Three alternatives for relief When you decide your ball is unplayable, you have three alternatives for relief, all of which cost one penalty stroke. Your first choice is to return to the location of your last stroke and try again (stroke and distance relief). The second option is to move down the fairway to another available position (position relief). The third choice is to send a par 3 hole (hole-out relief). If you choose to use stroke and distance relief, then play another shot from the same place on the course as your previous shot. You can do this until you either hit it perfectly or run out of places to go. If you run out of options, then you must make a decision about how bad you want to win this game. If you choose not to use any more relief shots, that's fine too. There are some courses where using all three forms of relief is very important, but on most courses you can get by with just two. As for position relief, if you feel like you can't reach the green with your current lie, then you should ask for help from someone who can. You may be able to borrow a club from a friend or passerby, or maybe there's a volunteer teefighter nearby who would be happy to lend you his spare iron. Position relief is useful, but it can also be dangerous if you need help from someone else to avoid hitting people.