If you’ve ever played a round of golf or watched the sport, you’ve probably noticed the red, yellow, and white stakes scattered across the course. These stakes play an important role in the game, marking different types of hazards and penalties.
Whether you’ve been playing for years or you’re new to the game, it’s good to familiarise yourself with the different coloured stakes and what they mean, as understanding them can make the difference between saving strokes or adding unnecessary penalties to your scorecard.
Penalty areas
A penalty area in golf is any spot where a ball is considered to be in an unplayable or challenging situation — often, but not always, involving water. The key thing to know is that if any part of your ball lies inside or even hovers above the edge of a penalty area, it’s considered in the hazard. If you happen to find yourself in this position, you have some relief options, and it depends on the colour of the stake marking that area.
Golf used to be stricter in its treatment of hazards — for instance, you weren’t allowed to ground your club or remove loose debris. But in recent years, the rules have been relaxed. Now, you can take a practice swing that brushes the ground or move small sticks and leaves without penalty. So, let’s take a look at the different coloured stakes and what they mean.
Yellow stakes: Water hazard
Yellow stakes typically indicate a water hazard, though, despite the name, there doesn’t always have to be water nearby. If your ball ends up in a yellow-staked penalty area, you’ve got a few choices:
Play the ball as it lies: If you can somehow get your club to the ball, you can play the shot without incurring a penalty. However, it’s good to remember that although you might be able to hit the ball, it’s not always necessarily the best option. For example, can you guarantee that the shot you hit will end up in a better position than if you were to take a penalty drop?
Take a stroke-and-distance relief: If the ball is unplayable, you can go back to the spot where you took your last shot, drop a ball, and play from there with a one-stroke penalty.
Use the back-on-the-line option: This is where things get a bit more flexible. You can drop your ball as far back as you want, as long as you keep a straight line between where your ball crossed into the hazard and the flag. Again, this comes with a one-stroke penalty but for the majority of the time, it puts you in a better position to play your next shot.
Red Stakes: Lateral hazard
Red stakes mark lateral hazards, which are often positioned along the sides of fairways or near the edges of the course. These hazards run parallel to the hole, making them easier to fall into, but also giving you a few more relief options. Here’s how to handle a ball in a red-staked area:
Play the ball as it lies: As with a yellow stake, if you’re able to play the shot, you can do so without a penalty.
Lateral relief: You can drop your ball within two club lengths of where it entered the penalty area, so long as it’s not closer to the hole. This is a convenient option for when your ball is close to the boundary, but still playable after a one-shot penalty.
Back on the line: Just like with yellow stakes, you can drop your ball further back along the line formed between the hole and where your ball crossed into the hazard with a one-shot penalty. This is usually harder to do with lateral hazards, as because the stakes run alongside the hole, it’s not normally possible to drop in line with the flag from the point of entry — unless there is a suitable option on the other side of the hazard.
Return to the previous shot: If you’re really in a tough spot, you can go back to where you last played from, incurring a one-stroke penalty.
White Stakes: Out of Bounds (OB)
The white stakes are the most unforgiving of all. White stakes mark out-of-bounds (OB) areas, which are completely off-limits. If your ball crosses into OB territory, you’ll have to go back to where you last hit from and take a one-stroke penalty. There’s no other option for relief.
Important details to remember with out of bounds:
You can stand in an OB area to hit a ball that is still in bounds, but be careful not to disturb the white stakes themselves. Moving an OB marker will cost you a two-stroke penalty because they’re considered immovable objects.
Tips for dealing with hazards
Take your time: If you find yourself in a hazard, don’t rush to make a decision. Assess the situation and choose the option that minimises further damage to your score. Don’t spend too much time mulling it over though, as you don’t want to hold up the group behind.
Know your options: Understanding the difference between yellow and red stakes and the various relief rules can help to prevent high-scoring holes.
Accept your fate: Hazards are part of the game — every golfer ends up in one at some point. What matters is how you deal with it.
Golf is an unpredictable game even for the best golfers, and quite often you’ll find yourself in a red- or yellow-staked penalty area, or worse, out of bounds — somewhere I’m quite familiar with. Knowing the rules and how to navigate the hazards can help with damage limitation and prevent further frustration. It’s always important to use the rules to your advantage, which is why understanding them is paramount to playing the sport.
