Golf Hazards And Penalties

In order for a course to be a “good” course to play, it must challenge the golfer’s skill.  Therefore, golf hazards are built into every course, along with their attached penalties, of course.

These include bunkers and water hazards which the golfer must overcome with as much skill as he or she can muster.

A water hazard is a sea, lake, pond, river, creek, ditch or anything similarly water-filled on the course.  If a golfer’s ball lands in a water hazard, the golfer may play the ball as it lies (sometimes under water), play a ball from where it was originally hit, or under penalty of one stroke, drop a ball at any point along the ball’s flight path toward the hazard.

Given the choice, I choose to drop the ball and commence my game.

A bunker is a prepared area where the turf and soil have been removed and replaced with sand.  I truly think bunkers were put on all golf courses to test the patience of the golfer.  If your ball lands in the bunker you can play the ball as it lies within the bunker without incurring any penalty strokes.

The golfer can, under penalty of one stroke, deem the ball unplayable, and drop the ball outside the bunker.  The golfer cannot test the condition of the bunker or touch the ground in the bunker with his/her hand or club.  This is called “grounding.”

The penalty for grounding is two strokes in stroke play, or loss of the hole in match play.