Flathead Valley Junior Championship

The 2010 Flathead Valley Junior Tour-nament will be held at Eagle Bend Golf Club on Thursday, Aug. 19. All junior players from throughout the area are invited to participate, with age groups ranging from 9-and-under to 18 years.

This event does have an entry fee for players, but it provides a great golf outing and awards for each group and gender.

A practice round will be included in the entry fee for all the players, if they would like to take advantage of an excellent bargain rate.

To register, players need to contact Eagle Bend's golf shop or Whitefish Lake Golf Club's golf shop to obtain a registration form. The phone number for Eagle Bend is 837-7310.

High school golf

The Whitefish High School golf team started practice at 9 a.m. Monday at the Whitefish Lake Golf Club. The teams begin their competitive season on Monday, Aug. 16, at the Old Works golf course in Anaconda against the region's other Class A schools.

Both teams lost some key players to graduation but also return some experienced members to help carry on the Bulldog tradition. A few younger players are expected to become important players on the Bulldog varsity this season.

Rules of the game

Water hazards and lateral water hazards always seem to create concern over the proper procedure to use when faced with a ball entering the water hazard.

Water hazards have yellow stakes or lines marking the perimeter, while lateral water hazards are marked with red stakes or red lines.

The player may always play the ball from the hazard if they choose, but they may not test the conditions of the hazard by touching the surface or water (grounding the club).

In a water hazard, the player can take relief by dropping their ball as far back as they choose on a line with the spot where the ball entered the hazard and the location of the pin on the green.

If the hazard is a lateral hazard 'red stakes), the player has the choice of dropping within two club lengths of where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, or replaying the shot from where it was originally, or dropping on the other side of the lateral hazard no closer to the hole and within two club lengths of the margin of the hazard.

The player may lift and clean their ball before taking the relief.