Ball on Wooden Steps: When the Rules of Golf Require a Drop

A ball that comes to rest on a set of steps near a green raises a rules question that trips up club golfers: is a drop mandatory, or can the shot be played as it lies?

Can a golfer choose to play the ball as it lies?

In most cases, yes. The Rules of Golf allow a player to play the ball from almost anywhere on the course, including a cart path, a bridge or a set of steps, if that is the preferred option.

When is free relief available instead?

If the steps are classified as an immovable obstruction and they interfere with the player's lie, stance or swing, Rule 16 permits free relief. The player finds the nearest point of complete relief and drops within one club-length of that spot, no closer to the hole.

That relief becomes unavailable if a committee has defined the steps as an integral part of the course. In that case, the player must either play the ball as it lies or take penalty relief for an unplayable lie under Rule 19.

Is a drop ever mandatory?

Only in one scenario: if the steps sit inside a "no play zone" marked by the committee, or if playing the ball would mean standing in one or swinging into one. There, relief is compulsory rather than optional.

Playing a stroke from a no-play zone without taking the required relief carries the general penalty: loss of hole in match play, or two strokes in stroke play.