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Free Relief in Golf: Cart Paths, Ground Under Repair and Embedded Balls

Free relief from cart paths, sprinkler heads, ground under repair, puddles and embedded balls, and how to find the nearest point of complete relief.

By Published 8 min read

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Key takeaways

  • Take free relief only when the condition touches your ball or physically interferes with your stance or swing; something that merely distracts you, or sits on your line off the green, does not qualify.
  • Find the nearest point of complete relief from the stroke you would actually have played, then drop within one club-length of it, no nearer the hole, in the general area.
  • Expect the nearest point to land you in rough or behind a tree sometimes, because it is measured from the condition alone and you do not get to choose the better side.
  • Claim embedded-ball relief only for a ball in its own pitch-mark in the general area, and check the local rules, which may limit it to areas cut to fairway height or less.
  • Remember that none of this relief exists in a penalty area, where Rule 17 is your only way out.

The Rules of Golf give free relief — relief with no penalty stroke — in a short, specific list of situations. The main one is interference by an abnormal course condition: an immovable obstruction such as a cart path or sprinkler head, ground under repair, temporary water or an animal hole. The others are a ball embedded in its own pitch-mark in the general area, and a dangerous animal near the ball. In the general area you find the nearest point of complete relief and drop within one club-length of it, no nearer the hole. The big exception is a penalty area, where none of this relief exists.

All of it sits in Rule 16 of the 2023 Rules of Golf, the edition still in force on 2 October 2026, alongside the Model Local Rules a Committee can adopt, several of which were added or amended from 1 January 2026.

Why some relief costs nothing

Rule 16 states its own logic: these conditions are not treated as part of the challenge of playing the course. A puddle left by overnight rain or a sprinkler head was not put there to test you, so the Rules let you play away from it for free. Penalty areas, trees and thick rough are treated differently: relief from them comes through the penalty-area and unplayable Rules, and it costs a stroke.

The four abnormal course conditions

Condition What the definition covers Watch out for
Immovable obstruction An artificial object that cannot be moved without unreasonable effort or damage: artificially surfaced roads and paths with their artificial borders, buildings, sprinkler heads, drains, irrigation boxes Boundary objects and integral objects are not obstructions, so they give no free relief. A rake or bottle is a movable obstruction you simply move, under Rule 15.2.
Ground under repair Any area the Committee defines, plus holes made by the Committee or maintenance staff, material piled for removal, and an animal's habitat right by the ball Aeration holes are not ground under repair. White or blue stakes or lines are common markings; red and yellow are avoided.
Temporary water A temporary accumulation of water on the surface, outside a penalty area, visible before or after you take your stance Ground that is merely wet, muddy or soft does not count, and neither do dew or frost.
Animal hole A hole dug by an animal, with the material dug out and any worn track leading into it Holes made by worms or insects are excluded, and so are footprints.

One detail about paths: the definition lists artificially surfaced roads and paths. A track simply worn into the grass by carts is not an artificial object, so it gives no free relief unless the Committee has defined it as ground under repair.

When interference exists, and when it does not

Rule 16.1a recognises three kinds of interference:

  1. Your ball touches, or lies in or on, the condition.
  2. The condition physically interferes with the area of your intended stance or swing.
  3. On the putting green only, the condition intervenes on your line of play.

A condition that is close enough to distract you, but does none of those things, gives no relief. Neither does one that interferes only because you chose a club, stance, swing or direction that is clearly unreasonable, and neither does one beside a ball you could not reasonably play anyway, such as a ball deep in a bush with a sprinkler head next to it.

The sprinkler-head-on-your-line question has a specific answer. Off the green, an immovable obstruction on your line of play is not interference. Many courses adopt Model Local Rule F-5, which adds relief when the obstruction is on or within two club-lengths of the green and within two club-lengths of the ball; since January 2026 a Committee may extend it to chosen kinds of ground under repair. Another Local Rule, F-6, lets a Committee refuse relief when a condition interferes only with your stance.

Finding the nearest point of complete relief

This is the step golfers most often rush. The definition sets out how to do it:

  1. Decide the stroke you would have played from where the ball lies: the club, the stance, the swing and the line of play.
  2. Find the nearest point to the ball's spot, not nearer the hole and in the required area of the course, where the condition would no longer interfere with that stroke. The Rules do not require you to rehearse the stroke, but recommend it.
  3. Measure one club-length from that point, not nearer the hole and in the general area. That is your relief area, and you must have complete relief from the condition anywhere within it. A club-length means the longest club you are carrying other than your putter.
  4. Drop from knee height into the relief area. The ball must come to rest inside it. If it rolls out, drop again, and if it rolls out a second time, place a ball where the second drop first touched the ground.

The definition adds the part that surprises people: the nearest point of complete relief relates only to the condition you are taking relief from. It may be in thicker rough, behind a tree or under a branch. If the new spot is affected by another condition that gives relief, you may take relief again from that one.

A worked example: the cart path

Assume a right-handed player, a cart path running straight down the right-hand side of a hole, and a ball resting on the path close to its right-hand edge.

  • On the fairway side, the ball only needs to move far enough for the ball and the swing to clear the path, because the player's feet will already be on the grass to its left. But from near the right-hand edge, that means crossing almost the full width of the path.
  • On the right-hand side, the ball has to move far enough for the player's feet to clear the path as well. That can still be the shorter move when the ball starts near the right-hand edge.

The R&A's own diagram for Rule 16.1 makes the general point: when a condition interferes with the stance, the nearest point of complete relief sits farther from it than when it only touches the ball. The nearest point is whichever side is nearer once your stance is accounted for, which in this example can easily be the side away from the fairway. You do not get to pick the side with the nicer lie.

