Definition of ball in penalty area vs out of bounds

[golflife]

Hi all, i wonder if you can help me.
When a ball is in a penalty area - according to Rule 17.1a - a ball is in a penalty area when any part of the ball lies on or touches the ground (or anything else) inside the edge of the penalty area.

A ball is out of bounds (Rule 18.2a) when all of the ball is outside the boundary edge of the course. The boundary edge of the course is the course side of the white line. Therefore, if the ball is on the white line, it is out of bounds.

My question is, what is the edge of the penalty area? Some of our penalty areas are defined by painted red lines on cart paths. if the ball is on the red line, is it inside the edge of the penalty area? or does the ball have to be on the wrong side of the red line to be in the penalty area?

Thanks for your help.
Golflife

 

[rulefan]

The PA starts at the General Area side of the line. A ball touches that infinitely thin line it is in the PA. The painted line is in the PA.

The edge of a penalty area extends both up above the ground and down below the ground:
This means that all ground and anything else (such as any natural or artificial object) inside the edge is part of the penalty area, whether on, above or below the surface of the ground.

 

[golflife]

The PA starts at the General Area side of the line. A ball touches that infinitely thin line it is in the PA. The painted line is in the PA.

The edge of a penalty area extends both up above the ground and down below the ground:
This means that all ground and anything else (such as any natural or artificial object) inside the edge is part of the penalty area, whether on, above or below the surface of the ground.

Thank you rulefan. That makes complete sense to me - anything else would be inconsistent. I don't understand why the R&A/USGA rules are written ambiguously for the PA position, when it is crystal clear for OOB (with supporting diagrams.)

 

[rubidius]

You know, I never thought I'd be looking for information about this. I am very glad that I found this thread. Thanks.