My ball went into a water hazard (penalty area). What are my options?

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"Water hazards" are now called penalty areas. Any body of water on the course is a penalty area whether marked or not, and if the Committee hasn't marked its colour, it's treated as red. You can play the ball as it lies without penalty, or take relief for one penalty stroke (you can do so if the ball is found, or if it's known or virtually certain to be in the penalty area): Option Yellow Red Stroke and distance: play again from where you last played ✓ ✓ Back-on-the-line: drop outside the penalty area, keeping the point where the ball last crossed the edge between the hole and where you drop, as far back as you like ✓ ✓ Lateral: drop within two club-lengths of where the ball last crossed the edge of the red penalty area, not nearer the hole ✓ If it's not known or virtually certain that the ball is in the penalty area and you can't find it, it's a lost ball: stroke and distance. You can't take free relief (for example, from ground under repair) for a ball in a penalty area. Source: Rules of Golf (2023), Rule 17 and Definition of Penalty Area.

Option	Yellow	Red
Stroke and distance: play again from where you last played	✓	✓
Back-on-the-line: drop outside the penalty area, keeping the point where the ball last crossed the edge between the hole and where you drop, as far back as you like	✓	✓
Lateral: drop within two club-lengths of where the ball last crossed the edge of the red penalty area, not nearer the hole		✓