Take complete free relief from a wrong green; abnormal-condition relief is usually optional.

The ruleset and version used here

This page applies the R&A/USGA Rules of Golf, 2023 edition, especially Rules 13.1f, 14.3, 14.7 and 16.1. That edition took effect on 1 January 2023. It has been checked against the official Rules Clarifications and the Additional Clarifications of the 2023 Rules of Golf updated 1 July 2026.

The baseline is shared internationally, but a Committee's valid Local Rules have the same status as a Rule of Golf for that course or competition. Always check the scorecard, notice to players and any tournament hard card before deciding that a path, green, marked area or temporary structure qualifies for relief.

Classify the lie before moving the ball

1. Locate the ball. Is it in the general area, a bunker, the putting green for the hole, or a penalty area?
2. Name the interference. Is it a wrong green or one of Rule 16.1's four abnormal course conditions?
3. Apply the correct test. Check the ball, intended stance and intended swing; check line of play only where the Rule or a Local Rule includes it.
4. Check exclusions. Is the stroke clearly unreasonable? Is the ball in a penalty area? Is a no play zone or Local Rule involved?
5. Choose or obey. Wrong-green and no-play-zone relief is compulsory; ordinary Rule 16.1 relief is normally optional.
6. Use the right procedure. Identify the reference point, required course area and one-club-length relief area, or place the ball when Rule 16.1d says to do so.
7. Recheck the result. The ball must be put into play in the right place, and complete relief is required unless the maximum-available-relief exception applies.

Similar geometry does not make the Rules interchangeable

Rule 13.1f governs a wrong green. Once genuine interference exists, the player must not play the ball as it lies and must take complete free relief. Line of play by itself is not interference.

Rule 16.1 governs abnormal course conditions. Relief is normally optional: the player may play the ball as it lies or use the authorized free-relief procedure. A no play zone is different because play is prohibited, and a ball in a penalty area is governed principally by Rule 17.

The ball need not lie fully on the other green

Under Rule 13.1f(1), interference exists when any part of the ball touches the wrong green, when the ball lies on or in something inside its edge, or when the wrong green physically interferes with the intended stance or swing. The fringe or apron is not part of the wrong green unless a Local Rule expands the protected area.

There is no relief merely because the wrong green lies between the ball and the hole. Rule 13.1f(3) also denies relief when interference exists only because the player selects a clearly unreasonable club, stance, swing or direction of play.

Use the same area of the course and take complete relief

Under Rule 13.1f(2), the reference point is the nearest point of complete relief in the same area of the course where the original ball came to rest. The relief area is one club-length from that point, in the same area, no nearer the hole than the reference point, and free from every form of wrong-green interference that applied to the intended stroke.

The player drops the original ball or another ball under Rule 14.3. “Nearest” is a measurement, not a promise of a good lie or a clear shot. The valid relief area may be in rough, on a slope or on the inconvenient side of the green.

Practice, temporary and double greens depend on definitions and Local Rules

Practice putting or pitching greens are wrong greens by definition, although Model Local Rule D-5 can change that status. When a temporary putting green replaces the normal green for a hole, the normal green automatically becomes a wrong green. An unused temporary green is typically part of the general area unless the Committee declares otherwise.

A shared double green is one putting green unless the Committee divides it under Model Local Rule D-6. Model Local Rules D-3 and D-4 can respectively remove stance-only relief or extend the protected area into a fringe or apron. Model Local Rule E-1 can provide a dropping zone. These changes are not automatic; the Committee must adopt and communicate them.

Rule 16.1 covers four defined conditions

• Animal hole: a hole dug by an animal, including associated material and qualifying worn track or ground alteration. The official definition excludes holes made by animals that are themselves loose impediments, such as worms or insects.
• Ground under repair: an area the Committee defines, plus certain conditions included by the definition even when unmarked, such as a maintenance hole or material piled for later removal.
• Immovable obstruction: an artificial object that cannot readily be moved without unreasonable effort, delay or damage. An artificially surfaced cart path and a fixed sprinkler head normally qualify unless the Committee defines the object differently.
• Temporary water: a temporary accumulation visible before or after the player takes a stance without pressing down excessively.

A worn dirt track is not automatically an obstruction; Model Local Rule F-17 can treat unsurfaced roads and paths as immovable obstructions. Conversely, a Committee can declare an artificial road or path to be an integral object, from which Rule 16.1 gives no free relief. Movable obstructions use Rule 15.2, while boundary objects and integral objects do not qualify merely because they are artificial.

Lie, stance and swing count; line of play usually does not

Rule 16.1a(1) finds interference when the ball touches or lies in or on the condition, or the condition physically interferes with the intended stance or swing. Only when the ball is on the putting green does a condition on or off that green also count when it intervenes on the line of play. Mere distraction is not interference.

For a ball off the putting green, an immovable obstruction simply between the ball and hole gives no baseline Rule 16.1 relief. If adopted, Model Local Rule F-5.1 adds line-of-play relief for an immovable obstruction on or within two club-lengths of the putting green and within two club-lengths of a ball in the general area. A Committee may restrict that Local Rule further.

