Can you deliberately manufacture a drop to get a better lie?
Want to use the rules to your advantage in a relief area? Our Rules of Golf expert explains how
There is something about channelling the rules in your favour that doesn’t always sit well with folk.
But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. If the rules allow it, don’t feel guilty. Just get it done.
Let’s unpick this scenario I received over email and see how you feel about it. “There’s a large area of ground under repair (marked as a no play zone) and the club determines a drop zone be used.
“This DZ becomes well-worn with divots and rough bare areas. As the DZ is on a slight slope, are you able to drop twice near the edge and, when it rolls out of the DZ both times, place the ball on the spot you where dropped it and where there was a favourable lie?”
Does that feel like you’re bending rules? And, more importantly, are you allowed to do it at all?
Let’s take a look at this golf relief area rule…
Golf relief area rule: Can you drop a ball knowing it will come out of the relief area?
Open your rule books up to Rule 14.3, which covers dropping a ball in a relief area. A drop zone is a special relief area a committee can use – as they have in this case – and the same rules apply.
Rule 14.3 says you must drop the ball in the right way, that it’s got to be dropped in the relief area and that it has to come to rest in that relief area.
It doesn’t specify where you have to drop it in that area. Just that you must and it has to come to rest within it.
So if you drop it in the right way twice, and it comes to rest outside the relief area on both occasions, then you must place a ball – on the spot where the ball dropped the second time first touched the ground.
As long as that point is in the relief area then off you go. And if that results in what you consider to be a better lie, well the rules have assisted you on this occasion.
You might argue the committee should establish a drop zone that doesn’t allow this to happen – putting it on a slope doesn’t feel the most sensible of places for it. But you’re not breaking any rules in making the best of that situation if you’re able.
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
What do you think about this golf relief area rule? Let me know by leaving a comment on X.
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
