The 6th hole on our course has a water hazard that sit across the fairway immediately in front of the tee then carries on down the left hand side of the fairway for about 150m. left of the lake is marked out of bounds.On Saturday my playing partner hit his drive over the corner of the lake onto the far bank which is OB. The ball rolled along the bank for about 100m & then ran back into the hazard. Where is he able to take a drop in this situation.

Is it a lateral hazard. If so the nearest point opposite the point that it last crossed the hazard, even if it did come from out of bounds. Those are my thoughts.

If it not a lateral hazard then I guess the point it first crossed the hazard i.e. near the tee.

The reference point is where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard. In this case the OB edge.
If it was marked as lateral then (as said above) the ball may be dropped on the opposite side from the reference point, equidistant from the hole. Or from the tee.
If it was a yellow stake hazard then it would seem that the only option would be to take S&D from the tee.

Sorry guys should have added that. The hazard is marked as lateral. Ok. 1 more Question. The out of bounds markers are positioned so that 2 small sections of the lake protrude past the OB. line. Does this mean that these 2 areas should be considered out of bounds. I realise this line should be marked better .

technically it would have to bo OB. We have a small pond on the side of one of our fairways. The OB fence is actually suspended above the pond. You can’t see the hazard from the tee as it is in a gully. Just one of those situations where , unless you find it in the hazard, it has to be treated as lost or OB.

In our siuation it was difficult to tell if the ball finished up in bounds or out. He played his next ball from the Tee to avoid any problems. I have never been a fan of Hazards that cannot be seen from the tee if there is somewhere else nearby that the ball can be lost. It makes for too many arguements.

I have never been a fan of Hazards that cannot be seen from the tee if there is somewhere else nearby that the ball can be lost. It makes for too many arguements.

A bad day on the golf course is better than no golf at all. :(

No one who ever had a lesson would have a swing like mine

Lee Trevino

You must hate your home course!

Not realy. In most cases where you canb not see the ball enter the hazard , there is nowhere else the ball could be lost. This situation came about because at least 1 OB marker had been knocked into the lake or similar creating the problem . The only other bad spot is the pond on the corner of 14 where so many players claim there ball must be in the Hazard where in all likelyhood the ball is lost in the scrub.