Red vs Yellow Penalty Area Golf Rules: The One Key Difference You Need To Know

As golfers, we encounter red and yellow staked penalty areas every time we play - so it's crucial to know exactly how they work.

The two areas are very similar, and in fact there is actually just one key difference between them.

You'll tend to find red penalty areas running alongside holes and yellow areas more perpendicular.

So, what do you need to know if you find one and how are they different?

For a full explanation, watch the video below with Golf Monthly's Joel Tadman and our qualified Rules expert Fergus Bisset, and read on for more...

Red penalty areas: What to know

When your ball finds a red-staked area on the course, you have four options as followed:

1. Play as it lies

If your ball is playable in a penalty area, there is nothing stopping you having a go at getting it out if it's safe and practical to do so. Since 2019, you can ground your club in a penalty area, take practice swings and even move natural loose impediments.

Causing your ball to move or improving the conditions affecting your stroke (like pressing down long grass or breaking away grass or branches) will result in a one-stroke penalty, so it's worth being careful.

2. Stroke-and-distance

The Stroke-and-distance Rule in golf (Rule 14.6) means you have to go back to where you played your original shot from under the penalty of a stroke. So, if your drive found the penalty area, you go back to the tee and play what will be your third shot.

If your shot was not from the teeing area and you wish to take stroke-and-distance relief, you must take a drop as close to where you hit the shot from within one club-length and no closer to the hole.

You can drop your original ball (if you've retrieved it) or use a fresh one.

3. Back-on-the-line

Another option from red (and yellow) staked areas is back-on-the-line relief (Rule 14.3). This is where you drop your ball under a one-stroke penalty in line with your ball's estimated point of entry into the penalty area and the flag.

You can go back as far as you like.

4. Lateral drop

Lateral relief (Rule 17.1) means you can also take a drop within two club-lengths from your estimated point of entry into the penalty area.

Mark a spot with a tee where you believe your ball crossed and measure out two club-lengths (usually driver) and mark that spot with a tee. You can drop your ball anywhere within that two club-length window, provided it is not closer to the hole.

Yellow penalty areas: What to know

When your ball finds a yellow-staked penalty area on the course, you have three options instead of four for red-staked areas.

Your three options from a yellow penalty area are:

1. Play as it lies

2. Stroke-and-distance

3. Back-on-the-line

You cannot take a lateral drop from a yellow-staked penalty area - and this is the key factor that separates the two.

Red vs Yellow stakes: how they differ

Can I remove red and yellow stakes when hitting my shot?

The answer to this question is a yes, you can take them out, as they're classed as movable obstructions.

If a red or yellow stake is impeding your stance, swing or where your ball is set to travel then you are fine to remove the stake. Just be sure to replace it back once you've hit your shot.

This is different to white out of bounds posts, which cannot be removed because they are designated boundary objects and considered ‘fixed’.