Dropping Without Penalty

You can drop your ball without taking a penalty in certain circumstances. Make sure you know where you can take a free drop - it could make all the difference to your final score.

The most common times you can lift and drop your ball without taking a penalty are when it lands in casual water, ground under repair or holes made by burrowing animals. Many courses also have local rules requiring you to drop clear of young staked trees, without penalty.

It's not just the lie of the ball that you should consider. The rules allow you to take relief if your stance or the line of your intended swing is affected.

For instance, if you are standing in casual water to play your stroke, even though your ball itself is clear, you are entitled to relief if you want it. There doesn't have to be standing water - if it seeps up when you've taken your stance, it is said to be casual water and you can drop your ball without penalty.

Ask before lifting
How should you proceed when you have decided to take a free drop? You should ask your opponent in match play or your marker in stroke play to confirm your right to a drop without penalty before you lift the ball. If you lift without their permission you may end up with a penalty if they dispute your right to a free drop.

You drop the ball in the same way as you would in any circumstance -standing straight, holding the ball at shoulder height and arm's length, and dropping it. When you are taking relief without penalty, you select the nearest spot on the course which gives you relief from the situation. Drop your ball within a club length - but not nearer the hole.

Bear in mind that it may not al ways be a good idea to take relief, even when it is available without penalty. For instance, if you discover your ball in ground under repair you may feel that you have a better lie than you would if you lifted and dropped your ball. In this case, you are normally free to play the ball as it lies. But sometimes a local rule makes you take relief to preserve the course.

Re-dropping the ball
When you drop the ball it may roll up to a distance of two club lengths from where it hits the ground provided it doesn't finish nearer the hole. You can re-drop if the ball is:

•     Nearer the hole, or has rolled into a hazard - or out of a hazard when you were taking relief within one. When you drop from a hazard, your ball must stay in it.

•     On a putting green.

•     Out of bounds.

•     Back in the situation from which you are taking relief.

If it rolls into one of these situations for a second time you then place the ball on the spot where it struck the ground when re-dropped.