Can You Ground Your Club In A Penalty Area?

The Rules of Golf change from time to time, typically over a four-yearly cycle, and the reason this is a valid question is that this is one of the elements that changed quite significantly with the major Rules revisions that were introduced in 2019.

First and foremost, the terminology changed at that time such that the ‘water hazards’ of old became the ‘penalty areas’ of today. The video below offers a simple explanation of how to proceed if you find yourself in one!

We don’t need to go into the rationale or reasoning for that too much here, but to coincide with that rebranding, if you like, The R&A also took the opportunity to relax some of the previous Rules and regulations governing what you could and couldn't do in those water hazards of old.

Previously you couldn’t touch the ground or water with your club or hand in a water hazard, nor remove loose impediments. You certainly couldn’t take a practice swing that touched the ground. Now you can do all three in a penalty area just as you can elsewhere in the general area of the golf course (though it’s worth remembering that in bunkers, you still can’t touch the sand with your club or make practice swings that touch the sand before playing your shot).

What you can’t do, of course, is cause your ball to move in carrying out any of the above as that will still attract a one-stroke penalty under Rule 9.4b (you must then also replace the ball before playing). So, you must still be very careful around your ball in a penalty area, as moving a loose impediment, for example, that then causes your ball to move will still attract that penalty.

And, just as elsewhere on the course, neither can you do anything that might be deemed to be improving the conditions affecting your stroke – for example, pressing long grass down right behind your ball or swishing long grass away on a practice swing close to your ball that could be considered to be making your actual shot easier in some way.

So, in answer to the question in the headline, yes you can, and you can also now remove loose impediments and take practice swings that touch the ground in a penalty area… as long as you don’t cause your ball to move in the process or improve the conditions affecting your stroke.