Under the old rules you could choose to take lateral relief from either side of lateral water hazard, but the opposite side relief is no longer a standard option under the new rules. You can now only take lateral relief on the side of the Red Penalty Area where your ball last crossed into it.
This could cause us some difficulty on the 15th so we have put in place a local rule to allow this opposite side relief for this Red Penalty Area only.
It is the ditch marked with the solid red line in the photo. Most tee shots would cross into this ditch from the side shown (yellow ball flight) which, without the local rule, would leave the lateral relief option on the side towards the 14th fairway.
If you choose not to play the ball as it lies in the ditch, your options, all under penalty of one stroke, will now be to:
- Go back and play from where you last played
- Go back on line (the solid blue line) as far as you like and drop within 1 club length of, and not nearer than, your chosen reference point on that line
- Drop within 2 club lengths of, and not nearer than, the point where the ball last crossed in to the penalty area
- Or, under the local rule, drop within 2 club lengths of the point on the other side of the penalty area which is the same distance from the hole as the point where the ball last crossed into the penalty area
As there is a lot of rough ground, trees, and long grass close to this ditch, to be 95% certain that your ball is in it you will have to find it. Otherwise it is a lost ball and you will be playing again from the place you last played. Make sure you hit a Provisional Ball if you stray down here.
However, the Red Penalty Area further up (dashed red line) is one of those which extends back into the trees. In here you won’t have to find your ball to be 95% certain that it is within the penalty area and you will be able to use the lateral relief option from where your ball crossed in to it.
Golf Rules Guru 