Trap or hazard
Ask Dustin Johnson
Hazard is the area of sand or water between the tee and the hole.
Yellow is a water hazard. Red is a lateral hazard. White is out of bounds. The rules indicate how each of these should be dealt with.
Water hazard - yellow stakes, lateral hazard - red stakes and bunkers.
The risk for a hazard before controls are put in place
Blue stakes on a golf course indicate "ground under repair". They may be blue with a green top which would indicate that an appropriate government agency has declared the area an "environmentally-sensitive area" and the local golf committee has declared it ground under repair to prevent play from it.
you can go play it. It is in a hazard tho and hazard rules apply
Yes, you are allowed to pull these out of the ground. But you can not pull OB stakes out of the ground.
It is the total number of golf club strokes, that a specific course was designed to be played in for 18 holes.
A bunker or sand trap
This marks the boundary of a water hazard.