Rules of Golf

Under the Rules of Golf, a lost ball (one not found within three minutes of beginning a search) requires you to return to where you played your previous shot and play again, adding a one-stroke penalty. This is stroke-and-distance relief. Under a local rule available in many recreational rounds, a golfer may drop a ball near where the lost ball is estimated to have come to rest, two club lengths from the nearest edge of the fairway, with a two-stroke penalty instead.

Under the current rules (post-2019), the term "hazard" has been replaced by "penalty areas" (formerly water hazards, marked red or yellow) and bunkers. In penalty areas, you may now ground your club and remove loose impediments. This was a significant change from the old rules. In bunkers, you still cannot touch the sand with your club before the stroke, except in specific situations such as when the ball is outside the bunker.

An unplayable lie is any situation where you judge your ball to be unplayable. You are the sole judge of this, anywhere on the course except in a penalty area. You have three relief options, each with a one-stroke penalty: play from where you last played (stroke-and-distance); drop within two club lengths of the original spot, no nearer the hole; or drop anywhere on a straight line between the hole and the unplayable spot, going back as far as you like.