GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
When must you drop a golf ball again, and when do you place it instead?
First establish the relief option and its area under the applicable Rule. For the standard method, the player lets the ball go from knee height so it falls straight down without touching the player or equipment before it hits the ground. A drop made the wrong way must be repeated and does not count toward the two valid drops. If two correct drops both come to rest outside the relief area, place a ball where the second drop first touched the ground.
For Golfers who have established a valid relief option but are unsure whether a drop is complete, must be repeated, or should be followed by placement. · Updated
Use the right method and landing location
Under the standard procedure, the player drops the ball from a location at knee height. Knee height means the player’s knee height when standing, but the player does not have to stand while dropping. The ball must fall straight down without being thrown, spun or rolled, and must not touch the player or equipment before it hits the ground.
The ball must be dropped in the relief area. For back-on-the-line relief, the first landing must be on the required line at a location allowed by that relief Rule; the drop point creates the relief area. Rule 25 modifies parts of the procedure for certain players. This guide does not decide whether a player qualifies for a modification or whether a particular relief option is available.
A wrong-way drop is different from a correct drop that rolls out
A drop that misses a required method or location is a wrong-way drop. Examples include releasing from the wrong height, having the ball touch the player or equipment before it hits the ground, or dropping outside the required area or away from a required back-on-the-line spot. Drop again correctly; a wrong-way drop does not use one of the two drops in the placement sequence.
A correctly performed drop that first lands in the relief area but then comes to rest outside it is valid and counts as the first drop. The player drops correctly a second time if that ball also comes to rest outside.
Place after two valid drops finish outside
After two correctly performed drops both come to rest outside the relief area, place a ball at the spot where the second drop first touched the ground. If it will not stay there, place it on that spot a second time. If it still will not stay, use the nearest spot where it will remain at rest, not nearer the hole. If the required placement spot is in the general area, the stable spot must remain in the general area; if in a bunker or penalty area, it must remain in that same bunker or penalty area. If the required spot is on the putting green, the stable spot may be on the green or in the general area. This final placement can be outside the relief area.
Rule 14.5a allows a procedural mistake to be corrected without penalty before the ball is played. If a wrong-way drop is played without correction from within the relief area, the player gets one penalty stroke. Playing it from outside the relief area, or playing a ball that was placed when it had to be dropped, brings the general penalty: loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play. The retained back-on-the-line clarification is specific: a ball first dropped off the required line and then played without correction is played from a wrong place and brings the general penalty even if it rolled onto the line. After a wrong-place stroke, the applicable correction duties, including a possible serious breach in stroke play, must be handled under Rule 14.7; moving the ball back does not simply erase the stroke or penalty.
Two valid drops outside the area
In a fictional lateral-relief situation, a relief area has already been established. The first ball is released too high, so the player repeats the drop; that incorrect attempt does not count. The next two drops are correctly performed, but each comes to rest outside the area. The player then places a ball where the second valid drop first hit the ground. In a separate back-on-the-line case, the player must drop on the required line; a ball first landing away from that line does not become a correct drop merely by rolling onto it.
Related questions
Do I have to stand up to drop from knee height?
No. Knee height is measured by the height of the player’s knee when standing, but the player does not have to be standing when dropping.
Does a ball touching my clothes after it hits the ground make the drop wrong?
No. Contact after the ball has hit the ground does not by itself make the drop method wrong. Rule 14.3c separately covers after-ground contact, while the ball still must come to rest in the relief area.