Ground under repair should be designated as such by the course, either by staking, roping or otherwise marking the area affected (such as with lines painted on the ground around the area - if lines are used, they should be white in color.)
Free relief is given to any golfer whose ball comes to rest in the area or touching it - so long as the area is marked as ground under repair by the course. The only exceptions to that are any hole dug by a greenkeeper, and any material piled for removal by a greenkeeper. Those constitute ground under repair even if they are not marked as such.
Grass cuttings left on the course are not considered ground under repair unless they are marked as such.
Ground under repair is covered in the rulebook in Rule 25, which focuses on abnormal ground conditions. Check that rule for more details about ground under repair and the proper procedures.
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