What Lines and Colored Stakes on a Golf Course Mean

Do you pay attention to the lines and colored stakes on a golf course? If you don't you should. Crossing certain lines could mean a two stroke penalty for you. Are you afraid of getting penalized for doing this without knowing what you are doing? Don't worry, with a little bit of knowledge you can avoid penalties. In this post I will be discussing the lines and colored stakes of a golf course and what they mean.

White lines or white stakes are used to designate the area that is out of bounds. Stakes or a fence can also indicate out of bounds, and when they do make sure to note that out of bounds begins at the nearest inside point of the stakes at ground level, not including any kind of angled support. And when a line is used to designate the out of bounds area, the line itself is considered out of bounds.

When a ball lands out of bounds a penalty is enforced, leading to the golfer having to return to where he hit the previous shot and also take a one stroke penalty. In some cases, when a golfer's ball is out of bounds, it may be better for him to hit a provisional ball. For more information, you can check out Rule 27.

Now for the next golf course color- yellow. What do yellow stakes and yellow lines mean on a golf course? In most cases they mean a water hazard. Usually a water hazard is pretty obvious, but sometimes there may not be any water in a usual water hazard because of repair, drought, etc. so these yellow lines and stakes indicate that it is a water hazard and normal rules apply if you hit the ball into the area. The penalty for this is one stroke and a drop within two club lengths from the hole. For more information on water hazard penalties, read my last post.

Red lines or stakes on a golf course indicate a lateral water hazard. But what is a lateral water hazard and how is it different from a normal water hazard? Lateral water hazards run alongside the golf course, not through it. A good example of this is a stream that runs parallel to your course to the hole. The rules differentiate between a normal water hazard and a lateral water hazard because dropping behind a lateral water hazard would often be extremely difficult and unfair.  When the ball is hit into a lateral water hazard, the golfer can choose to try to play the ball, or take a one stroke penalty and a drop.  This drop can be within a two club length of where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard, or you can elect to take the drop behind the hazard.