Dear North Shore Golf,
My final round of the fall was a memorable one (not on my scorecard), because of two perplexing rules questions.
First off, playing after two days of rains, my ball landed in a bunker that was basically a small pond. Since the ball was under at least a half a foot of water and there was nowhere in the bunker to drop the ball that was dry, I chose to drop my ball one club length behind the bunker at the point of entry. I did not take a one-stroke penalty because, as I saw it, I had no other option and should not be penalized for the flooded bunker, but my playing partner said I should have.
Two holes later, I found another hazard – the woods. Although I found my ball, my escape shot hit a tree and ricocheted back off my leg, dropping at my feet. I played it out from there, but once again my partner said I should have taken a one-shot penalty. What’s the ruling on both? I still have my scorecard (and an eraser) handy.
~ E.H., Ipswich

Dear E.H.,
Unfortunately, we have penalty situations in both cases. Let’s start with the first situation where your ball was in a bunker completely filled with water:
Under Rule 25-1b, you are permitted to take relief from casual water in a bunker. However, the nearest point of relief must be in the bunker. If complete relief is not available, then you must find a spot in the bunker (no nearer the hole), which will afford you maximum available relief. In other words, if your ball was in six inches of water and the shallowest point was two inches deep, then that is the only spot where relief may be taken without penalty.
However, if you feel that there is no feasible place to drop in the bunker, you may, with a one-stroke penalty, drop the ball outside of the bunker keeping the spot where the ball originally lay in line with the flagstick with no limit to how far you may go back and drop on that line behind the bunker. Since you failed to drop the ball in the correct spot, you played from a wrong place under Rule 20-7c which is a two-stroke penalty.
The bunker need not be filled with water to apply this rule. You only need interference of the lie of ball, your stance, or area of intended swing in any amount of casual water. The only instance where free relief is granted from a bunker is when the entire bunker has been marked as ground under repair through the green.
The second situation is more cut and dry, no pun intended. In the instance where the ball struck you after a stroke, there is a breach of Rule 19-2, Ball in motion deflected by player, partner, caddie or equipment. Interestingly enough, since this occurred last year, that would have carried a penalty of two strokes. However, effective January 1, 2008, the penalty has been reduced to one stroke.

Ryan Magee, a native of Salem, was named director of rules and competition by the Massachusetts Golf Association this winter after serving four seasons at the Northern California Golf Association where he was assistant director of rules and competitions.

Ryan Magee, a native of Salem, was named director of rules and competition by the Massachusetts Golf Association this winter after serving four seasons at the Northern California Golf Association where he was assistant director of rules and competitions.