Rules of Golf Review: You played from inside a penalty area and hit it O.B. Do you have to play again from the same spot?

Sam Greenwood

By Ron Kaspriske

October 07, 2026

Save for later

Here's a tip of the cap for trying to pull off a very difficult shot. Hitting from a penalty area is rarely the smartest play, but it goes from risky to outright disaster when the result is worse—a lot worse—than if you simply took the penalty-stroke drop outside of the hazard and played on.

Imagine seeing a ball sitting up just enough in a red penalty area that it looks possible not only to hit it out and save a shot but also advance it a good way down the fairway. You roll up your pants, take off your shoes and give it a go. The result? You rifle one out-of-bounds.

Assuming it was your tee shot that landed in the penalty area, let's play the what-happens-now game and walk through your options and what your score would be:

First, know your rights. One of them is that you can indeed play another shot from the penalty area after taking the stroke-and-distance penalty for hitting one out-of-bounds (Rule 18.2b). But you're probably suffering from PTSD and don't want to drop another ball in the penalty area. Do you have to?

The answer is no, but it comes at a cost.

You may drop outside of the penalty area, but you are assessed another stroke for doing so. In other words, you hit your tee shot into the penalty area, your second shot O.B., and now you get two strokes for getting out of the swamp. You're now hitting 5.

More Rules Reviews from Golf Digest

Rules Review

Rules of Golf Review: He rotated his golf ball without marking it. He says it's OK because he didn't lift it. True?

Rules Review

5 rules most golfers get wrong

Technology

Got a rules question? The USGA is harnessing AI technology to get you fast, accurate answers

Interestingly, you have three options if you decide to take relief outside the penalty area. You can take lateral relief from where the ball you hit off the tee initially last crossed over the area's margin. You can take back-on-the-line relief using that spot and the hole to determine the drop area. Or, you can even go back to the tee and hit that shot again.

Also interesting is that you can first drop in the penalty area, assess your new lie and then decide if you want to play from there or pick the ball up and use one of the options outlined under Rule 17.2b/1. You don't have to drop in the penalty area if you want to save time, but you're still hitting 5.

None of this sounds lovely, for sure, but in a stroke-play tournament, at least you're giving yourself the best chance of mitigating a mistake.