Hey everyone, I encountered a situation on the course today, and I’m unsure of the correct ruling. From the tee, my ball flew to the right and landed in the water hazard. I noticed there was a white drop zone nearby. I’m wondering what my relief options are in this situation. Am I allowed to drop the ball in the white drop zone, or do I have to take stroke-and-distance relief or drop along the line to the pin? In what cases would dropping in the white drop zone be permitted?
Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird to see both yellow and red lines on the same hazard? Is that a normal thing, or have I just never noticed it before? I also hardly see yellow lines these days, so that might be why I’m confused.
By the way, the course rules say you can only use the drop zone if your ball landed on the ground first before going into the water (like next to the green). Otherwise, like others mentioned, you just drop it in front of the water.
You know it? Awesome! Thanks for the info; that totally makes sense
Yep, I’ve been a member there for 14 years now, lol (and still am)…
Nice! I just started my membership a couple of weeks ago.
If the drop zone is there, it really shouldn’t be. It should be further back so players still have to hit over the water a bit. But hey, the committee is right even when they’re wrong!
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Haha, that’s what bugs me. It feels way too easy to have a relief option so close to the hole. With this drop zone, you can still get an easy bogey on a hole that seems way tougher. 
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If it’s a legit drop zone, and your ball goes into the water after crossing the yellow stakes (and only those), you should either drop in the drop zone or go back to the tee for your third shot. (Check the yellow line in the link.)
But if your ball clears the water and then goes in after crossing the red stakes—whether you sliced it or it hit land and bounced in—you can either take two club lengths from where it crossed, re-tee, or go back in line with the flag from where it went in (even though that might not make much sense for this hole). (Check the red line in the link.)
Free relief for standing water.