How To Handle Any Hazard On The Golf Course

Golf would certainly be boring if it did not have challenging hazard to deal with! Some of you may moan and groan when you ball goes kerplunk in the water, lands in a bunker or gets buried in a thorn bush. These are the challenges that make the sport of golf exciting.

Ideally, you do not want your golf ball to land in such disaster areas. However, it is good to know where these trouble spots lie so that you will have an effective strategy to maneuver your golf ball around these nasty situations and put it back into play.

Before you go to tee off  on a hole, you should have in your mind's eye where each hazard area is located. You should mentally rate the severity of each trap and how it may cause your shot to be ruined.

This is a good technique for beginning golfers to use. New players are not accurate enough to avoid all hazards. They must choose a direction in which to aim their ball which will provide the lesser of two hazard evils.

There are six troublesome hazards that you should be aware of on the golf course:

1. Hilly Lies - Before you hit the ball down the fairway, take note of any hilly terrain that may exist. You may have to shorten the distance that you hit the ball by 10 to 20 yards in order for your ball not to run downhill away from your target. Getting your ball into a favorable position is better than going for a long distance especially if you are going to face hilly lies that can roll up or down in all different directions.

2. The rough - This is the least bothersome of all hazards although it is still difficult to hit your ball from this point. There is usually no penalty if your ball lands in the rough.

3. Out of bounds - If you happen to hit your ball out of bounds, often called 'OB', you must go back and hit your ball all over again and you must also add a penalty stroke to your score. This is certainly not a fun experience for any golfer!

4. Water areas - This is not as bad as hitting your ball out of bounds. However, if your ball does land in the water you will be forced to take your next shot in another spot and you will also earn a penalty. In some cases if the ball is not too far in the water, the player may try to make the shot. However, these cases do not happen very often.

5. Bunker - No one likes to hit the ball into the sand. However, with much training, getting the ball out of the sand and back on the green can be quite easy. Sometimes, you may not even wrack up a penalty.

6. Bushes and trees - These can be detrimental to your scorecard. Your ball may be hidden in a deep tangle of bushes or so close to a tree trunk that it is not possible to hit it back into play. Even when a penalty shot is incurred and you drop the ball within two club lengths of the spot, this does not guarantee that you will necessarily have a playable position.

In closing, you have learned about the different hazards that you may find on a golf course. This is what makes the game of golf both exciting and challenging!