Relief and dropping: how to do it right.

This page summarises the relief procedure in the 2023 Rules of Golf, in effect from 1 January 2023, mainly Rule 14.3 (dropping) and Rule 16 (free relief). The R&A says the next edition is due on 1 January 2028.

Club-lengths and relief areas

Relief areas are measured in club-lengths. A club-length is the length of the longest club you have during the round, other than your putter. The USGA's summary of the 2019 changes records that relief areas became one or two club-lengths in size when the Rules were modernised.

The relief area is the space you must drop into, and where the ball must come to rest. The Rule that gives you relief sets its size and position, for example one club-length from the nearest point of complete relief, or two club-lengths from where a ball last crossed the edge of a red penalty area.

How to drop

The NCGA's November 2023 summary of Rule 14.3 sets out the procedure:

1. Only the player drops the ball (or a partner, in a partner format).
2. The ball is dropped straight down from knee height, meaning the height of your knee when standing. This replaced the old drop from shoulder height at arm's length in 2019.
3. The ball must come to rest in the relief area.
4. If a correctly dropped ball rolls out of the relief area, drop again. If it rolls out a second time, place it where it first touched the ground on the second drop.

The NCGA also notes that the Rules make no distinction between fairway and rough when you drop in the general area. Rule 25.6 asks Committees to accept the reasonable judgment of a player with a disability when dropping from knee height.

Back-on-the-line relief, used for penalty areas and unplayable balls, works a little differently since the 2023 edition: you drop on the line, and the ball must come to rest within one club-length of where it was dropped.

Free relief

Rule 2.3 gives free relief from loose impediments (Rule 15.1), movable obstructions (Rule 15.2) and abnormal course conditions (Rule 16.1). There is no free relief from boundary objects or integral objects.

Abnormal course conditions (Rule 16.1)

The four abnormal course conditions are animal holes, ground under repair, immovable obstructions and temporary water. You get free relief when one interferes with your lie, your stance or the area of your intended swing. Outside the putting green, interference with your line of play alone does not count, the NCGA explains. Relief is not available under Rule 16.1 when the ball is in a penalty area.

In the general area, the NCGA says, you drop within one club-length of the nearest point of complete relief, not nearer the hole.

Embedded ball (Rule 16.3)

A ball embedded in its own pitch-mark in the general area gets free relief. You drop within one club-length of the spot right behind the ball. There is no such relief in a bunker or a penalty area.

Lifting to check (Rule 16.4)

If you reasonably believe your ball lies in a condition that gives relief, you may mark and lift it to check, but you may not clean it unless it is on the putting green. Lifting it without that reasonable belief costs one penalty stroke.

No play zones (Rule 2.4)

A no play zone is a defined part of an abnormal course condition or a penalty area where play is not allowed. You must take relief when your ball is in one, or when one interferes with your intended stance or swing.

Every relief option compared

Details for each are on the penalty areas, lost ball and out of bounds and unplayable ball pages.

Local Rules that add relief

Two Model Local Rules updated for 2026 add relief, according to the R&A. Each applies only when the Committee adopts it:

• F-5 (amended): a Committee may extend relief for interference with the line of play to specific kinds of ground under repair, such as holes left by removing a movable obstruction like a microphone.
• F-2 (new option): free relief when a referee finds the ball embedded in another player's unrepaired pitch-mark. It is intended only for competitions with live television coverage and referees.