Rules · Lesson
The Five Areas of a Golf Course
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Where your ball sits changes your options. Rule 2 splits the course into five areas. Four are specific: the tee you're playing from, penalty areas, bunkers and the green you're playing to. Everything else is the general area. If your ball touches two areas, it counts as being in the specific one. If it touches two specific areas, the order is penalty area first, then bunker, then green. Free relief may exist from loose natural objects, movable objects and abnormal conditions. Not from boundary objects.
Step by step
- Work out which area you're in.
- General area is everything else.
- Penalty area beats bunker beats green.
- Check for free relief.
- None from boundary objects.
Why it works
Each area has its own rules for what you may do before and after you hit, and for what relief you get. If you name the area first, you apply the right rule the first time. The priority order settles the cases where a ball touches two areas, so you never have to guess.
Common mistakes
- You treat a ball that touches the edge of a bunker as if it were in the general area.If any part of the ball touches a specific area, the ball counts as being in that area, so play it by that area's rules.
- You forget the order when a ball touches two specific areas.Use the order penalty area, then bunker, then green, and the earlier one in that list decides the area.
- You take free relief from a fence, wall or boundary stake that is in your way.Boundary objects give no free relief, so play the ball as it lies or take relief under a penalty only if the rules allow it.
How you'll know it's working
- You can name the area your ball is in before you take any club out of the bag.
- You can say which of the five areas a ball is in when it touches two of them, and give the reason.
- You can tell whether free relief is available for a loose natural object, a movable object, an abnormal condition or a boundary object before you act.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: Go through the five areas on a hole you know well and name the area at each spot where a ball might finish.
Harder: Set balls in tricky spots, such as half in a bunker and half on the green, or against a penalty area edge, and state the area and any relief without looking at notes.
Common questions
What are the five areas of a golf course?
They are the general area, the tee you are playing from, penalty areas, bunkers and the green you are playing to. The general area is everything that is not one of the other four.
What counts as the area if my ball touches two areas?
If it touches the general area and a specific area, it counts as in the specific area. If it touches two specific areas, penalty area comes first, then bunker, then green.
