Red or yellow changes the relief options.

The worldwide Rules baseline, current to July 2026

This page applies the Rules of Golf, 2023 edition, jointly issued by The R&A and the USGA and effective from 1 January 2023. It uses Rule 17, the Definitions, the live Official Guide clarifications, and the Additional Clarifications updated 1 July 2026. The governing bodies have announced that the next Rules edition will be published on 1 January 2028.

The same Rule 17 baseline applies in match play and stroke play worldwide. The appointed Committee's course markings, Local Rules and Terms of the Competition can define an edge and adopt specific extra or replacement relief procedures. This page does not assume that a professional-tour, championship or club Local Rule is in force.

Work from evidence to the correct drop

1. Confirm that the ball is in the penalty area, or that it is known or virtually certain to be there.
2. Check whether the area is marked red or yellow and whether a Local Rule or no play zone applies.
3. Decide whether to play the ball as it lies or take one-stroke penalty relief.
4. For relief, choose stroke and distance, back on the line, or—only for a red area—lateral relief.
5. Identify the correct reference: the previous-stroke location or the estimated point where the ball last crossed the penalty-area edge.
6. Drop under Rule 14 and make sure the ball comes to rest in the required relief area before playing.

A penalty area does not have to contain water

Under the R&A/USGA 2023 Definition, a penalty area includes any sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface-drainage ditch or other open watercourse on the course, whether or not it contains water, and any other part of the course the Committee defines as a penalty area. Committee Procedures therefore allow suitable areas such as dense vegetation, desert or lava to be defined this way.

Temporary water elsewhere on the course is not automatically a penalty area; it can instead be an abnormal course condition under Rule 16. The course markings and Local Rules matter more than an informal description such as “the pond” or “the hazard.”

Any part of the ball inside means the ball is in

A ball is in a penalty area when any part of it lies on or touches the ground or anything else inside the edge, or is above the edge. The edge extends vertically both upward and downward.

When a painted line is used—alone or with stakes—the outside edge of the line defines the penalty-area edge and the line is inside the area. When stakes alone define it, the edge is the line between the outside points of the stakes at ground level, and the stakes are inside the penalty area. The Committee may instead define an edge by a physical feature, so the published Local Rules and course markings control.

“Known or virtually certain” is more than a likely guess

Rule 17.1c allows penalty-area relief for an unlocated ball only when it is known or virtually certain that the ball came to rest in the area. “Known” means conclusive evidence, such as seeing the ball finish there. “Virtually certain” means that all reasonably available information shows at least a 95% likelihood.

Ball flight, witnesses, ground conditions, the shape of the area, and other places where the ball could reasonably be lost all matter. Only information discovered within the three-minute search time counts toward this determination. If the standard is not met and the ball is not found in time, it is lost and Rule 18.2 requires stroke-and-distance relief.

Rule 18.3 permits a provisional when the ball might be lost outside a penalty area or might be out of bounds. It does not permit one when the ball could be lost only in the penalty area—unless the Committee has adopted the narrow Model Local Rule B-3 for that specified area.

There is no automatic penalty for playing from the area

If the ball is found in a penalty area, the player may normally play it as it lies without adding a penalty stroke. The modern Rules do not impose special bans on grounding the club, touching the ground during a practice swing, or removing loose impediments merely because the ball is in a penalty area.

The ordinary Rules still apply. The player must not improve the conditions affecting the stroke in a way prohibited by Rule 8, and moving the ball while removing a loose impediment can bring the Rule 9.4 consequences. A no play zone is a separate mandatory exception: the ball must not be played from within it.

Stroke and distance returns to the previous stroke

For one penalty stroke, the player may play the original ball or another ball from where the previous stroke was made. Rule 14.6 supplies the procedure: play from anywhere inside the teeing area if the previous stroke was from there, place a ball on the previous spot if it was from the putting green, or drop in the specified one-club-length relief area when the previous stroke was from the general area, a bunker, or a penalty area.

This option is available for both red and yellow penalty areas. It does not depend on finding or estimating the point where the ball crossed the edge.

Back-on-the-line relief uses the last crossing point

For one penalty stroke, the player may drop the original ball or another ball outside the penalty area on an imaginary line extending straight back from the hole through the estimated point where the ball last crossed the edge. There is no limit to how far back on that line the player may go.

Under the 2023 procedure, the ball is dropped on the line. The point where it first touches the ground creates a one-club-length relief area in any direction. The ball must finish in that relief area, outside the same penalty area, not nearer the hole than the crossing point, and in the same area of the course that it first touched when dropped.

