Rule 17: Penalty Areas
R. 17.1d: If your ball lies in a yellow or red penalty area, or if you have not found it but it is known or virtually certain that it lies in the penalty area, you have the following two relief options, both under penalty of one stroke:
(1) Stroke and distance (use any ball)
(2) Back-on-the-line relief (use any ball). The reference line begins at the hole and goes straight back through the estimated point where your original ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area. Your reference point (which you should mark with an object like a tee) is anywhere on that line behind the estimated point. The relief area will be within one club-length of the reference point, no closer to the hole, and in any area of the course except the same penalty area. If your relief area spans two areas of the course, your ball must come to rest in the same area of the course that it hits when you drop it. See Diagram #1 17.1d.
R. 17.1d(3): If your ball lies in a red penalty area, you have one additional lateral relief option (one-stroke penalty). Your reference point will be the estimated spot where your ball last crossed the edge of the red penalty area. You may drop a ball within two club-lengths of that point, not nearer the hole, in any area on the course except the same penalty area. If your relief area spans two areas of the course, your ball must come to rest in the same area of the course that it hits when you drop it. See Diagram #2 17.1d.
You are no longer permitted to drop on the opposite side of a red penalty area (unless a Local Rule enables such an option). However, if the penalty area is very narrow, the two club-lengths relief area from the reference point might conceivably get you to the opposite side. Should that situation exist, you may drop in the relief area on either side, but you may not drop the ball in the penalty area (Int. 17.1d(3)/1).
R. 17.1e: You must not play a ball that lies in a no play zone in a penalty area, or outside a no play zone in a penalty area where the no play zone interferes with your stance or area of intended swing. You must take relief as follows: (1) for a ball within the no play zone, penalty relief under R. 17.1d or R. 17.2; (2) for a ball in the penalty area where the no play zone interferes with stance or swing, either penalty relief outside the penalty area under R. 17.1d or 17.2 or free relief by dropping a ball in this relief area (if it exists) in the penalty area: reference point is the nearest point of complete relief from the no play zone, and the relief area is within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the reference point and must be in the same penalty area where the ball lies. Finally, if the ball lies outside the penalty area but a no play zone in the penalty area interferes with the stance or swing, relief must be taken under the process described above in R.16.1f.
R. 17.2: The Rules regarding how to proceed when you play a ball from a penalty area that remains in the same or another penalty area are basically the same as last year. There are two excellent diagrams that make your relief options easy to understand: Diagram #1 17.2a and Diagram#2 17.2a.
R. 17.3: When your ball is in a penalty area, there is no relief for interference by an ACC or an embedded ball. If your ball is unplayable, relief is only available under Rule 17.
Rule 18: Stroke-and-Distance Relief; Ball Lost of Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball
R. 18.1: You may play another ball under penalty of stroke and distance at any time. (This is not new, but is important to remember.)
Int. 18.1/1: When you return to the teeing area to play another ball under stroke and distance because you have not found your ball, if you have teed up another ball but have not yet hit it, and your original is found within the three-minute search time, you may either play the original or hit the teed ball under stroke and distance (includes a one-stroke penalty). If you hit the teed ball it is now your ball in play. A ball played again from the teeing area under stroke and distance is not in play until you make a stroke. However, if your original ball was not played from the teeing area, and you play another ball under stroke and distance, your second ball is in play as soon as you drop it.
R. 18.2a: Your ball is lost if it is not found within three minutes of you or your caddie beginning search. However, if someone finds it while you are elsewhere, you are allowed reasonable time to return to identify the ball, even if that puts you over the three-minute time limit.
Int. 18.2a(2)/1: Water is a natural force. If water carries your ball out of bounds, your ball is out of bounds and you must take stroke-and-distance relief.
Int. 18.3a/2: You are allowed to play a provisional ball after going forward to search, but you are still limited to the three-minute search time. Practically speaking, if you are not fleet of foot this permission will not come into play often.
R. 18.3b and Int. 18.3b/2: You must announce you are going to play a provisional ball before you make the stroke. If there is no announcement, that second ball is your ball in play. If you forget the word “provisional,” it is acceptable to say: “I’m going to play another just in case.” It is not acceptable to say: “I’m going to re-load” or “I’m going to play another.”
R. 18.3c(2): When you play a provisional ball from a spot nearer the hole than where the original is estimated to be, the provisional becomes your ball in play, even if you subsequently find your original before the end of your three-minute search time or if you find it closer to the hole than you had estimated. If you hit the original ball, which is lost by Definition under the Rules, you have played a wrong ball. See Diagram 18.3c.
R. 18.3c(2): If you hit your provisional into the same area as your original, and you cannot distinguish between the two balls, if you only find one ball you must treat it as the provisional; if you find both balls, you must pick one and treat it as the provisional.
Rule 19: Unplayable Ball
R. 19.1: You are the only person who may decide whether your ball is unplayable. You may take unplayable relief anywhere on the course except in a penalty area.
R. 19.2: The three relief options for an unplayable ball (all under penalty of one stroke) are stroke and distance, back on the line (one club-length from the reference point), and lateral (two club-lengths from the spot of the original ball). Please review Diagram 19.2. You may only use back-on-the-line relief or lateral relief if you know the spot of the original ball.
Int. 19.2/1: If your dropped ball comes to rest in its original location, you must accept that outcome. If the ball is still unplayable, it will cost you a second penalty stroke to take a second drop.
Int. 19.2/2: When you take unplayable relief, you may drop on any area of the course, including into bunkers and onto putting greens.
R. 19.3b: If your ball is unplayable in a bunker, you may take back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker for a penalty of two strokes. Diagram 19.3 shows you the four relief options for a ball unplayable in a bunker.
Copyright © 2018 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
