How many stroke penalty for out of bounds

If his original ball turns out to be OB, he simply picks it up, adds his penalty shots and plays the provisional. If, however, the original ball is in bounds, it is still in play; he plays his original ball without penalty, and just picks up the provisional ball. If a player hits his original ball first shot and finds that it has gone OB, he picks up the ball and takes a one-shot penalty second shot , walks back to the tee, and hits a new tee ball third shot.

Alternatively, if he believes the first ball is OB, he is allowed to hit a provisional ball. If it was indeed OB, the provisional ball becomes his third shot, and he plays his fourth shot from where it landed. In either case, if he finds that the original ball is in bounds, he plays his second shot from there. North Carolina native Mike Southern has been writing since He is the author of the instructional golf book "Ruthless Putting" and edited a collection of swashbuckling novels.

There are few things in golf that feel worse than blasting a tee shot out of bounds and reloading with your third shot from the tee box. Even worse, looking for a wayward ball down the fairway only to have to make a walk of shame back to the tee when your search comes up empty. Or judgment from the group behind? Luckily, these situations can be avoided under the new Rules of Golf.

Old rule: The previous rule required that golfers take a stroke-and-distance penalty for lost balls. This meant the player had to reload from the tee box playing their third shot. This was the only option. The changes mentioned are in no way intended to replace reading the new Rules of Golf or to cover every change.

Players will be permitted to leave the flagstick in the hole while playing a shot from the green, and there is no penalty if the ball strikes the flagstick. In the past, players had to pull the flagstick from the hole or have somebody else a caddie or another golfer tend and pull the flagstick before the ball struck it.

This rule was changed to help speed up play, but it might have implications beyond pace of play. For example, PGA Tour player Bryson DeChambeau has said he will leave the flagstick in the hole even on short putts because he believes the flagstick will help keep more shots from racing past the hole.

There has been research by several players and students of the game, including by short-game guru Dave Pelz, that claimed players have a statistically better chance of a ball dropping into or coming to rest near the hole if the flag is left in place. It still will be against the rules to position the flagstick in such a way as to create a perceived benefit.

That is, you can't intentionally lean the flagstick forward in the hole to try to deflect a ball downward. The flagstick still must be placed upright in the center of the hole unless a player finds that it is leaning in a certain direction when he or she arrives at the green. In that case, the player could leave the flagstick as they find it or center it in the hole. Goodbye water hazards, hello "penalty areas. The USGA defines penalty area as "bodies of water or other areas defined by the committee where a ball is often lost or unable to be played.

For one penalty stroke, you may use specific relief options to play a ball from outside the penalty area. These areas could be a dry ravine, thick woods from where players are unlikely to play a shot, even a canyon.

Or they could be a typical pond. When a ball lies in or touches any part of the penalty area, players can take relief with a one-stroke penalty, much as under the old rules they could take relief from a body of water. It must be known or virtually certain that a ball went into a penalty area and was not possibly lost elsewhere.

Players also are allowed to play from the penalty area without penalty, the same as under the old rules when a player would hit a shot from inside a water hazard. There are two ways to mark a penalty area: yellow lines and stakes, or red lines and stakes.

There are differences in the two methods as far as taking relief. If a penalty area is marked in yellow, a player may take stroke-and-distance relief, meaning they drop from a defined area where they played their previous shot.

The player also can take back-on-the-line relief, dropping on a line that extends from the hole through the spot where the ball crossed into the penalty area, no nearer the hole.

Using that option, a player can go back as far as they like. Both relief scenarios require a one-stroke penalty, and the player must drop the ball within one club-length of the chosen spot.