Lateral relief is measured from the last crossing point

For a red penalty area, the player has an additional one-stroke option: drop the original ball or another ball within two club-lengths of the estimated point where the ball last crossed the edge. The relief area must not be nearer the hole and must be outside the same penalty area.

If the two-club-length area contains more than one area of the course, the ball must come to rest in the same area of the course that it first touched when dropped. The reference point is not where the shot entered the air above the area, where the ball splashed, or where it was found; it is the final point at which the ball crossed the edge before coming to rest inside.

Yellow gives two choices; red gives three

• Yellow penalty area: play as it lies without penalty, or take one-stroke relief using stroke and distance or back on the line.
• Red penalty area: play as it lies without penalty, or take one-stroke relief using stroke and distance, back on the line, or two-club-length lateral relief.

Red does not mean a larger penalty, and yellow does not mean that relief is unavailable. The colour changes only the standard Rule 17 relief choices. If the Committee has not marked or otherwise indicated a colour, the 2023 Definition says the penalty area is treated as red.

The ball must be released and finish correctly

Rule 14.3 requires the player to drop the ball straight down from knee height without throwing, spinning, or rolling it. For lateral relief, the ball must be dropped in the two-club-length relief area. For back-on-the-line relief, it must be dropped on the line. In either case it must come to rest within the relief area created by that procedure.

A drop made in a wrong way or, for back-on-the-line relief, away from the required line must be corrected; it does not count as one of the two drops before placing. If a correctly dropped ball finishes outside the relief area, it must be dropped a second time. If the second correct drop also finishes outside, the player places a ball on the spot where that second drop first touched the ground, following Rule 14.3c if it will not stay there. The site's free relief and dropping guide explains the full procedure.

A ball crosses a red edge, bounces out, then rolls back in

Situation: a shot first crosses into a red penalty area, bounces onto the general area, and then rolls back across the red line before stopping in the area.

R&A/USGA 2023 ruling: for back-on-the-line or lateral relief, the reference is the later crossing point where the ball rolled back in. The first crossing and the final resting place do not set the relief area.

If the same sequence happens at a yellow penalty area, back-on-the-line relief may use that last crossing point, but lateral relief is not a standard option. Stroke and distance remains available for either colour.

A back-on-the-line drop rolls sideways

Situation: after a ball finishes in a yellow penalty area, the player correctly drops on the line through the hole and the estimated last crossing point. The dropped ball rolls half a club-length sideways, no nearer the hole, and remains outside that penalty area in the same area of the course it first touched.

R&A/USGA 2023 ruling: the ball is in play and may be played. Rule 17.1d(2) creates a one-club-length relief area around the spot where a correctly dropped ball first touches the line; the ball does not have to finish on the line.

A ball may be in water or in nearby rough

Situation: the group sees a drive head toward a red penalty area, but thick rough immediately outside the edge is also a realistic resting place. Nothing found during the three-minute search establishes at least a 95% likelihood that the ball is in the penalty area.

R&A/USGA 2023 ruling: the player may not estimate a crossing point and use Rule 17. The ball is lost under Rule 18.2 and the player must proceed under stroke and distance. Direction toward red stakes, by itself, does not satisfy the known-or-virtually-certain standard.

Other relief Rules usually do not operate inside the area

Rule 17.3 denies relief for an abnormal course condition, an embedded ball, or an unplayable ball when the ball is in a penalty area. A cart path, temporary water, an animal hole, or a bad lie inside the area therefore does not create the ordinary free or unplayable-ball options available elsewhere. The player can play the ball as it lies or use Rule 17 penalty relief.

A dangerous animal condition is an express exception under Rule 16.2b(2): depending on the chosen procedure, free relief may be available within the penalty area or the player may take penalty relief outside it.

Some marked areas cannot be played from

If the ball lies in a no play zone within a penalty area, Rule 17.1e requires the player to take penalty relief; playing the ball as it lies is not an option. When the ball is outside the no play zone but the zone interferes with the intended stance or swing, the player must either take penalty relief outside the penalty area or, if the required relief area exists, free relief from the interference while remaining in the same penalty area.

No play zones are commonly used for environmental protection, safety, or preservation. Their status comes from the Committee's markings and Local Rules, not from a player's assessment of whether entering the area seems safe.

