HAZARDS ATTRACT , FAIRWAYS REPEL
riter , Jim Murray has this take on Golf : “ I ’ m gambling that when we get into the next life , Saint Peter will look at us and ask , ‘ Golfer ?’ And when we nod , he will step aside and say , ‘ Go right in ; you ’ ve suffered enough .’ One warning , if you do go in and the first thing you see is a par 3 surrounded by water , it ain ’ t heaven .”
WATTER OR WATTERRY FLITH
Ask any modern golf course architect and he will tell you that there is no challenging golf course without water bodies being craftily included , all designed to trap the unsuspecting golfer with exasperating lure . Article 5 of the oldest code of 1744 made a reference to watter or watterry filth , which , of course , is now politely referred to as a Water Hazard .
THE SWILCAN BURN
The most famous of watery filth was and is the Swilcan Burn in front of the 1st green at The Old Course at St . Andrews and in the old days it was quite possible to hit a ball into the North Sea off the 1st tee .
THE RIVER TAY & WIMBLEDON
The River Tay is famous for its proximity to
Carnoustie , a popular Open Championship venue . The King James VI Club had an interesting Rule “ Should a ball be driven into the Tay and seen by both parties , it is considered not lost …”
Nowadays , a mere splashing of the ball in the water is not enough evidence ; it needs to be a known or virtually certain fact .
The “ antients ” made no distinction between permanent and casual water until 1883 , with the Wimbledon ( and you that Wimbledon only meant tennis !!) code .
Till 1891 , imagine a player was penalized 1 stroke for dropping a ball out of casual water , a free relief that is a given for us modern golfers !
It wasn ’ t until 1899 “ a recognized water hazard ” came into being and today the definition includes any sea , lake , pond , river ditch , surface drainage ditch or other open water source .
RED & YELLOW
In modern golf , a water hazard is defined when the player having hit into it , is able to drop a ball behind the hazard . Such hazards are marked with yellow paint and / or yellow stakes . When a water hazard lies in the direction of play and it is difficult to drop
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a ball behind the hazard , it is termed as a ” lateral ” water hazard . An additional option here is to drop a ball within 2-club lengths , lateral to where the ball last crossed the margin . Such hazards are marked with red paint and / or stakes .
THE A , B , C CONCEPT
When we teach Rules to at our Level 1 and
20 G o l f P l u s JUNE 2018