A free drop cannot cure a separate impossible lie

Rule 16.1a(3) gives no relief when playing the ball as it lies is clearly unreasonable because of something for which free relief is unavailable—for example, when a bush makes any stroke impossible. Relief is also denied when interference exists only because the player chooses a clearly unreasonable club, stance, swing or direction.

An unusual stroke can still be reasonable. Official Clarification 16.1a(3)/1 allows relief where circumstances genuinely require, for example, an opposite-handed stroke that an obstruction interferes with. Clarification 16.1a(3)/2 denies a manufactured opposite-handed stroke chosen only to reach an obstruction and escape a bad lie.

Drop within one club-length of the nearest complete relief

For a ball in the general area, Rule 16.1b uses the nearest point of complete relief in the general area as the reference point. The player drops the original ball or another ball within one club-length; the relief area must remain in the general area, be no nearer the hole, and provide complete relief from that condition.

The intended club, stance, swing and direction used to identify the reference point also control whether the eventual lie gives complete relief. If the ball rests where the player's feet or club would still touch the same cart path for that stroke, it is not in the correct relief area.

Free relief normally stays in the same bunker

Rule 16.1c(1) keeps both the nearest point of complete relief and the relief area in the bunker. If no complete-relief point exists there, the player may use the point of maximum available relief in the bunker as the reference point. That is the valid point, not nearer the hole, where the condition least interferes with the intended stroke; some interference may remain.

Alternatively, Rule 16.1c(2) allows back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker for one penalty stroke, keeping the original ball's spot between the hole and the point where the ball is dropped. This paid option belongs to abnormal-condition relief in a bunker; Rule 13.1f does not create an equivalent outside-bunker option for wrong-green interference.

Place the ball instead of dropping it

When the ball is on the putting green for the hole and an abnormal course condition interferes, Rule 16.1d allows free relief by placing the original ball or another ball at the nearest point of complete relief. That point may be on the putting green or in the general area and must not be nearer the hole.

If no complete-relief point exists, the player may use the point of maximum available relief on the putting green or in the general area. This placing procedure is different from Rule 13.1f relief from a wrong green, which requires a drop into a one-club-length relief area.

Baseline Rule 16.1 free relief is unavailable

Rules 16.1a(2) and 17.3 give no ordinary free relief from an abnormal course condition when the ball lies in a penalty area. The player may normally play the ball as it lies or use an available Rule 17 option for one penalty stroke. This turns on the ball's location: an interfering path outside the penalty-area edge does not create Rule 16.1 relief for a ball inside it.

There are narrow, stated exceptions. Rule 17.1e controls interference from a no play zone. If adopted, Model Local Rule F-24 can allow free relief within the same penalty area from a specified immovable obstruction; Model Local Rule F-23 has separate procedures for temporary immovable obstructions. Neither Local Rule creates a general entitlement for every path or obstruction.

Rule 13.1f itself has no penalty-area exclusion. A possible example is a ball lying in a penalty area whose reasonable stance or swing is physically interfered with by an adjacent wrong green: the Rule 13.1f reference point and relief area must stay in that same penalty area.

“Optional relief” becomes a duty not to play from the zone

If the ball lies in a no play zone within an abnormal course condition in the general area, bunker or putting green, Rule 16.1f requires the applicable Rule 16.1b, c or d relief. If the ball is outside the zone but the zone interferes with the intended stance or swing, the player must take the relief that is available or use an applicable unplayable-ball option.

For a ball in a penalty area, Rule 17.1e takes over. A ball inside the no play zone requires penalty relief under Rule 17.1d or 17.2; the applicable option will normally put the next ball outside the penalty area, although stroke-and-distance can return the player to a previous spot inside it. If the ball is outside the zone but the zone interferes with stance or swing, Rule 17.1e may allow free relief inside the same penalty area when a valid relief area exists, or the player may take penalty relief. The ball must not simply be played through the prohibited interference.

“Known or virtually certain” is more than a possibility

Rule 16.1e applies when the ball has not been found but it is known or virtually certain that it came to rest in or on an abnormal course condition on the course. The estimated point where the ball last crossed the condition's edge is treated as the ball's spot for finding the nearest point of complete relief under Rule 16.1b, c or d.

Once another ball is put in play under this procedure, the original ball is no longer in play even if it is found within the three-minute search time. If the evidence does not meet the known-or-virtually-certain standard and the ball is lost, Rule 18.2 requires stroke-and-distance relief.

Rule 16.4 allows a careful inspection, not a free clean

If the player reasonably believes the ball lies in a condition covered by Rule 16.1 but cannot decide without lifting it, Rule 16.4 allows the player to mark the spot and lift the ball. The ball must not be cleaned unless it is on the putting green, except that cleaning carries no penalty if the player then takes relief that is allowed.

If relief is unavailable or the player chooses not to take it, the ball must be replaced. Failing to mark first or cleaning when not allowed brings one penalty stroke; playing from a wrong place can bring the general penalty.

Do not manufacture one combined reference point

Official Clarifications 16.1/2 and 16.1/3 treat simultaneous abnormal conditions separately. The player may choose which condition to take relief from first; after that ball is in play, the new lie is assessed for the other condition and further relief may be available.

