Rule 17: Penalty Areas: Your Ball in Tricky Terrain
What this is about
This rule helps you when your golf ball ends up in a 'penalty area'.
These are often tricky spots, like water or thick bushes.
You then have ways to resume play.
Usually this costs you one extra stroke.
What you need to do
You have two basic choices when your ball lies in such a tricky area:
- You play the ball as it lies, without an extra stroke.
This is allowed if you think you can manage it.
- You take one penalty stroke and then choose one of these ways to continue play:
- Back to your previous stroke: You drop a new ball at the spot where you made your last stroke.
This is always an option.
- Drop straight back: Determine where your ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area, such as a ditch.
Imagine a straight line.
This runs from the flagstick, through this crossing point, and then further back.
You may drop the ball at any point on that line.
Just make sure the dropping point is on the side of the crossing point that's further from the flagstick.
- Lateral relief (only for red penalty areas): If the penalty area is marked red, you may also drop within two club-lengths of the crossing point.
The dropping spot may not lie between the crossing point and the flagstick.
Common mistake
A common mistake is spending a long time searching for your ball in a penalty area.
If you don't find it, you may still have to go back.
Without certainty that the ball was there, it counts as 'lost'.
Then you must go back to your previous stroke with one penalty stroke.
The search will then only have cost you time.
Example
You hit your ball over a penalty area with water.
You don't see it land, but you suspect it's in the water.
The water is a yellow penalty area.
You take one penalty stroke and choose the 'straight back' option.
You drop a new ball on the line through the flagstick and the point of entry.
Practise this rule with real exam questions in the free app.
17.1 Options for a ball in a penalty area
17.1a When the ball is in a penalty area
A ball is in a penalty area if any part of the ball touches or lies within the edge of the penalty area. You may play the ball as it lies in the penalty area (using the same rules as in the general area), or you may take relief with one penalty stroke.
17.1b The player may play the ball as it lies or take relief with penalty
If a player chooses to play the ball from the penalty area, the same rules apply as in the general area. The player may touch the sand or ground in the penalty area with the club for a practice swing, and may remove loose impediments.
17.1c Penalty relief
A player may always take relief with one penalty stroke by:
- Stroke and distance: playing the ball from the spot where the previous stroke was made
- Back-on-the-line relief: dropping the ball on a line going straight back from the hole through the point where the ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area. There's no limit to how far back the player may go.
17.1d Extra relief option for red penalty areas
With a red penalty area (marked with red stakes or lines), you have an extra option: lateral relief. You may drop the ball within two club-lengths of the point where the ball last crossed the edge of the red penalty area, not nearer to the hole.
17.2 Ball lost or out of bounds when played from a penalty area
If a ball played from a penalty area goes out of bounds or is lost outside the penalty area, you may use stroke and distance: play a ball again from the penalty area with one penalty stroke.
17.3 No free relief from abnormal course conditions in a penalty area
In a penalty area, you don't have the right to free relief from abnormal course conditions, unless the Committee has introduced a local rule for this. You can still take penalty relief using the regular options under Rule 17.1.