In wet or soft conditions, it is quite common to find our ball partly buried in the ground. There are certain rules that apply to this condition of an embedded ball.
What determines if the ball is embedded?
Part of the ball must be below ground level. If the ball is simply low down in grass, it is not considered embedded.
Places where you can not take relief without penalty from an embedded ball
A. Bunker
There is no relief without penalty for a ball embedded in a bunker. You can play it where it lies; or declare it unplayable and take a penalty stroke, dropping it in the bunker; or drop it outside the bunker under penalty of two strokes.
B. Penalty area
There is no relief without penalty for a ball embedded in a penalty area. You can play it where it lies or take one of 
the available options for a ball in a penalty area, dropping a ball outside the area under penalty of one stroke.
C. In sand that is not in the fairway
Sometimes there are places, outside the fairway, where there is a lot of sand without it being a bunker. If our ball is embedded in this sand, we cannot get relief without penalty. How to take relief? The point of reference is the point immediately behind where the ball is embedded. From here, a ball is dropped within one club length.
What has changed in 2019?
1. A ball may be dropped within one club length of the reference point when, previously, the ball had to be dropped as close as possible to where the ball was embedded.
2. In order to benefit from relief without penalty for a ball embedded in an area other than the cut portion of the course, the committee had to draft a local rule whereas now it is included in the Rules.
3. You may change ball or keep playing the same ball.
redwap me
The Topic: How to take embedded ball relief The Old Rule: In the current Rules of Golf, Rule 25-2 limits relief for an embedded ball to closely mown areas through the green (which means, areas cut to fairway height or less ). But there is a Local Rule to allow relief for an embedded ball anywhere through the green. That Local Rule is adopted for all USGA championships and is extremely common throughout the United States. When the Local Rule is in effect, players get relief for an embedded ball even if it s in the rough. The New Rule: In the new Rules of Golf, the wording of the rule, or default, has essentially been flipped. Rule 16.3 gives relief for a ball embedded anywhere in the general area (the new term for through the green ). The Committee may adopt a Local Rule restricting that relief to areas cut to fairway height or less in the general area. But it s likely most won t opt to do so. In short, instead of enacting a Local Rule to get the relief, relief will now be given across the board unless a specific Local Rule is enacted to restrict relief.
Édouard Rivard
Thanks for the comment. This is basically what I have written.