We can’t spend a week at the beach without ending up in the water at some point, right? I’m going to wrap up beach week by reminding you that your golf ball is going to go for a swim at some point. Do you know what all your options are?

First, there are two types of water hazards: the water hazard (outlined by yellow stakes) and the lateral hazard (outlined by red stakes). The difference between the two is that lateral hazards are those where it’s been deemed that it’s impractical to drop behind the hazard. For instance, a creek running along parallel to the fairway.

Rule 26 covers water hazards and lays out the options for you. It’s important to realize that there must be “reasonable evidence” that your ball is lost in the hazard before you can proceed under Rule 26. If it is unclear whether your ball is lost inside or outside of a hazard, then you must proceed under Rule 27 and proceed under penalty of stroke and distance.

The best scenario is when you find your ball within the hazard, because there’s no question about it being in the hazard. Remember that the hazard includes not just the water within it, but everything within the stakes that define it, and the stakes as well. If you find your ball within the hazard and it’s playable, you can play it where it lies without penalty. Remember not to ground your club after taking your stance.

If your ball is unplayable or there is reasonable evidence that your ball is lost within a water hazard, you have a couple of options.

• The first option, under penalty of one stroke, is playing it as nearly as possible from the spot where you took the previous stroke.
• The second option, also under penalty of one stroke, is playing the ball behind the spot where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard anywhere on a line starting from the hole and extending through the point at which the ball crossed the margin. There is no limit how far back from the hazard you can go. For instance, you could back up a little bit along that line to give yourself a full club into the green.

It’s important to note that in option two above, that the spot where you played the shot from that ended up in the hazard might not be on the line where you’re allowed to play from. If you duck hook (or slice for a left hander) the ball into the hazard, the spot where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard might be well left of where you took the shot from. That means you need to extend the imaginary line back from the hole through that point and the line could be well left of where you played the shot from originally. Just make sure when you’re scouting a drop spot, keep yourself, the point where the ball crossed the margin, and the hole all in a line.

Since dropping the ball behind a lateral hazard is not practical there are a couple of other options available. First, you need to find that point where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard again. Then, under penalty of one stroke, you may:

• Drop within two club lengths of the spot where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard, no nearer the hole.
• Find the spot on the opposite margin of the hazard equidistant from the hole and drop within two club lengths of that spot, also no nearer the hole. If it’s to your advantage to play from the other side of a lateral hazard (if, say, it gives you a better angle into the green), then by all means consider this option.

Some hazards, depending on their shape and orientation, may transition from water hazard to lateral hazard or vice versa where their edges meander around. Just find the point where the ball crossed the margin and look at the stakes at that point to figure out which way to proceed.

That’s all there is to it. Hitting into a hazard is no fun, but knowing all the options available will help you decide which is best and will let you have a better chance of recovering from the mistake. Remember that sometimes you can’t make up for that mistake immediately. The key is to make a smart play that limits the damage instead of attempting insane heroics trying to erase the mistake that got you into trouble to begin with. Fall into that trap and you’re setting yourself up for a huge number.

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