The Central Coast of California got a
lot of rain on the day after Christmas. I played a the pitch-and-putt course in Pismo Beach on the 27th, and it was a swamp. Things had dried out a bit two days later when I played Monarch Dunes, but there was still a lot of casual water. My drive on the eighth hole hit dry land, but trickled back into the water. But it didn't trickle into the
penalty area. My ball was submerged, but I could see the line painted on the grass below the surface of the water, and my ball was on the good side of it. I was pretty sure that I was entitled to free relief from casual water in this scenario.
As far as I can tell, I was right. Penalty areas are covered by rule 17. I didn't find anything covering my scenario there. However, the definition of a penalty area states:
When defined by a painted line on the ground, the edge of the penalty area is the outside edge of the line, and the line itself is in the penalty area.
So I'm pretty sure that free relief from casual water was the correct call. That's within one driver-length of the nearest point of relief (for stance and swing), no closer to the hole.
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