Out of Bounds

Out of Bounds (abbreviated as O.B.) is a term in golf that appears in the Mario Golf series. When a player hits a shot Out of Bounds, it means that their golf ball landed outside the boundaries of the golf course. When the player hits the ball where it lands outside of the boundaries, falls off the edge, lands in lava, in a Chain Chomp pit, or elsewhere that is not in the main course, it is qualified as Out of Bounds. Some sort of signal usually appears when the player hits Out of Bounds. The penalty for going Out of Bounds is one stroke, added on to the player's current score for the hole. The player must then hit the ball from the same place that they hit the Out of Bounds shot. In the first game, Toad is the one to alert the player of an Out of Bounds shot, while in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, a Koopa Paratroopa is the one to alert the player.

When an Out of Bounds shot happens, the announcer says "Oh, too bad!" except in Mario Golf: World Tour, where the announcer says "Out of Bounds!" instead (where Blue Toad holds up an OB sign).

Water Hazard
The Water Hazard serves a similar purpose; this event only occurs when the player's golf ball lands in a body of water. The penalty for hitting into a Water Hazard is the same as a regular Out of Bounds shot. However, if a ball goes into the water, the player must hit the ball a yard or two from the edge of the nearest land area from where the ball entered the water; this is called a Drop. The announcer says "Oh, too bad!" except in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.

Tree Hazard
A Tree Hazard serves a purpose. This event only occurs when the player's golf ball gets stuck in a tree and it won't come down, or lands too close to a tree trunk. The penalty for aiming at a tree is the same as a regular Out of Bounds shot. However, if a ball goes into a tree, the player has to hit the ball from wherever they aimed it from.

Out of Course
An Out of Course serves a purpose similar to OB. However, instead of being just out of bounds, the ball has gone out of the course, and then the player who hit the ball out of the course will receive a 1-stroke penalty. This message only appears in the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Golf, where the announcer (as well as the other players, if played in Multiplayer Mode) call out "Fore!" if an Out of Course shot is performed right before the ball lands, and Toad will not even show up in the Out of Course situation, instead displaying the words "OUT OF COURSE". In other games, doing Out of Course will show up as OB.

Unplayable
Unplayable is a type area of a golf course but the area is unintended for to ball to be in that area. "Unplayable" behaves as an Out of Bounds and a Water Hazard because an unplayable area are located inside the boundaries of the course, and grants a +1 Stroke Penalty.

Unplayable areas are not in specific areas of a golf course, for example, if the ball is in front of the tree, and if the ball cannot go straight to move on the course, it is not considered an unplayable area.

Rock and flower patches do not count as an unplayable area. Wood is also another type of area that is not an unplayable. However, if the golf ball stops at a wooded area such as a Cabin or a Bridge (Bowser's Castle of Hole 4 in Mario Golf: World Tour), they are considered an area where wood is an unplayable area. The golf ball is safe to land of the white bridge of Hole 9 of Forest Course and holes 9 and 14 of Seaside Course.

Unplayable is the only Out-of-Bounds area that doesn't have Toad show up holding a sign that says "OB", trying to announcing the ball is Out-of-Bounds. In Mario Golf: World Tour, the Text is the letters spelling unplayable is dark purple, but then light purple on the bottom of the letters.