playing a course for the first time. your ball goes into a small pool of water in a swampy area amongst the scrub . It is not marked as a water hazard. It looks like water is probably here most of the time but you are not sure.. How does one assess if it is casual water ??

“Casual water” is any temporary accumulation of water on the course that is visible before or after the player takes his stance and is not in a water hazard. Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are either casual water or loose impediments, at the option of the player. Manufactured ice is an obstruction. Dew and frost are not casual water. A ball is in casual water when it lies in or any part of it touches the casual water.

A “water hazard” is any sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface drainage ditch or other open water course (whether or not containing water) and anything of a similar nature on the course. A “lateral water hazard” is a water hazard or that part of a water hazard so situated that it is not possible or is deemed by the Committee to be impracticable to drop a ball behind the water hazard in accordance with Rule 26-1b.

If the swampy area is a WH or LWH by definition, then that is what it is whether it is marked as such or not. If the area is a WH etc by definition and has not been marked, then the Committee is not doing it’s job (R.33-2a) See Dec.s26/2 and 26/3.

If the area is in fact an overflow area from a water hazard, then it is casual water – see Dec 25/2.

If your playing stroke play and you have some doubts as to how to proceed, invoke R. 3-3 and report to the Committee so they can work it out for you.

Totally irrelevant to the question but – to assess casual water underfoot it must be visible when taking a normal stance. Water that appears when you jump or bob up and down is not casual water.

So what about when you are standing on boggy ground, where your feet disappear under ground but no water appears? If it has not been marked as GUR, do you play it as it lies? (Assuming the ball isn’t plugged, of course.)

Really it’s the same answer as the last para of thieftaker. But this time the query is ‘GUR or not?’

Well, hazards are permanent fixtures, GUR is not. I thought GUR was GUR if and only if it was declared as such by the Committee.

I’m not necessarily asking if it’s GUR BTW – I’m asking if boggy ground without visible water is still in some sense a condition from which relief can be taken without penalty.

Unless there is visible water when taking your stance is isn’t Casual Water. Boggy ground is not to my mind an ‘Abnormal Ground Condition’. So that only leaves GUR which may have not marked correctly by the greenkeeper but the committee have declared it so. Otherwise play it as best you can.

I’m asking if boggy ground without visible water is still in some sense a condition from which relief can be taken without penalty.

As indicated by AAA – and see Dec. 25/1:

Q. Is soft mushy earth casual water?

A. No. Soft mushy earth is not casual water unless water is visible on the surface before or after the player takes his stance – see Definition of “Casual Water”.

Put on those gum boots!

What if you water is not visible before you take your stance, or while you are in your stance with feet in position but if you step out of your stance water then is visible in your footprints where you where taking your stance? All prior to actually taking your shot. Has happened to me where you have longer grass and the action of leaving a footprint that flattens the grass makes the water visible.

IMO the words ‘after the player takes his stance’ mean whilst he is standing in position not after he has moved away and takes his stance again. That would be construed as forcing the water to the surface.

IMO the words ‘after the player takes his stance’ mean whilst he is standing in position not after he has moved away and takes his stance again. That would be construed as forcing the water to the surface.

However the water is now visible before he retakes his stance (ie before he takes his stance) and may now be visible when he takes his stance if he doesn’t put his feet back in his original footprints. I’m not implying that the played jumps up and down or exerts greater force, just that he takes his stance and then steps out of it. Really the ruling doesn’t appear to be as clear as it probably could be and there appeares to be no refrence to it in the R&A Decision book.

Hmm. I would argue that ‘he has taken his stance’. If there was no water before first taking it or when taken, that’s it. I suspect not many ROs would be sympathetic.

A friend, having spoken to someone at R&A once told me that water which had overflowed a water hazard and which was continuous with the water in that hazard was not casual water but constituted part of that hazard regardless of any markings. Was he wrong and have I been doing myself an injustice for years?

A friend, having spoken to someone at R&A once told me that water which had overflowed a water hazard and which was continuous with the water in that hazard was not casual water but constituted part of that hazard regardless of any markings. Was he wrong and have I been doing myself an injustice for years?

Yes, and yes. Dec. 25/2:

Q. If a pond (water hazard) has overflowed, is the overflow casual water?

A. Yes. Any overflow of water from a water hazard which is outside the margin of the hazard is casual water.

Thanks, wait till I see him again!

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I take it then thieftaker, if we find water on a course and it is not marked as a water hazard , we must accept it as casual water . is this correct ??

No. Please, read my first post in this thread.

OK If your playing stroke play and you have some doubts as to how to proceed, invoke R. 3-3 and report to the Committee so they can work it out for you. 2 balls