The rules of golf: How to drop a golf ball

Whenever you get into trouble on a golf course, the most likely way you’ll get yourself out of it is by dropping a ball.

So, whether you’ve hit your ball into a pond, or a big area of ground under repair, or perhaps you are stuck in a sand bunker, dropping a ball is the obvious way to proceed.

In golfing terms, this is called taking relief.

So how you do correctly drop a ball on the golf course?

You must drop from knee height

Simply make sure you’re dropping the ball to the ground from the height of your knee. 

You’ve got to do this yourself. Don’t let a playing partner, or a caddie, do it for you.  

The ball must be dropped straight down

Release the ball and let it go. Don’t throw it, roll it, spin it or do anything else that could impact where it comes to rest.

When it’s falling, it can’t touch anything before it hits the ground.

The ball must come to rest in a relief area

If you’re taking relief from a puddle or from ground under repair, you must drop the ball within one club length of the puddle. And it can’t be nearer to the hole.

If you’re taking a drop from a penalty area, or from an unplayable lie, it can be two club lengths if you take lateral relief.

When you drop the ball, it must land and stay within the relief area.

What if I drop it wrongly?

Do it again. There is no limit on the number of times you must drop if you aren’t doing it correctly.

What if the ball rolls away?

If your ball doesn’t stay in the relief area, drop once more. If you’ve done it correctly twice and it still won’t behave, place the ball on the spot where it first touched the ground when you dropped the second time.

What if I do it wrong and play a shot?

If you drop a ball in the wrong way and it is played from the relief area, you get one penalty stroke.

If it was played from outside the relief area, you add two shots or lose the hole if it is match play.