Rules: White Stake vs. Red Stake

Let’s be honest, there are a lot of rules to think about when it comes to golf. And while it might be impossible to remember all of them, there are some rules that absolutely every golfer should know, simply because they are so prevalent in our average game.

None of us here are worried about what happens when a bird picks up your ball, but knowing some basics rules of golf not only speeds up play but ensures that you don’t risk unnecessary penalties or even a disqualification during a tournament.

So what does that mean for today? Well, no matter how good you are, eventually you’re going to hit one out of bounds or lose a ball to a hazard. But what’s the difference between these two situations anyway, and how does your next shot change depending on whether you crossed a set of red or white stakes?

Red and Yellow Stakes:

Let’s start with the most common of the two situations, hitting your ball into a hazard. But first, what exactly is a hazard?

Hazards can be a wide range of natural or man-made obstacles on the golf course such as lakes, rivers, sand traps, and so on. That’s not all though, in practice, anything with red or yellow stakes around it can be considered a hazard during your round.

So what happens when you hit a ball into one of these hazards? Well, you actually have quite a few options to choose from based on the hazard you land in and what color it is marked.

If you hit your ball in a hazard marked with yellow or red stakes you have the following options:

Option 1:

Your first option in any hazard is to simply play the ball out. You don’t have to take a penalty stroke, you simply play your next shot as you would outside of a hazard. Here’s the catch though…

In a hazard, you’re not allowed to move impediments (sticks, leaves, etc.) out of the way as you set up for your shot.  When it comes to playing out of sand traps or around the edges of streams or lakes this rule is most useful.

In these areas, your shot isn’t going to be changed significantly by the hazard which leads most golfers to simply “play it out” as they normally would.

Option 2:

Unfortunately, escaping a hazard isn’t always this easy.

If you can’t or choose not to play your ball out of the hazard, your next option is to take a penalty stroke and then drop a ball where your original shot crossed into the hazard.

The nice part of this option is that you can go as far back as you want, as long as you stay in line with the hole and where your ball crossed. This is useful for getting away from down slopes near streams, lakes, and other hazards unfavorable terrain.

Often times in these situations, it can be helpful to sacrifice a little distance in order to hit your next shot off of level turf.

Option 3:

Your third and final option is to take a penalty stroke and then replay your shot from its original location.

While this is usually not a golfer’s first choice, sometimes the angle you had during your last shot was better than the one you would have next to the hazard. Regardless, it is an option for red and yellow marked hazards.

Red Stakes Only:

In addition to options 1-3 above which can be used in either red or yellow stakes, if you land in a hazard marked with only red stakes you have another two options.

Option 4:

In addition to the three options above, if your ball crosses into a hazard marked with red stakes you can choose to take a penalty stroke and drop a new ball two club lengths from where the ball entered the hazard (as long as it isn’t any closer to the hole).

This is useful when facing lateral water hazards (which are red staked) as you would need roughly two club lengths of space to stand for your next shot. And, as long as your lie is decent around the drop zone, this is often one of the more popular options a golfer can take as it doesn’t sacrifice the distance you gained in your last shot.

Option 5:

Our final option allows us to move to the other side of the water hazard and repeat option 4 (penalty stroke, drop a ball two club lengths from hazard no closer to the hole).

With wide water hazards, this option can be especially useful because it helps lower the chance that you’ll hit your next shot back into the water again (of course none of us would ever do that). If you need to cross a stream or lake to get to the green, this option will allow you to do so without having to hit a shot.

Options 1-5 above are represented visually in this picture. While it can be confusing to try and remember all of your options, looking at them visually has always helped me understand the rules!

White Stakes:

Now that we’ve covered red and yellow stakes, let’s move onto white stakes.

So what do white stakes mean anyway?

Unlike red and yellow stakes, white stakes do not represent a hazard, but instead communicate what areas are “out of bounds” for the course you’re playing. While some courses choose to make everything red/yellow staked, when you do see white stakes there is a very specific procedure you must follow.

Unlike hitting the ball in a hazard, you don’t have any options to choose from after hitting the ball out of bounds.

If your ball comes to rest in out-of-bounds territory you must take a penalty stroke and then rehit from the spot of your last shot. This combined loss of stroke and distance are often considered the worst punishment in golf for an errant shot. As if we needed another reason to stay away from the tall grass…

Wrap-Up

Now, of course, nobody likes to hit their ball out of bounds or into hazards, but knowing your options (or lack of options) can help you make the best out of a bad situation. At the very least, knowing what each colored stake means can help take away the uncertainty many golfers feel during their rounds.

So while it might not be fun to think about hitting your ball in a hazard, knowing the rules and making the right choice can minimize the damage of one bad shot so you can get back on track towards playing great golf again.

You might not know what happens when a seagull steals your ball, but now you know how to deal with red and white stakes.