Red Stakes vs Yellow Stakes in Golf

Red and yellow stakes both mark penalty areas under Rule 17 of the Rules of Golf, and taking relief from either costs one penalty stroke. The difference is not the penalty, it is the relief options: a yellow penalty area gives you two relief choices, while a red penalty area gives you those two plus an extra lateral drop.

These colours replaced the old “water hazard” (yellow) and “lateral water hazard” (red) terms when the rules were modernised, and penalty areas no longer have to contain water at all. Knowing which colour you are dealing with tells you exactly how you are allowed to get back in play. Here is the full breakdown of red versus yellow, and how to take relief from each.

What a penalty area is

A penalty area is any area, marked by stakes or lines, where a ball is often lost or unplayable and where the rules give you special relief for a one-stroke penalty. It is commonly water, a pond, stream, ditch or lake, but a course can also define desert, dense woods or other terrain as a penalty area.

In all penalty areas you have the same baseline right: you may play the ball as it lies with no penalty if you can, and since 2019 you may ground your club and move loose impediments there. The one-stroke penalty only comes into play when you choose to take relief.

Yellow stakes: two relief options

Yellow marks a standard penalty area, typically one that sits directly between you and the hole, like a pond in front of a green. For one penalty stroke, you get two relief options beyond playing it as it lies:

1. Stroke and distance. Replay from where you last hit.
2. Back-on-the-line. Drop on the line running from the hole straight through the point where your ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area, going back as far as you like.

There is no sideways option with yellow, which makes sense: for a hazard fronting the green, dropping back on the line keeps things fair.

Red stakes: an extra lateral option

Red marks a lateral penalty area, one that runs alongside your line of play, such as a stream down the side of a fairway. Dropping straight back on the line there could send you into trees or across the water, so red adds a third option:

3. Lateral relief. Drop within two club-lengths of the point where the ball last crossed the red edge, no nearer the hole, for one penalty stroke.

So red gives you everything yellow does, plus this practical sideways drop. That is the single most important distinction to remember.

Red vs yellow at a glance

Feature	Yellow stakes	Red stakes
Penalty to take relief	1 stroke	1 stroke
Play it as it lies	Yes (free)	Yes (free)
Stroke and distance	Yes	Yes
Back-on-the-line drop	Yes	Yes
Lateral 2-club drop	No	Yes
Ground your club inside	Yes	Yes

How to take relief in practice

The key reference point for both colours is where the ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area, not where it finally came to rest. From that crossing point you measure the back-on-the-line drop or, for red, the two club-lengths of lateral relief. All relief drops follow the standard procedure, dropped from knee height into the relief area, which we cover fully in our guide to golf drop rules.

If you are unsure whether your ball is even in the penalty area or simply lost nearby, remember you cannot play a provisional ball for a ball known to be in a penalty area, provisionals are only for potential lost or out-of-bounds shots.

Stakes versus lines, and who decides

The colour can be shown with stakes, painted lines, or both. When both are used, the line defines the actual edge of the penalty area and the stakes simply make it visible from a distance. Stakes marking a penalty area are usually treated as movable obstructions, so you can remove one that interferes with your stance or swing, unlike white out-of-bounds stakes, which you must never move.

It is the golf course, through its committee, that decides whether a given hazard is marked red or yellow. A stream running across the front of a green might be yellow, while the same stream running down the side of a hole is marked red so players have a workable lateral drop. If a penalty area is left unmarked in colour, the default under the Rules of Golf is to treat it as red, giving players the more generous set of options.

The bottom line

Red versus yellow comes down to one thing: options. Both are penalty areas, both cost a single stroke to escape, and both now let you ground your club. Yellow gives you stroke-and-distance and back-on-the-line relief; red adds the handy two-club-length lateral drop for hazards that run along your route. Spot the colour, find where the ball last crossed the edge, and you will always know your choices under Rule 17.