Don’t lose sight of the fifth element

The rules of golf are a subject that I have hit on in some shape or form a number of times over the past year in Xpress. And since the inception of the game they have never ceased to provide the golfing masses – whether players or spectators – with contentious situations and heated banter at the 19th hole.

If I were to have an educated guess at the section of a typical amateur’s rulebook that had most dirty fingerprints, I would have to say "Water Hazards".

Let’s face it, me included, water hazards (especially in the UAE) are the most frequently visited parts of the golf course and often cause the most pain.

Having just finished my match play tie against a fellow UAE PGA professional around the Wadi course this morning, we both can concur with that statement.

Now if I were to make a bold estimation, I would say the number of amateur golfers who can respond correctly to the following question would be no more than, let’s say, 15%. Do you feel lucky? Okay, here goes:

State the five options available to a golfer who has just hit his ball into a lateral water hazard?

OK, now there begs another question: Which colour stakes denote a lateral water hazard? However, let’s presume for the sake of this column that everyone knows there are red.

It amazes me just how many times I find myself in a situation giving advice to fellow golfers on what options they have, and equally amazed just how many people automatically go for the standard two-club length response.

I have lost count at the number of times I have seen someone drop a ball within two club lengths (no nearer the hole) on the bank of a hazard, only to see the ball roll down the slope and nestle within an inch of the water. The consequence is that the ball is in play and you end up having to chip it sideways or you get your feet wet.

So I am about to save 85 per cent of readers from future anguish by providing the critical five penalty options from a lateral water hazard – in layman’s terms:

1. Play it as it lies. Many of you will remember the 1989 Ryder Cup at the Belfry – say no more!

2. Drop the ball, no nearer the hole, within two clubs of the point where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard.

3. Go back as far as you like keeping the point where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard between you and the hole.

4. Retake the shot from where you last played it.

5. And the one that not many people know – drop the ball within two club lengths of the hazard line, on the opposite bank of the hazard, equidistant from the point the ball originally crossed the margin of the hazard.

Now you can’t say you have never been told!