When Can You Reteach in Golf?

Ever hit a tee shot so far sideways you wished you could just put another ball on the tee and pretend it never happened? We’ve all been there. Knowing when you can actually do that, according to the Rules of Golf, can save you strokes and a lot of on-course stress. This guide will walk you through exactly when you can re-tee your shot - sometimes for a penalty, and in very rare cases, for free - so you can handle any mishit with confidence.

"Stroke and Distance": The Basic Rule of Do-Overs

Before we get into specific situations, it’s important to understand the fundamental concept that governs most golf "re-dos." It’s called playing under stroke and distance, as defined in Rule 18. This is the golfer's most basic penalty option for a ball that's gone missing or ended up in a place you can't play it from.

The name tells you exactly what the penalty is:

• Stroke: You add one penalty stroke to your score. If you were hitting your second shot, your next one will now be your fourth.
• Distance: You lose the "distance" your previous shot gained (and then some). You must go back to the spot of your previous stroke and play again.

Think of it as the ultimate rewind button. You get a fresh start from the original spot, but it costs you a stroke. While it can feel like a heavy price to pay, especially on a tee shot, it’s often your only option or even the most strategic choice in a bad situation. This rule is the foundation for handling lost balls, shots hit out of bounds, and certain unplayable lies.

The Classic Scenario: Your Ball is Lost or Out of Bounds (OB)

This is easily the most common reason you'll find yourself needing to play another shot from the same spot. You step up to the tee, make a mighty swing, and watch your ball sail majestically… into the woods or over the dreaded white stakes. According to Rule 18.2, a ball is considered lost if not found within three minutes of you or your caddie beginning to search for it. Out of Bounds (OB) is marked by white stakes or lines, and your ball is OB when all of it lies outside the course boundary.

In either of these cases - lost or OB - your only option under the standard Rules of Golf is to take a stroke-and-distance penalty.

How to Proceed When You Hit One OB or It Might Be Lost:

1. Declare a Provisional Ball: This is a massive time-saver. If you think your ball might be lost or OB, you should announce to your group, "I'm going to play a provisional ball," and hit another shot from the same spot. This second ball is "in play" provisionally.
2. Go Search for Your Original Ball: You have three minutes to search. If you find your original ball in-bounds, you must abandon the provisional and play your original ball from where it lies. The provisional ball is picked up with no penalty.
3. When the Provisional Ball Becomes the Ball in Play: If you can't find your original ball within three minutes, or if you find it clear-as-day out of bounds, your provisional ball is now officially the ball in play. You lie three strokes from this spot (your original shot, the penalty stroke, and now the third stroke which was your provisional shot). Your next swing will be your fourth stroke.

It’s important to remember that if you hit a shot and suspect it’s OB or lost but don’t play a provisional, you have to do the "walk of shame." You must walk all the way back to the original spot, take your penalty stroke, and hit again, all while your group waits. Learning to use the provisional ball properly is a sign of a smart, considerate golfer.

Note on Local Rules: Some courses have a Local Rule (Model Local Rule E-5) allowing an alternative to stroke and distance for lost/OB balls. This rule allows you to drop a ball in the fairway, estimate where your ball went out, and add two penalty strokes. This is meant to speed up play and is primarily for casual rounds, but stroke-and-distance is the default under the official Rules.

When Your Ball Finds a Penalty Area

Penalty areas (formerly "water hazards") are marked with red or yellow stakes/lines. If your ball ends up here, stroke-and-distance is one of your options, but you often have better choices thanks to Rule 17.

Yellow Penalty Areas

If your ball is in a yellow penalty area, you have two options:

1. Play the ball as it lies (if you can safely do so) with no penalty.
2. Take a one-stroke penalty and choose one of the following:
   • Stroke-and-distance: Go back to where you hit your last shot and play again. Yes, you can re-tee from the teeing ground a full-sized driver if that's what you want.
   • Back-on-the-line relief: Identify the point where your ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area. Now, imagine a straight line from the hole through that point, going as far back as you want. You can drop your ball on that line.

Red Penalty Areas

If your ball is in a red penalty area, you have all the options of a yellow penalty area, plus one more very helpful choice:

• Lateral Relief: Identify the point where the ball last crossed into the red penalty area. You can drop a ball within two club-lengths of that point, no nearer to the hole. This is often the most advantageous option.

So when would you choose to go all the way back and re-tee (the stroke-and-distance option)? It’s rare, but imagine you hit a terrible hybrid shot from 200 yards into a penalty area right in front of the green. Going back might allow you to hit a confident drive to a different part of the fairway, setting up a much easier third shot than taking a drop near all the trouble. It's about damage control and choosing the path of least resistance for your next shot.

Your Get-Out-of-Jail Card: The Unplayable Ball Rule

Sometimes your ball is in-bounds but in such an awful spot that advancing it is impossible or foolish. Maybe it’s nestled against a tree root, deep inside a thorny bush, or plugged in the face of a bunker. Rule 19 allows you to declare your ball unplayable at any point on the course (except in a penalty area, where Rule 17 applies).

Similar to penalty area relief, this costs one penalty stroke. You have three main relief options:

1. Stroke-and-Distance: The most familiar option. Go back to where you last played from and hit again. This is your only relief option if you take an unplayable out of a bunker and want to play from outside the bunker.
2. Back-on-the-Line Relief: Similar to penalty area relief. Keeping the spot where your ball lies between you and the hole, you can drop on a line going as far back from that spot as you want.
3. Lateral Relief: You can drop within two club-lengths of where your ball lies, no nearer the hole.

The stroke-and-distance option might seem like the worst choice, but it can be a lifesaver. Imagine you've shanked a short iron from the fairway deep into thick woods. Your other relief options (back-on-the-line or lateral) might still leave you in the trees with a tricky shot. Sometimes, accepting the penalty and going back to the fairway to hit a full, clean shot is a far smarter play than trying to be a hero.

Are There Any FREE Re-Tees?

This is a an excellent question. So far, all our re-tee situations have been accompanied by a painful penalty stroke. But there are a couple of specific, rare moments where you can re-tee for free.

1. Before the Stroke is Made

According to Rule 6.2b, if your ball is sitting on a tee in the teeing area and it falls off or is knocked off by you before you have made your downswing at it, you can simply re-tee it anywhere you want within the teeing area with no penalty. If you swing and miss the ball completely (a "whiff"), but the force of your swing knocks the ball off the tee, that counts as a stroke. You would then play your second shot from where the ball came to rest.

2. Cancel and Replay due to Interference on the Green

This is a very specific one, detailed in Rule 11.1b. If you make a stroke from anywhere *other than* the putting green and your moving ball hits another ball that was at rest on the putting green, you play your ball as it lies. However, if *both* your ball and the other player's ball were on the putting green before your stroke, the a different outcome occurs. Your stroke is canceled, you must replace your ball on its original spot, and you replay the stroke without penalty.

Final Thoughts

Understanding when you can (and must) take a shot over is a huge part of managing your game and your score. The "re-tee" option is almost always the result of a stroke-and-distance penalty, applied when your ball is lost, out of bounds, or you choose that relief option from a penalty area or unplayable lie.

Instead of guessing or arguing with your group, knowing your options allows you to make calm, strategic choices that turn a potential disaster into a manageable situation. That confidence comes not just from your swing, but from knowing the rules. If you ever find yourself in a tricky on-course ruling or torn between strategic decisions, tools like Caddie AI are there to help. I designed it to give golfers instant access to on-course advice, so you can ask any question about the rules - from taking relief to proper etiquette - and get an expert answer in seconds, right when you need it most. It removes the doubt so you can play with total confidence in your decisions.