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Q.
Other than playing the ball as it lies, what are your options when you hit your ball into a penalty area?
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A.
Relief for Ball in Penalty Area
If a player’s ball is in a penalty area, including when it is known or virtually certain to be in a penalty area even though not found, the player has these relief options, each for one penalty stroke:
(1) Stroke-and-Distance Relief. The player may play the original ball or another ball from where the previous stroke was made (see Rule 14.6).
(2) Back-On-the-Line Relief. The player may drop the original ball or another ball (see Rule 14.3) in a relief area that is based on a reference line going straight back from the hole through the estimated point where the original ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area:
Reference Point: A point on the course chosen by the player that is on the reference line and is farther from the hole than the estimated point (with no limit on how far back on the line):
In choosing this reference point, the player should indicate the point by using an object (such as a tee).
If the player drops the ball without having chosen this point, the reference point is treated as being the point on the line that is the same distance from the hole as where the dropped ball first touched the ground.
Size of Relief Area Measured from Reference Point: One club-length, but with these limits:
Limits on Location of Relief Area:
Must not be nearer the hole than the reference point, and
May be in any area of the course except the same penalty area, but
If more than one area of the course is located within one club-length of the reference point, the ball must come to rest in the relief area in the same area of the course that the ball first touched when dropped in the relief area.
(3) Lateral Relief (Only for Red Penalty Area). When the ball last crossed the edge of a red penalty area, the player may drop the original ball or another ball in this lateral relief area (see Rule 14.3):
Reference Point: The estimated point where the original ball last crossed the edge of the red penalty area.
Size of Relief Area Measured from Reference Point: Two club-lengths, but with these limits:
Limits on Location of Relief Area:
Must not be nearer the hole than the reference point, and
May be in any area of the course except the same penalty area, but
If more than one area of the course is located within two club-lengths of the reference point, the ball must come to rest in the relief area in the same area of the course that the ball first touched when dropped in the relief area.
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