Hi phred952,
First of, I really appreciate the gift. Serioulsy, you must be a trully wonderful person if you can feel empathy even on a game's forum, thanks!
About the water/ball situation. I sense now that the majority of the community shares the idea of a realisticy scenario. I don't. Just like some dude posted a few answers back, I think the penalty should remain only on the stroke, and not on the balls.
Is is an interesting discussion nonetheless because this situation trully affects the player decision on making a shot: I believe there are two possible ways of dealing with it:
1°: If I have a brand new ball, I'll be afraid to shot near the water and risk loosing a ball, so I prefer to take a less risk shot, even if it cut down my odds of a birdie/eagle;
2°: If I have a older ball, I will push it harder to try the best shot possible, since if I make a mistake it won't matter to much.
This choise is probably defined by the familiarity level one have to the game, IRL and here. Now since I understand that this choice must be present on IRL games aswell, it should be considered on the simulation aswell.
What I think then, is that the game should consider specificities on every water hazard and give a % of chance of ball recovery, according to where you hit the ball.
Anyway, I know I revived this thread, but considering the number of answers, the debate is valid.
I apologize if I'm not making myself clear in english, and I wish you guys a good game!