairway in the immediate vicinity, however, and his playing companions were rightfully becoming worn out with the whole procedure, F took a drop in the rough by the bushes and declared he was hitting four.

Issue(s

(i) Are the bushes left of H17 out-of-bounds?
(ii) If not, does the LR apply to a Lost Ball?
(iii) If the LR did apply, did F take a proper drop?

Rulings(with an assist from Pro HD):

(i) No, the bushes are unmarked and in-bounds.
(ii) Yes, the LR applies to Lost Balls as well as to balls Out-of-Bounds.
(iii) The LR allows a drop in the fairway if no closer to the hole; otherwise the LR requires a drop in the nearest grass cut to fairway height or less, such as a pathway, or teeing area.

Accordingly, F played from a Wrong Place with the result that his hard-earned eight on the hole could not be counted. His partner JE was devastated.

(2) A small lake fronts the entirety of the Par 3 18th Hole at HCC. Mishits often fall short and find the water. F has observed that, almost without exception, players who hit the ball in the lake take their penalty drop from the Ladies’ teeing area which sits below and to the right of the Mens’ teeing areas and just short of the cross bridge.

With the Ladies’ Tee set off to the right of the Men’s’ Tees, there are very few balls hit into the lake from the Mens’Tees that actually cross over the Ladies’ Tees. Accordingly, unless the the Ladies’ Tee has been designated as a “Drop Area” under Local Rules, the selection of this teeing area as a “Drop Area” is often inappropriate.

F has never seen a “Drop Circle” painted on the Ladies’Tee. He inquired to authorities above as to whether the Ladies’ Tee was a designated “Drop Zone” under Local Rules, or whether it had been a designated “Drop Zone” through historical precedent as, to his observation over some time, it is utilized as such. F was informed that, no “Drop Area” is or has been designated on this hole, and the ROG applied. ( Pro KM kindly addressed the historical precedent issue and referenced the ROG).

Therefore, three options exist for a ball in the lake on the 18th: 1) stroke and distance 2) two club-lengths from the point that the ball last crossed the PA, no closer, and 3) back-on-the line (BOL), keeping the point the ball crossed the PA in line with the flag. (R17.1d).

F suspects that the drop from the Ladies’Teeing Area has evolved over the years as a matter of convenience and time -economy. The Ladies’ teeing area is right by the bridge! But who knows! A left pin placement and and reference point right might form a line that leads directly to the Ladies Teeing Area, in which case a Penalty Drop on the Ladies’Teeing Area would be entirely appropriate! Imagine that! Maybe this what F has been seeing all along!

As usual, all comments and corrections are welcome!

Respectfully submitted,
F