I have provided a link that I hope shows the 14th hole at my club here in Norway.

http://www.golfatlas.no/ext...;h=14

The hazard in front is staked yellow, and to the RHS and behind is red (lateral water hazard).

All of the between any tee and the water is rough that is minimum 1 foot deep and unable to be played out of – thereby meaning a ball entering the hazard in the yellow zone means the golfer has to play from the tee again, except in the rare cases where you can drop on the blue tee if your point of entry / line to the flag comes back across this small tee.

This hole usually plays into a sea breeze that can be the difference in 3 clubs (8 iron v 5 iron).

My opinion is that the club should create a drop zone to the RHS of the blue tee, about 90 metres from mid-green, that will of course still negotiate the water. I feel that the options of Rule 26 available to the player have been negated by being given basically the only option of playing from the tee in likelihood 90% of cases when a ball goes in the water hazard.

When I attended Referee’s School in England, the instructors were all European Tour referees, and have officiated all 4 majors the last 5 years + Ryder Cup. Their professional opinion is that a player should have available all options under a Rule in penalty situations, and were not in favour of this type of situation this hole presents. They pointed to Augusta’s 12th as a prime example where the player gets an EXTRA option under the rules with a drop zone / play from tee / play from behind hazard options.

As an architect, how do you view this type of thing….? Do you make any recommendations to committees about this type of thing?

Trysil, we dont usually get involved in such things with clubs other than informally offering our opinion when asked. My opinion is that if the club cut the 1 foot deep rough down to fairway height for about 5 metres around the water edge then you wouldnt need a drop zone but could play from the point of entry near the water. You would still be faced with a shot over water, but from only about 70 metres. Alternatively you could have a local rule drop zone but id have it on the left at the start of the fairway so your 3rd shot wasnt over water (golf is supposed to be fun remember!!)

Alternatively you could have a local rule drop zone but id have it on the left at the start of the fairway so your 3rd shot wasnt over water (golf is supposed to be fun remember!!)

Isn’t a shot over water fun?

Not if you’ve already plonked one in the water and its a stroke round….