When playing the game of golf, it’s inevitable that you’ll eventually find yourself dealing with water hazards.  Landing your ball in the drink can be frustrating, but it’s important to know what to do when you find yourself in this situation.

Water hazards come in many forms, the most common being ponds, small lakes, or streams.  But a regularly used drainage ditch could also be considered a water hazard, even if it doesn’t contain any water.  If you’re lucky enough to play a seaside course, the scenic views come with the danger of landing your ball in the ocean.

Usually, stakes line the borders of these bodies of water, and outline what is considered part of the hazard.  You may have noticed these stakes tend to come in different colours.  These colours denote whether or not a body of water is considered a lateral hazard.  This will then determine what your options are as far as where to take your next shot.

It is possible to avoid a penalty if you happened to land your ball in very shallow water, or just along the water’s edge on a playable lie.  Usually, if you can see at least half the ball, you have a decent shot at getting it out cleanly.  But if you cannot play the ball where it lies, you must take a one stroke penalty, regardless of what type of water hazard you land in.

Water Hazards Marked with Yellow Stakes

You’ll find that the majority of water hazards you encounter on any given course will be lined with yellow stakes.  If your ball manages to land in one of these hazards, you usually have two options.

Your first option is to play your next shot as close as possible to the spot you just hit that ill-fated ball from.  If you were hitting from the tee box, you can re-tee your next shot.

Your second option is to drop your new ball anywhere behind the water hazard from the point your previous ball last crossed the hazard boundary, not where it ended up landing in the water.

Some courses provide a third option, allowing you to play your next shot from a designated drop zone.  This conveniently takes the guess work out of determining where your ball last crossed the hazard boundary.  But if there are no areas set aside on the course for this, you only have the two previous options mentioned.

Water Hazards Marked with Red Stakes  

When a body of water is outlined with red stakes, it has been designated a lateral water hazard.  This is due to the fact that the shape of the water hazard makes it either impossible or impractical to take a penalty shot behind it.

Your options are a little more limited in this case.  The first option mentioned previously is out the window.  In this scenario, you cannot hit the ball from where you took your last shot.  The point where your ball last crossed the water hazard must determine your next shot, much like it did with the second option for the yellow staked hazards.  But instead of being able to drop the ball anywhere behind that point, you must drop the ball within two club lengths of that spot without getting the ball closer to the hole.

You could have another interesting option in this situation.  After identifying the point where your ball last crossed it, you could walk to the opposite side of the hazard, if possible, and take your shot from that point (again, two club lengths away and not closer to the hole).  This shot could prove to be more advantageous, since it might provide a better angle to the green than the one closest to the fairway.