Golf Glossary
Relief
In short
Relief in golf means that you may lift your ball from an unfavourable position and put it back into play somewhere else. Some relief is free of penalty, for example from ground under repair. Other relief costs one penalty stroke, for example from a penalty area or for an unplayable ball. In most cases the ball is dropped.
What does relief mean in golf?
Relief is an umbrella term in the Rules of Golf. It describes all the cases in which you do not have to play the ball as it lies but may put it back into play somewhere else.
Normally in golf the ball is played as it lies. That is a basic principle. Relief is the exception. It is allowed in certain situations so that you are not punished for things that are not part of the normal challenge of the course. In other situations you may buy it with a penalty stroke.
Two questions help with every relief. First: is it free, or does it cost a penalty stroke? Second: where is the reference point from which you work out the relief area? Both depend on the situation the ball is in. This page gives you the overview, and the individual cases are described in their own entries.
Free relief: when is it allowed?
Free relief applies in these cases:
- Ground under repair, animal holes, immovable obstructions and temporary water. These are the abnormal course conditions under Rule 16.1.
- Dangerous animals, such as a wasp nest or a snake that seriously interfere, under Rule 16.2.
- An embedded ball in the general area, meaning a ball stuck in its own pitch mark, under Rule 16.3. Among other exceptions, there is no relief if the ball is embedded in sand outside closely mown areas.
- Wrong green: if your ball lies on a green other than that of the hole being played, you must take free relief.
- Movable obstructions such as rakes or bottles, and loose impediments such as leaves and stones. Here it is a matter of removing, not dropping. You take the object away and the ball stays where it is.
In all these cases you normally drop the ball within one club-length of the nearest point of complete relief, no nearer the hole. On the putting green it is placed. The idea behind it is that you should not suffer a disadvantage from things you cannot help.
Relief with a penalty stroke: when does it cost something?
You get relief with a penalty stroke when the situation is part of the challenge. Typical cases:
- Penalty area: from ponds, streams or other marked areas there is relief under Rule 17. It costs one penalty stroke. With yellow markings you have two options, with red three.
- Unplayable ball: if you declare your ball unplayable in the general area, under Rule 19, that also costs one penalty stroke. You may play again from where you made your last stroke, drop on the line behind the lie or drop laterally within two club-lengths. In a bunker special rules apply: if you want to drop outside the bunker, it costs two penalty strokes.
- Bunker with ground under repair: if you drop outside the bunker, you get one penalty stroke.
- Ball out of bounds or lost: here only stroke-and-distance relief remains. You play again from where you last played and add one penalty stroke.
The penalty stroke is the price for the freedom to put the ball back into play somewhere else.
How to take relief
The procedure is similar for almost all relief:
- First work out which relief applies and whether it is free. If in doubt, ask your playing partners.
- If useful, mark the position of the ball with a tee so that you can fix the reference point. Marking is only required if the ball later has to be replaced on the same spot.
- Establish the reference point. For abnormal course conditions it is the nearest point of complete relief. For a penalty area it is the point where the ball last crossed the edge.
- Measure the relief area with your longest club other than the putter. It is usually one or two club-lengths in size and is never nearer the hole.
- Drop the ball from knee height. You may use the original ball or another ball.
- Play on once the ball is in the relief area.
If you cannot find the ball but it is known or virtually certain to be in such an area, you may still take relief.
A practical example: path and pond on a par 4
You are playing a par-4 hole. Your tee shot, stroke 1, lands on a tarmac path at the edge of the fairway. The path is an immovable obstruction. Your stance is half on the tarmac. You take free relief. You mark the ball, find the nearest point where stance, ball and swing are no longer interfered with, and drop within one club-length.
Your next stroke, stroke 2, flies into a pond with yellow stakes. Here relief is no longer free. You take one penalty stroke and go back on the line behind the pond. The penalty counts as stroke 3. Your next stroke from the relief area is stroke 4. It lands on the green. Two putts are strokes 5 and 6. You write down six, a double bogey.
The difference lies in the cause. The path is a foreign object, the pond part of the course.
Common mistakes with relief
The same mistakes come up again and again with relief:
- Mixing up the types: there is no free relief from a penalty area, nor for an unlucky lie in the grass.
- Lifting too early: only lift the ball once it is clear that relief is allowed. Lifting without an allowed reason costs one penalty stroke under Rule 9.4.
- Wrong reference point: what counts is the nearest point of complete relief, not where the ball lay.
- Dropping nearer the hole: that is prohibited for almost every kind of relief.
- Relief for no reason: if a stance or swing is interfered with only because of an unusual choice, there is no relief.
- Dropping on the green: on the green the ball is placed.
- Improving the lie on your own: without a Local Rule you may not simply put the ball in a better position.
One tip: read the Local Rules before the round. They often add further relief, for example for no play zones, young plantings or special hazards.
Relief compared with preferred lies and mulligans
Three things are often mixed up.
Relief is a procedure in the Rules of Golf. It is tied to certain conditions and follows fixed steps. It is either free or costs one penalty stroke.
Preferred lies are a Local Rule that some courses introduce in winter or in wet conditions. The ball may then be lifted, cleaned and placed within a short distance in the general area. It is not relief under the basic rules but an exception made by the course, and it applies only when the Committee announces it.
A mulligan is an extra attempt that friends allow themselves in a relaxed round. It does not exist in the Rules of Golf and is not allowed in competitions. Anyone who wants to take the game seriously sticks to the real rules. You get to know them in the Platzreife course.
Try it at Golf Lounge
You learn which relief applies when on the Platzreife course at Golf Lounge Resort Hamburg. The theory part covers rules, etiquette and safety on the course and is linked with practice, guided by PGA coaches. As a rule you train in four to five sessions of two hours in small groups of up to six people. The exam takes place every Saturday entirely on site in Moorfleet.
Frequently asked questions
What does relief mean in golf?
Relief means that you do not have to play the ball as it lies but may lift it and put it back into play somewhere else. In most cases it is dropped. There is free relief and relief with one penalty stroke. Which applies depends on where the ball lies.
When is there free relief in golf?
For example from ground under repair, animal holes, immovable obstructions and temporary water, from dangerous animals and for an embedded ball in the general area. Movable obstructions and loose impediments may also be removed without penalty. You normally drop within one club-length.
When does relief cost a penalty stroke?
From a penalty area, for an unplayable ball and with stroke and distance after a ball out of bounds or a lost ball. Each of these costs one penalty stroke. In a bunker, dropping outside the bunker for an unplayable ball costs two penalty strokes.
May I take relief at any time?
No. Relief is only allowed in the cases the Rules of Golf provide for. In all other cases you play the ball as it lies. An unlucky lie in the grass, a divot hole or a ball behind a tree is part of the game. Here only the unplayable ball with a penalty stroke remains.
How far may I drop when taking relief?
Usually within one club-length of the reference point, and within two club-lengths for lateral relief. The ball must not come to rest nearer the hole than the reference point. A club-length is the length of the longest club in the bag other than the putter.
As of: October 2026