Welcome to Corballis Links Rules Spotlight, where we take common on-course scenarios and break down what the Rules of Golf actually say. First up: penalty areas.
Picture it, you’ve hit a good drive, but it’s drifted and finished near a stretch of water marked with red stakes. Ground marked with red or yellow stakes or lines counts as a penalty area, and your options depend on which colour you’re dealing with. In a yellow area, you can play it as it lies, or take a one-stroke penalty and drop back on the line where the ball crossed in. Red areas give you a third option: lateral relief, dropping within two club-lengths of where the ball last crossed the edge, no nearer the hole, still under a one-stroke penalty, as per R&A Rule 17.
If you’re not sure whether your ball actually finished in the penalty area, you’re entitled to play a provisional, much like you would for a ball that might be out of bounds or lost.
You’ll come across this at Corballis on the 8th and 9th holes, where the water is a penalty area marked with red stakes, and on the 9th the ponds in front of the green are deemed a penalty area too, as mentioned in local rule 6. If there’s any doubt whether a ball is in or lost in that area, local rule 6 confirms you’re entitled to play another ball provisionally. If your original then turns up elsewhere in play, you must abandon the provisional and carry on with the original, that part isn’t optional. The one exception is if the original is found in the penalty area itself: there, you get a choice, either continue with the original as it lies, or carry on with the provisional instead, as per R&A Rule 18.3.
It’s worth knowing your options before you’re standing over the ball. The full local rules are available on the notice board in the clubhouse and on the website, and our pro shop team are always happy to talk through any rules questions, this one or anything else.