Relief in a bunker or on the green

The procedure changes with the area of the course.

  • Bunker (Rule 16.1c): free relief must be taken inside the bunker, using the nearest point of complete relief there or, if there is none, the point of maximum available relief. Or, for one penalty stroke, drop back on a line from the hole through the ball, outside the bunker.
  • Putting green (Rule 16.1d): you place the ball, rather than drop it, at the nearest point of complete relief, which may be on the green or in the general area. On the green the line of play counts as interference, which is how relief from a puddle between ball and hole works.

If you cannot find your ball but it is known or virtually certain to have come to rest in an abnormal course condition, Rule 16.1e lets you take relief using the point where it last crossed the condition's edge. If that is only a guess, the ball is lost and stroke and distance applies.

Embedded balls

A ball is embedded when it sits in its own pitch-mark from your previous stroke and part of it is below the level of the ground. It does not have to touch soil; grass between ball and earth does not change anything.

Rule 16.3 gives relief only in the general area: drop within one club-length of the spot right behind the ball, no nearer the hole and in the general area. On the putting green you may instead lift and clean the ball, repair the pitch-mark and replace it. There is no relief for a ball embedded in sand in an area not cut to fairway height or less, and none when the stroke would be clearly unreasonable anyway.

A ball is not embedded if it went below ground level some other way: trodden in, driven straight into the ground without ever getting airborne, or pressed in when it was dropped. If you cannot tell whether a pitch-mark is yours or another ball's, you may treat the ball as embedded when it is reasonable to conclude the mark is your own.

Local Rules matter here. Model Local Rule F-2 lets a Committee restrict embedded-ball relief to areas cut to fairway height or less, or rule out relief in stacked-turf or soil faces above bunkers. A third option added in January 2026 goes the other way, allowing relief in an unrepaired pitch-mark made by any player's stroke, but only where there is live television coverage and referees to judge it.

Two more free-relief situations

Dangerous animals. Rule 16.2 covers a dangerous animal near the ball, such as a venomous snake, stinging bees, an alligator, fire ants or a bear, that could cause serious harm if you played as the ball lies. It applies anywhere, including in a penalty area, where you may take free relief inside the area or penalty relief outside it. It does not cover other hazards, such as a cactus.

Lifting to check. If you reasonably believe your ball lies in a condition that gives free relief but cannot tell without lifting it, Rule 16.4 lets you mark the spot and lift it, without cleaning it except on the putting green. Lifting without that reasonable belief costs a penalty stroke.

What never gets free relief

  • Boundary objects, such as white stakes and out-of-bounds fences, which are treated as immovable.
  • Integral objects the Committee has declared part of the challenge.
  • Conditions in a penalty area. Rule 17 is the only relief there, apart from the special cases of a dangerous animal and a no play zone.
  • A lie made unplayable by something else, such as a bush, even if an obstruction is also close by.

Conditions as part of the decision

Course conditions are one of the inputs to every shot in Golf Career Simulator Pro Tour, our course-management golf game: each shot is a choice made from the hole, the lie, the distance, the wind, the conditions and your golfer's strengths. Its tours and golfers are fictional, and this article covers the real Rules rather than how the game resolves a shot; the Golf Career Simulator Pro Tour guide covers the game itself. For the real-world version, golf course management basics is about choosing targets that keep you out of trouble, and how golf scoring works is the place to start if scoring terms are new. More golf guides sit on the golf hub, with the full catalogue under sports career and GM games.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Do you get free relief from a cart path?
Yes, if it is an artificially surfaced path and your ball lies on it or it interferes with your stance or swing. Paved and other artificially surfaced paths are immovable obstructions, which are abnormal course conditions under Rule 16.1. In the general area you drop within one club-length of the nearest point of complete relief, no nearer the hole.
What is the nearest point of complete relief?
It is the estimated point nearest to where your ball lies, not nearer the hole and in the required area of the course, where the condition would no longer interfere with the stroke you would have made. You estimate it using the club, stance, swing and line of play you would have used. It relates only to that condition, so it can be in rough or behind a tree.
Do you get relief from a sprinkler head on your line of play?
Not normally. Off the putting green, an immovable obstruction on your line of play is not interference under Rule 16.1. Many courses adopt Model Local Rule F-5, which gives relief when the obstruction is on or within two club-lengths of the green and within two club-lengths of your ball.
When does an embedded ball get free relief?
When it is in its own pitch-mark from your previous stroke, part of it is below the level of the ground, and it lies in the general area. There is no relief if it is embedded in sand in an area not cut to fairway height or less, and a Committee may restrict relief further by Local Rule. On the putting green you may simply lift, clean, repair the damage and replace the ball.
Is ground under repair always marked?
No. The Committee usually marks it, and white or blue stakes or lines are common, but some things are ground under repair automatically. They include holes made by the Committee or maintenance staff, other than aeration holes, and grass cuttings or other material piled for removal.

Sources

  1. Rule 16: Relief from Abnormal Course Conditions (Including Immovable Obstructions), Dangerous Animal Condition, Embedded Ball (opens in a new tab)The R&A — accessed
  2. Definitions (Rules of Golf): Abnormal Course Condition; Ground Under Repair; Obstruction; Temporary Water; Nearest Point of Complete Relief; Embedded (opens in a new tab)The R&A — accessed
  3. Rule 14: Procedures for Ball (Dropping in Relief Area) (opens in a new tab)The R&A — accessed
  4. Committee Procedures, Section 2: Marking the Course (opens in a new tab)The R&A — accessed
  5. Committee Procedures, Section 8: Model Local Rules (F-2, F-5, F-6) (opens in a new tab)The R&A — accessed
  6. New and Updated Model Local Rules for 2026 (opens in a new tab)The R&A — accessed

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