Crossing points are estimated with reasonable judgment

The player is responsible for considering all reasonably available information and estimating where the ball last crossed the edge. Under Rule 1.3b(2), a prompt and careful determination is accepted if the player did what could reasonably be expected to make it accurately, even if later information shows the estimate was wrong.

Official Clarification 17.1d(3)/2 draws the timing line: if information establishing that the reference point is wrong becomes known before the player makes a stroke at the dropped ball, the player must correct the mistake under Rule 14.5. A reasonable estimate is not retroactively converted into a breach merely because different evidence emerges after the stroke.

A referee or Committee resolves disputes about the facts, markings, Local Rules, and procedure. Playing from a wrong place in breach of Rule 17 normally adds the general penalty—loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play—to the one-stroke penalty for taking relief. A serious breach in stroke play can also require correction under Rule 14.7b.

Read the Local Rules before choosing an extra option

• Opposite side — Model Local Rule B-2: the standard Rules do not provide general opposite-side relief. When B-2 is adopted for a specified red penalty area, it adds an equal-distance opposite-side option for one penalty stroke.
• Provisional for a penalty area — Model Local Rule B-3: in the unusual defined situation covered by the Local Rule, a player may play a provisional under a Rule 17 relief option. This is not permission to do so at every penalty area.
• Dropping zone — Model Local Rule E-1 or B-5: the Committee may add a dropping zone, or make it the only alternative to stroke and distance. The exact Local Rule determines which ordinary options remain.
• Specified obstruction — Model Local Rule F-24: an adopted rule may allow free relief, remaining inside the penalty area, from a named immovable obstruction. It does not create general path relief throughout all penalty areas.

For an eligible player who uses a wheeled mobility device, Rule 25.4m expands red-penalty-area lateral relief from two to four club-lengths. This is a Rule 25 modification, not a Local Rule.

Rule 17.2 can add a special way back out

If a ball played from a penalty area comes to rest in the same or another penalty area, the player may play it as it lies or take one-stroke relief. In addition to the normal options based on the area where the ball now lies, Rule 17.2a permits playing from where the last stroke outside a penalty area was made.

For example, a tee shot finishes in a penalty area, and the player's second stroke from inside it also finishes in a penalty area. Taking the extra Rule 17.2a option adds one penalty stroke, so the next stroke from the teeing area or other last location outside a penalty area is the player's fourth.

This prevents a player from being trapped into returning only to a difficult spot inside the area. The stroke from inside still counts, and the one penalty stroke is added. If the player first takes stroke-and-distance relief inside the area and then takes further relief outside, the combined procedure normally adds two penalty strokes.

Six shortcuts that produce the wrong ruling

• “It went toward the water, so I can drop”: an unlocated ball needs the known-or-virtually-certain standard before Rule 17 relief is available.
• “Drop where it landed in the water”: back-on-the-line and lateral relief use the last crossing point, not the final location.
• “Two club-lengths applies to every penalty area”: lateral relief is a standard option only for red areas.
• “I can drop on the far side at equal distance”: opposite-side relief requires an applicable Local Rule.
• “A sprinkler box gives free relief”: Rule 17.3 normally denies abnormal-course-condition relief while the ball is in a penalty area.
• “A drop zone must always be available”: it exists only when the Committee has established it, and its Local Rule may add to or replace standard options.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The R&A/USGA — Rules of Golf, 2023 edition, Rule 17: Penalty Areas
• The R&A/USGA — Official Guide to the Rules of Golf, Rule 17 Clarifications
• The R&A/USGA — Rules of Golf, 2023 edition, Definitions: Penalty Area; Known or Virtually Certain
• The R&A/USGA — Rules of Golf, 2023 edition, Rules 14.3, 14.5, 14.6 and 14.7
• The R&A/USGA — Rules of Golf, 2023 edition, Rule 16.2: Dangerous Animal Condition
• The R&A/USGA — Rules of Golf, 2023 edition, Rules 18.2–18.3: Lost and Provisional Balls
• The R&A/USGA — Rules of Golf, 2023 edition, Rule 25.4m: Wheeled Mobility Devices
• The R&A/USGA — Committee Procedures, Model Local Rules B-2, B-3, B-5, E-1 and F-24
• The R&A/USGA — Additional Clarifications of the 2023 Rules of Golf, updated 1 July 2026

Checked on 27 August 2026 against the joint Rules of Golf effective 1 January 2023, the live digital Official Guide, and Additional Clarifications dated 1 July 2026. Rule 17 is the worldwide baseline; the Committee's markings, adopted Local Rules and Terms of the Competition control course- and event-specific options.