Rules Refresher – Yellow Penalty Areas

ands up who has referred to either red- or yellow-staked areas as ‘water hazards’ in 2019? Most of us, I would imagine, for that is what they have long been. But from January 1, 2019 the term ‘hazard’ ceased to exist within the Rules of Golf, superseded by the new concept of ‘penalty areas’. These are designed to cover a variety of different parts of the course where a ball is often lost or unable to be played rather than being restricted to just areas or bodies of water.

So, what do you do either if you find your ball in a penalty area or it is known or virtually certain that your ball has ended up in a penalty area? The number of options will depend on whether the area is marked with red or yellow stakes, and it is the latter we are addressing this month, from which there are two relief options. It is worth stressing that if it is not known (there is no conclusive evidence) or not virtually certain (a 95%+ likelihood) that your ball has finished in a penalty area, then you have no option but to go back to where you last played from under stroke and distance (Rule 18.2).

HAssuming you have either found your ball in a yellow penalty area or it is known or virtually certain that it went in, you have two options, both under penalty of one stroke. The first is to go back to where you last played from under stroke and distance. The reference point for dropping your ball is where the previous stroke was made from, or an estimate of that spot if you are not certain. You then get a one club-length relief area from that spot in a semi-circle that is not nearer the hole and is in the same area of the course as your reference point.

The second option is to determine the point at which the ball last crossed the edge of the yellow penalty area. You may then choose a reference point as far back as you wish on a reference line, keeping the point at which your ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area directly between you and the hole. From this reference point, you are again allowed a one club-length relief area in a semi-circle that is not nearer the hole and is in the same area of the course as the reference point. You are not allowed to drop within the penalty area, even if it

“You are not allowed to drop within the penalty area, even if it would be practical to do so”

would be practical to do so (e.g. there is an area of grass between the edge of a pond and the yellow stakes). Both options can be seen in this diagram from p105 of the Player’s Edition of the Rules of Golf.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that, from 2019, committees have had the discretion to mark all penalty areas with red stakes, allowing the extra lateral relief option that these offer, and if the colour of a penalty area has not been marked or indicated by the committee, it is treated as a red penalty area.