Water streams, bushes difficult to access, or other obstacles making it difficult to play a ball are considered to be penalty areas. Should a ball land in such an area it may be played from where it is or “Retrieved with a Penalty”.
The action of Retrieving with a Penalty is when a player is allowed to remove the ball from the penalty area and place it at a distance called a “relief distance” which is a distance measuring the length of a putter in any direction, except in the direction of play towards the hole. This action is penalized by the player missing the next turn.
