. On the Line-In or Out? By LindaSue Linton CWGA Assistant Executive Director MTT Contributing Writer Every once in a while each of us are faced with the touchy duty of helping a fellow competitor or playing partner determine whether or not their ball is in bounds. Like most golfers, you probably walk behind one out of bounds stake and try to eye another one. Then you draw an imaginary line between the two to decipher if the ball is in play. On this particular day, the ball is sitting right on top of the imaginary line you have drawn to connect the two white stakes. What does that mean? According to Rule 27 of the Rules of Golf, a ball is out of bounds when all of it lies out of bounds. Therefore if any part of the ball is inside the margin of the line, then the ball is in play. Be careful though. The line you drew in your head to connect the two stakes must be determined by the inside points of the stakes at ground level. For example, if large stone fence posts mark the boundaries of the course, the out of bounds line is determined by drawing a line from the edge of the post that faces the course. When lines are painted on the ground to mark out of bounds, the line itself is out of bounds. In order for a ball to be in play, some part of the ball must be touching the course. What happens when your ball is on the line of a water hazard? You go through the same procedure that you went through above and find two stakes to draw a line between. Once again the ball appears to be on your imaginary line. Do you treat this ball as a ball in the water hazard or a ball in play? According to Rule 26, lines and stakes marking a water hazard are in the hazard. A ball therefore is in the water hazard when it lies in, or any part of it touches, the water hazard. Thus, your ball that is on the line is in the water hazard and must be played accordingly. A good rule of thumb to remember is that if a ball is on the line, then it is in-in bounds or in the hazard. For more information regarding water hazards or out of bounds, please refer to Rules 26 and 27, respectively, in the Rules of Golf.