A Committee can simplify recurring overlaps by declaring adjoining areas to be one condition under Model Local Rule F-3—for example, ground under repair tied into a cart path. Without such a Local Rule, the player should not merge two conditions or average two nearest points.

The ball is off the wrong green, but the player's heel is on it

Situation: while playing the 11th hole, the ball lies in rough beside the 12th green. A reasonable stance for the intended chip puts one heel on the 12th green.

R&A/USGA 2023 ruling: Rule 13.1f relief is compulsory because the wrong green physically interferes with the stance. The decisive fact is physical stance interference, not whether the ball itself touches the green. If the Committee adopted Model Local Rule D-3, stance-only interference would not count.

A bare dirt buggy track is under the player's feet

Situation: the ball is in the general area and the player's reasonable stance is on a worn but unsurfaced track.

R&A/USGA 2023 ruling: there is no automatic Rule 16.1 relief merely because the track is used by carts. The decisive fact is its status: it is not an obstruction unless it is artificial or the Committee has declared that unsurfaced road or path to be an immovable obstruction, such as through Model Local Rule F-17.

The ball is off the path, but the club will still strike it

Situation: after taking Rule 16.1b relief from an artificially surfaced path, the dropped ball comes to rest on grass inside the area the player measured, but the same intended swing would strike the path.

R&A/USGA 2023 ruling: the player has not taken complete relief. Official Clarification 14.7b/2 treats the ball as being in a wrong place when the intended club still strikes the condition. The relief area was determined incorrectly; playing from there brings the general penalty.

Temporary water lies only between a fairway ball and the hole

Situation: a puddle is on the desired low shot line, but it does not touch the ball or interfere with the player's stance or swing.

R&A/USGA 2023 ruling: no Rule 16.1 relief. The decisive fact is that the ball is in the general area, where line-of-play interference from temporary water alone does not qualify. If the ball were on the putting green, the same water intervening on the line of play would count as interference.

No dry spot exists in a flooded bunker

Situation: temporary water interferes everywhere in the bunker, so there is no point in it that gives complete relief.

R&A/USGA 2023 ruling: under Rule 16.1c, the player may drop using the point of maximum available relief in the bunker without penalty, even though some interference remains, or take back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker for one penalty stroke. The decisive fact is that complete relief inside the bunker is impossible.

Playing from the wrong place brings the general penalty

A breach of Rule 13.1f or 16.1 that results in playing from a wrong place brings loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play. Under Rule 14.7b, a serious breach in stroke play must be corrected before the player makes a stroke to begin another hole, or before returning the scorecard when it happened on the final hole; otherwise the player is disqualified.

Before making a stroke, a player may normally correct a mistaken drop, placement or use of a relief procedure under Rule 14.5. When facts or a Local Rule are uncertain during stroke play and no referee is immediately available, Rule 20.1c(3) may allow play of two balls if its announcement and reporting procedure is followed; that procedure does not apply in match play.

Six claims to avoid

• “Nearest means best.” The closest valid complete-relief point controls, even when the lie is worse.
• “Every cart path gives relief.” Surface, object status, course boundary and adopted Local Rules all matter.
• “The fringe is part of the wrong green.” Not under the baseline definition; a Local Rule may expand it.
• “The ball only needs to clear the condition.” Stance and swing interference must also be removed when complete relief is required.
• “A condition on the shot line always counts.” Baseline line-of-play relief under Rule 16.1 exists only for a ball on the putting green.
• “Rule 16.1 never permits anything inside a penalty area.” That is the ordinary baseline, but Rule 17.1e and adopted Model Local Rules F-23 or F-24 create specific exceptions.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• R&A/USGA — 2023 Rules of Golf, Rule 13.1f: Relief Must Be Taken from Wrong Green
• R&A/USGA — 2023 Rules of Golf, Rules 16.1 and 16.4: abnormal course conditions and checking a ball
• R&A/USGA — Official Rules Clarifications, Rule 16
• R&A/USGA — 2023 Rules of Golf, Rules 14.3, 14.5 and 14.7: dropping, correction and wrong place
• R&A/USGA — Official Rules Clarification 14.7b/2: condition still struck after relief
• R&A/USGA — 2023 Rules of Golf, Rules 17.1e and 17.3: penalty-area exceptions and exclusions
• R&A/USGA — 2023 Rules of Golf, Rule 20.1c(3): playing two balls when uncertain in stroke play
• R&A/USGA — Committee Procedures, Section 8: Model Local Rules D-3–D-6, E-1, F-1, F-3, F-5, F-17, F-23 and F-24
• USGA/R&A — Additional Clarifications of the 2023 Rules of Golf, updated 1 July 2026

Checked on 27 August 2026 against the joint 2023 Rules of Golf, effective 1 January 2023, the live Official Clarifications and the Additional Clarifications updated 1 July 2026. The July 2026 additions do not replace the core procedures in Rules 13.1f or 16.1. Course and competition Local Rules may supplement the baseline and must be checked separately.