Ball bounces back in to water after going over water hazard

Question
I guess I not understanding other similar questions, so can you help me out? A friend and I were playing Riverwalk in Mission Valley, San Diego. The 9th hole on the Mission Course has a waterway running East to West right through the fairway and the green is back a ways still. He hit his ball over the water hazard and we watched it roll back down the fairway and into the water hazard. He said he could take a drop on the green side as he made it over, and I said no, there's not a drop area and you need to totally clear the hazard, and that he had to take a drop from where it originally crossed the hazard, anywhere back in line with the flag, taking a penalty shot. What is the correct solution? Thanks, Laurel

Answer
From your description of the water hazard, I'm assuming it is a regular hazard marked with yellow lines, stakes or both.  In the absence of any markings, it is considered a regular hazard.  With that being the case, there are 3 options.  The one you're referring to would require that  the ball be dropped anywhere along a line running from the hole through the spot where the ball LAST crossed the margin of the hazard with no limit as to how far back along that line you go.  The other two options are to play the ball from within the hazard or take the stroke and distance penalty.  The key word here is "LAST".  I hope this clears up the confusion.

Fairways and Greens,

John
www.golfnutts.com