Golf — Rules 13.1f and 16.1
Wrong-green relief is required; most abnormal-condition relief is a choice.
A ball on another hole's green and a ball beside a cart path can both lead to a free drop, but they are not the same ruling. The interference test, whether relief is compulsory, and where the ball may be put back into play depend on the condition and the area of the course.
Quick ruling: under the jointly governed R&A and USGA 2023 Rules of Golf, Rule 13.1f requires free relief when a wrong green touches the ball or physically interferes with the intended stance or swing. Rule 16.1 normally allows optional free relief from an animal hole, ground under repair, an immovable obstruction, or temporary water, except when the ball is in a penalty area.
Decision path
Classify the condition before moving the ball
- Identify where the ball lies: general area, bunker, putting green, or penalty area.
- Decide whether the interference comes from a wrong green or one of Rule 16.1's four abnormal course conditions.
- Check the ball, intended stance, and intended swing; check the line of play only in the situations where the Rule includes it.
- Apply the clearly-unreasonable exceptions and the course's Local Rules.
- Decide whether relief is required, optional, unavailable, or available only with a penalty.
- Find the correct reference point and take complete relief in the required area of the course.
- Drop or place as the applicable Rule requires, then confirm the ball is in the right place before playing.
Two rule families
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. The purpose is to prevent play from damaging a green not being used for the hole.
Rule 16.1 governs abnormal course conditions. Relief is normally optional: the player may play the ball as it lies or take the authorised free relief. The exception is a no play zone within an abnormal course condition, where the player must follow the mandatory procedure.
Wrong green
The ball need not lie fully on the other green
Wrong-green 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 automatically part of the green.
There is no wrong-green relief merely because the green is on the line of play. There is also no relief when the claimed interference exists only because the player selects a clearly unreasonable club, stance, swing, or direction of play.
Required procedure
Use the same area of the course and take complete relief
For Rule 13.1f relief, 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, must be in that same area, must not be nearer the hole than the reference point, and must avoid all wrong-green interference.
The original ball or another ball is dropped under Rule 14.3. “Nearest” does not mean the nicest lie or clearest shot: the geometry may put the relief area in rough, on a slope, or on an inconvenient side of the green.
What counts
Practice and temporary greens depend on their status
By definition, practice putting or pitching greens are wrong greens, although a Committee can change that status by Local Rule. When a temporary green is being used for a hole, the replaced normal green automatically becomes a wrong green. A temporary green that is not in use is normally part of the general area unless the Committee declares otherwise.
A shared double green is not automatically split into a correct and wrong portion. Model Local Rule D-6 lets the Committee divide it. Other authorised Local Rules can exclude stance-only interference, expand the protected area beyond the green edge, or provide a dropping zone.
Abnormal conditions
Rule 16.1 covers four defined categories
- Animal hole: a hole dug by an animal, together with the associated loose material and worn-down track or trail leading into it when covered by the definition.
- Ground under repair: an area defined by the Committee and other conditions included by the official definition, even if not always marked.
- Immovable obstruction: an artificial object that cannot readily be moved without unreasonable effort, delay, or damage, such as many surfaced cart paths or fixed sprinkler heads.
- Temporary water: a temporary accumulation on the ground, such as a puddle, that is visible before or after the player takes a stance without pressing down excessively.
Movable obstructions use Rule 15.2. Boundary objects and integral objects do not give free relief merely because they are artificial.
Interference test
Lie, stance, and swing count; line of play usually does not
Abnormal-condition interference exists when the ball touches or lies in or on the condition, or the condition physically interferes with the intended stance or intended swing. When the ball is on the putting green, a condition on or off that green also counts if it intervenes on the line of play.
For a ball off the putting green, an immovable obstruction merely between the ball and hole does not create Rule 16.1 relief. A Committee may adopt a Local Rule for certain immovable obstructions close to putting greens, so the scorecard or notice board can change that result.
No-relief cases
A free drop cannot cure a separate impossible lie
Rule 16.1 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 the ball cannot be struck because it lies in a bush. Relief is also denied when the interference arises only from a clearly unreasonable club, stance, swing, or direction.
