Golf Relief, Penalties and Playing Decisions: Lesson Plan and Printable Worksheet

Learner worksheet: decide before playing

Name: ____ Date: ______

Learning objectives: Identify the facts that determine a ruling; distinguish optional relief from required action; select a permitted procedure; and support a decision with a rule number and a penalty calculation.

Lesson assumptions: These fictional situations use individual regular stroke play under The R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf. No Local Rules, no-play zones or Rule 25 modifications apply. All intended strokes and stances are reasonable. Do not assume that these classroom conditions describe a particular junior competition.

For each scenario, record: decision → penalty strokes → procedure → supporting rule. Sketch the relevant reference point and relief area when useful. Explain the facts that make your answer apply. Use the official rulebook supplied by your teacher; keep the answer packet closed until the discussion.

Eight playing decisions

Path beside the ball. Noor’s ball is on grass in the general area. An artificially surfaced cart path, treated as an immovable obstruction, interferes with her normal stance. Nothing else prevents the stroke. She wants relief. What may she do, and where should she measure from?
Another hole’s green. Eli’s ball rests on the putting green of a different hole. He proposes chipping from there. What must happen before his next stroke?
Red penalty area. Everyone saw Maya’s ball enter and remain in a red penalty area. Its last crossing point is known. She chooses lateral relief; the available relief area is entirely in the general area. Describe its size, reference point and penalty.
Yellow penalty area. Sam’s ball is known to be in a yellow penalty area. He wants to drop beside the crossing point using the same lateral procedure as Maya. Is that option available? Name the penalty-relief alternatives and their cost.
Beyond the boundary. Jo’s first tee shot finishes wholly out of bounds. No provisional ball was played. What must Jo do, and which numbered stroke will Jo make next?
Difficult bunker lie. Alex finds the ball in a dry bunker and decides it is unplayable. There is no abnormal course condition. Alex wants back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker. Is this available, and how many penalty strokes does it cost?
Wrong dropping height. While taking an otherwise valid free-relief option, Priya drops from shoulder height. The ball stays inside the correct relief area. She notices before playing. What should she do, and is there a penalty for correcting this mistake?
Two unsuccessful drops. During free relief, Ben drops correctly in the relief area twice. Each ball rolls out of that area. Nothing deflects either ball. What should Ben do next, and which spot matters?

Record and justify each decision
Scenario	Decision and penalty strokes	Procedure or sketch	Rule and explanation
1	________________	________________	________________
2	________________	________________	________________
3	________________	________________	________________
4	________________	________________	________________
5	________________	________________	________________
6	________________	________________	________________
7	________________	________________	________________
8	________________	________________	________________

Worked examples: teacher demonstration and answer packet

Example A — accidental movement on the putting green. Before beginning a stroke, Lina accidentally nudges her stationary ball with her shoe on the putting green of the hole being played. Identify the location and accidental cause first. Replace the ball on its original spot, estimating it if necessary; there is no penalty. Moving it does not mean she should play from its new location. Rule 13.1d(1), The R&A.

Example B — a ball beneath a bush. Omar finds and identifies his ball in the general area and decides it is unplayable. He chooses lateral relief. Add one penalty stroke; measure two club-lengths from the original ball’s spot, excluding positions nearer the hole. In this example the whole relief area is in the general area. Drop in that area and ensure the ball remains in it. Inspect the available area before choosing: this option may still leave a difficult shot. Rule 19.2c, The R&A.

For both examples, model the same reasoning sequence: identify the decisive facts, locate the rule, select the action, then explain the penalty and procedure.

