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My name is Nick Doran, and I am the former president of the UCSD Casual Golf Club.

I am going to post rules decisions as I encounter them on the golf course. I am pretty sure that I will be able to come up with at least one rule nugget for each round that I play.

Sunday, November 14, 2021

11/13/2021 - UCSD Casual Golf Club Championship at Golf Club of California

It's very common for players to play out of a penalty area, but if you are playing any sort of sanctioned event, you may want to reconsider, unless you have a very good lie.  Obviously you're allowed to play out of a penalty area, but what happens if your ball doesn't get out of the penalty area?

If your ball doesn't leave the penalty area, you can play it from the penalty area again (if you can find it).  You also have the option to take relief based on where the ball originally entered the penalty area (options 2 & 3 below).  Or you can even go back to where you originally played the previous shot that went into the penalty area.  All of these options incur a one-stroke penalty.

For example, if it was your tee shot that went into the penalty area, your shot that failed to get out of the penalty area still counts (2nd stroke).  If you then take relief, that's a penalty stroke, you are laying 3, and hitting your fourth shot.  The diagram below illustrates this very nicely.

You cannot take an unplayable lie in a penalty area (Rule #19). 

Penalty areas are covered by Rule #19.

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