An unusual stroke can still be reasonable. An official considers the shot the player could genuinely make in the circumstances, not simply whether it is a normal right-handed or left-handed action. The player cannot manufacture an abnormal stroke solely to reach an obstruction and escape a bad lie.
General area
Drop within one club-length of the nearest complete relief
When the ball is 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 or another ball within one club-length; the relief area must stay in the general area, be no nearer the hole, and provide complete relief from that condition.
Complete relief includes the ball's lie and every form of interference that supported the claim. A player whose feet remain on the same cart path after dropping has not completed relief, even if the ball itself is now on grass.
Bunker
Free relief normally stays in the sand
For a ball in a bunker, the free Rule 16.1c procedure keeps both the nearest point of complete relief and the relief area in that bunker. If no point gives complete relief in the bunker, the point of maximum available relief in the bunker may be used as the reference point.
The player may instead take 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 the same outside-bunker option for wrong-green interference.
Putting green
Place the ball instead of dropping it
When the ball is on the putting green and an abnormal course condition interferes, Rule 16.1d allows free relief by placing the original or another ball at the nearest point of complete relief. That point may be on the putting green or in the general area, and it must not be nearer the hole.
If no point gives complete relief, the player may use the point of maximum available relief on the putting green or in the general area. This putting-green procedure is different from wrong-green relief, which is taken by dropping into a one-club-length relief area.
Penalty area
Rule 16.1 free relief disappears
If the ball lies in a penalty area, Rule 16.1 does not provide free relief from an animal hole, ground under repair, an immovable obstruction, or temporary water. The player may play the ball as it lies or use an available Rule 17 option for one penalty stroke.
This depends on where the ball lies, not where the condition lies. A cart path outside a penalty area does not produce Rule 16.1 relief when the ball is inside the penalty area and the path interferes with the stroke. Wrong-green relief is different: Rule 13.1f has no penalty-area exclusion, but its reference point and relief area must be in the same area of the course as the original ball—in this case, a penalty area.
Ball not found
Known or virtually certain is more than a guess
Rule 16.1e can apply when a ball is not found but it is known or virtually certain that it came to rest in or on an abnormal course condition. The estimated point where it last crossed the condition's edge on the course is then used as the ball's spot for applying the appropriate general-area, bunker, or putting-green procedure.
If that demanding evidence standard is not met, the condition is not a free substitute for finding the ball. The ball is lost after the three-minute search time and Rule 18 normally requires stroke-and-distance relief.
Worked examples
Four similar-looking lies, four useful checks
- Ball on the 12th green while playing the 11th: Rule 13.1f relief is mandatory, even if the player would prefer to chip from the surface.
- Ball beside a paved path in the general area: free relief is optional only if the path touches the ball or physically interferes with the intended stance or swing.
- Puddle between a fairway ball and the hole: line-of-play interference alone gives no Rule 16.1 relief because the ball is not on the putting green.
- Ball in a flooded bunker: the player may take free relief in the bunker, use maximum available relief there if necessary, or take the outside-bunker back-on-the-line option for one penalty stroke.
Enforcement
Officials establish facts, then test the chosen procedure
A referee or Committee may establish the green's edge, the ball's course area, whether a condition meets a defined term, the intended stroke, and the nearest point of complete relief. Course markings, Local Rules, witness information, and the player's reasonable actions all matter to that factual ruling.
Playing from a wrong place in breach of Rule 13.1f or 16.1 brings the general penalty: loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play. In stroke play, a serious breach of playing from a wrong place must be corrected as Rule 14.7b requires or the player is disqualified.
Common mix-ups
Do not combine separate relief conditions
- Nearest is not best: compare valid complete-relief points by distance, not by quality of lie.
- The fringe is not automatically protected: it becomes part of wrong-green relief only when an applicable Local Rule expands the area.
- Relief must be complete: moving only the ball off the path or green is insufficient if stance or swing interference remains.
- Two conditions use two decisions: when a wrong green and an abnormal condition both interfere, take relief under one Rule and reassess. Do not create one combined reference point unless an official Rule or Local Rule authorises it.
Official references
Source material