Answer key with explanations

Optional free relief; zero penalty strokes. Use the nearest point of complete relief in the general area. Drop within one club-length of it, no nearer the hole, in the general area and with complete relief from the path. This is determined by the interference, not by choosing a preferred lie. Rules 16.1a–b.
Free relief is required. Eli must not chip from the wrong green. Drop within one club-length of the nearest point of complete relief in the general area, no nearer the hole, with complete relief from the wrong green. Zero penalty strokes for taking relief correctly. Rule 13.1f.
One penalty stroke. Measure two club-lengths from the estimated point where the ball last crossed the red edge. Drop and finish within that area, outside the penalty area and no nearer the hole than the reference point. Rule 17.1d(3).
No lateral option under the stated conditions. Yellow penalty-area relief offers stroke-and-distance or back-on-the-line relief, each costing one penalty stroke. For back-on-the-line relief, keep the last crossing point between the hole and the drop location outside the penalty area. Drop on that line; the landing point creates a one-club-length relief area, subject to the rule’s location limits. Rules 17.1d(1)–(2).
Stroke-and-distance; next stroke is the third. Count the original tee shot and add one penalty stroke. Play again from the teeing area; the ball may be teed. A drop beside the boundary is not available under these assumptions. Rule 18.2b and Rule 14.6a.
Yes, for two penalty strokes in total. Rule 19.3b permits back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker. Its one-penalty-stroke back-on-the-line option instead keeps the ball in the bunker. Do not confuse an unplayable lie with relief for an abnormal course condition. Rule 19.3.
Drop again correctly before playing; no penalty for correcting. Priya must release the ball straight down from knee height without it touching her body or equipment before the ground. Her shoulder-height attempt does not count towards the two drops used before placing. Rules 14.3b and 14.5a.
Place instead of making a third drop. Place a ball where the second correct drop first touched the ground. This completion of free relief adds no penalty. If it will not stay there, follow Rule 14.2e rather than choosing a convenient spot. Rule 14.3c(2).

Teacher lesson plan

Audience and duration: Secondary learners aged approximately 12+ and adult beginners; 50 minutes. Prior playing experience is optional.

Materials: Learner-only printouts, a separately held answer packet, pencils, official rulebook access, foam balls, a club for demonstration, and floor markers representing a hole, path, green, bunker and penalty-area edges. Use a clear demonstration space without swinging clubs.

Preparation: Print the three sections separately. Review the cited rules and mark the two demonstration examples. Prepare simple floor layouts and allocate roles: player, rules reader and observer. Keep worked solutions and the key out of learner handouts.

Sequence:

0–5 minutes: Introduce the objectives and ask learners which facts they would need before making a ruling.
5–13 minutes: Demonstrate the two worked examples from the answer packet. Ask learners to predict an action before revealing each explanation.
13–28 minutes: Pairs complete the eight worksheet scenarios using official rules. Require a rule number and explanation, not just a penalty number.
28–38 minutes: Pairs demonstrate one chosen procedure with foam balls and floor markers. Observers check that the explanation matches their written decision.
38–46 minutes: Release the answer key. Learners correct their work in a different colour and explain one changed decision.
46–50 minutes: Exit task: choose a scenario, identify its decisive fact and explain which additional fact would require further rules research.

Assessment: Award one point for a permitted decision, one for the penalty, one for the procedure and one for a relevant rule with explanation: 32 points across eight scenarios. Accept equivalent accurate wording. Use errors to select follow-up teaching rather than treating the score as a playing qualification.

Teacher notes: scope, adaptation and follow-up

Verified basis: The R&A and USGA identify this as the 2023 edition, effective 1 January 2023. The R&A’s additional-clarifications document is dated 2 October 2026 and reports no new clarifications for that quarterly update. These dates serve different purposes: the clarification update is not a new rules edition. USGA edition announcement; R&A rules resources.

Competition limitations: The exercises deliberately specify individual regular stroke play. They do not teach match-play penalties, team formats, handicapping or the conditions of a named competition. Before using them for a club or junior event, check the event’s Local Rules and Terms of the Competition. Suggested learner ages are a teaching choice, not a separate junior rules code.

Access and adaptation: Offer oral answers, larger diagrams or a seated demonstration. Where Rule 25 applies, teach the relevant modification explicitly rather than marking a standard-procedure answer as universally applicable. The official rules identify modifications affecting who may drop a ball and some relief options. Rule 14.3b; Rule 19.3b.

Teaching approach: Ask learners to separate facts from assumptions and distinguish a rule’s permission from their preferred playing strategy. Refer unresolved variants to the official text; do not extrapolate a classroom example into a universal ruling.

Follow-up: Use the existing Golf Decision Quiz for retrieval practice. Direct learners to Free Relief and Dropping Rules and Stroke Play vs Match Play for further study.