loveclose:
On a number of other courses, balls are hit into ditches and the ball is incorrectly deemed as lost, and the next shot taken from original hitting spot.
Clearly there is a mechanic on this course that correctly interprets the rules! Any chance of fixing the incorrect interpretations on the other courses where they have always happened??
Hmmm. One problem with all the WGT courses is they give no options for proceeding even when the rules of golf sometimes do give you options. In general, under the rules of golf, with a ball lost IN A HAZARD you drop where your ball entered the hazard (with certain options). However, if your ball is lost OUTSIDE A HAZARD you have to rehit from the original spot ("stroke and distance"). On the latter point I think WGT is generally correct.
NOTE however at Wolf Creek the desert areas (outside the fairways) are treated like hazards, according to the local rules, and you are supposed to drop rather than take stoke and distance if you lose your ball there. As the official scorecard reads, "Balls that have entered the desert areas will be entitled to a
two club-length relief at point of entry, penalty of one stroke."