Temporary Water
Temporary water is standing surface water on a golf course, such as a puddle left by rain or a sprinkler, that lies outside a penalty area. Golfers are entitled to free relief under Rule 16.1 when it interferes with the ball, their stance or their swing.
What is temporary water?
Water gathers in the low spots of a course after heavy rain, where it is not meant to be. That pooled water is what the Rules of Golf call temporary water. A puddle in the middle of the fairway after a thunderstorm is the everyday example.
The Rules treat temporary water as one of four abnormal course conditions, alongside ground under repair, animal holes and immovable obstructions such as cart paths. The purpose statement to Rule 16 explains why the USGA and the R&A group them together: these conditions are not treated as part of the challenge of playing the course, so a player who runs into one may move the ball away without adding a stroke.
Two things have to be true before water on the ground qualifies. It must sit outside a penalty area, and it has to be visible either before or after the player takes a stance.
Why golfers still call it casual water
Anyone who learned the game before 2019 knows this condition by an older name. Casual water was the official term for decades, and it disappeared when the modernised Rules of Golf took effect on 1 January 2019.
Darin Green, Senior Director of Rules and Competitions at the Florida State Golf Association, explains the swap: the governing bodies moved to “temporary water” because it describes the situation more accurately and translates into other languages more cleanly. Both names describe the same condition, and plenty of golfers still say casual water.
How temporary water is identified
Wet ground on its own does not count. The rule book says so directly: it is not enough for the ground to be merely wet, muddy or soft, or for water to flash into view as a player steps on the turf. An accumulation of water has to remain present, either before the stance is taken or after it.
Rules officials have a shorthand for this. Green of the FSGA reports that some of them say it is the stance, not the dance. Rocking back and forth to coax moisture up does not qualify. A player who settles into a normal stance and finds water sitting around their shoes has a valid claim.
Interference is not confined to the feet: water touching the ball, or water where the club will pass through, counts too.
What does not count as temporary water
| Counts as temporary water | Does not count |
|---|---|
| Puddles from rain or irrigation | Ground that is merely wet, muddy or soft |
| Water that has overflowed beyond the edge of a penalty area | Water inside a penalty area, which Rule 17 governs |
| Snow and natural ice on the ground, at the player’s option | Dew and frost |
| Manufactured ice, which the Rules class as an obstruction |
Snow and natural ice sit in an unusual position. Golf Digest’s Ron Kaspriske notes that a player may treat them either as temporary water or as loose impediments. Ice out of a cooler counts as an obstruction instead.
Temporary water vs. a penalty area
Most confusion comes from mixing temporary water up with a penalty area, and the difference decides whether relief costs anything.
| Temporary water | Penalty area | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Surface water that collected where it was not meant to | A body of water or other area the Committee has defined |
| How it is identified | Nothing marks it; the player judges it against the definition | Yellow or red stakes and lines |
| Governing Rule | Rule 16.1 | Rule 17 |
| Cost of relief | Free | One penalty stroke |
| Permanent? | No, it drains or evaporates | Yes, a fixed part of the course |
The margin settles the question. When a pond swells and pushes water past its red or yellow line, the water beyond that line is temporary water, because the ground it sits on belongs to the general area. Ron Kaspriske of Golf Digest makes the same point about overflow after heavy rain. Turn the situation around and the answer flips: a thin film of rainwater inside the red line is part of the penalty area, and getting out of it costs a stroke.
Where temporary water can exist
Inside a red or yellow penalty area, temporary water does not exist at all. Everywhere else, it can form. Green of the FSGA lists the general area, which covers fairways and rough, plus bunkers and putting greens.
Rule 16.1 handles those parts of the course slightly differently. Fergus Bisset, a Level 3 qualified rules official writing for Golf Monthly, sums up the difference: relief in a bunker stays inside that bunker unless the player takes a penalty stroke to leave it, and on the green the ball is placed rather than dropped.
One quirk is easy to miss. Water between the ball and the hole counts as interference only when the ball itself lies on the putting green, as Rule 16.1a(1) sets out. Anywhere else, a puddle on the line gives a player nothing.
Common misconceptions
Soggy turf gets misread as temporary water more than anything else. Squishy ground underfoot feels like grounds for a free drop, and it is not.
A second misunderstanding concerns what relief buys. The R&A’s clarification 16.1/1 confirms that relief may leave a player better off or worse off, and nothing promises an improvement. Steve Carroll, a Level 3 qualified rules official at National Club Golfer, puts it plainly: if the nearest point of complete relief lands in a bush, the bush is where the player drops.
Relief is also optional, so a golfer who likes the lie may play straight out of the puddle. And when a ball is drifting in moving temporary water, clarification 16.1/6 lets the player wait for it to float to a better spot before measuring, provided play is not unreasonably delayed.
Related Golf Terms
- Embedded ball — A ball lodged in its own pitch-mark, eligible for free relief.
- Movable obstruction — An artificial object that can be moved, such as a rake or bottle.
- Immovable obstruction — A fixed artificial object, like a cart path, giving free relief.
- Stroke and distance — The penalty requiring replay from the prior spot plus one stroke for lost or OB balls.
- Loose impediment — Natural loose objects like leaves or stones that may be moved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is temporary water a penalty in golf?
No. Temporary water is an abnormal course condition and Rule 16.1 gives free relief. A stroke is only involved if a player chooses to drop outside a bunker.
Do you get relief if a puddle is on your putting line?
Only when the ball lies on the putting green. In that case, Rule 16.1a(1) treats water intervening on the line of play as interference, wherever the water sits.
Is snow temporary water?
It can be. Snow and natural ice on the ground are either temporary water or loose impediments, at the player’s option. Frost and dew are neither.
Sources
- R&A. “Rule 16: Relief from Abnormal Course Conditions (Including Immovable Obstructions), Dangerous Animal Condition, Embedded Ball.” Accessed 25 July 2026.
https://www.randa.org/en/rog/the-rules-of-golf/rule-16 - R&A. “Clarifications to Rule 16.” Accessed 25 July 2026.
https://www.randa.org/rog/clarifications/rule-16 - USGA. “Topic: Abnormal Course Conditions/Embedded Ball.” Accessed 25 July 2026.
https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/topics/abnormal-course-conditions-embedded-ball.html - Florida State Golf Association. Darin Green, “Rules of Golf: Rain, Rain, Go Away.” 1 July 2024.
https://www.fsga.org/News/Details/4210 - Golf Digest. Ron Kaspriske, “Rules of Golf Review: I stepped on the fairway after it rained and water came up around my ball. Do I get relief?” 28 May 2025.
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/rules-of-golf-review-temporary-water-casual-water-relief-options - National Club Golfer. Steve Carroll, “How much do you know about the casual water rule?” 7 October 2025.
https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/rules/what-is-the-casual-water-golf-rule/ - Golf Monthly. Fergus Bisset, “What Is The Standing Water Rule In Golf?” 19 January 2023.
https://www.golfmonthly.com/golf-rules/what-is-the-standing-water-rule-in-golf
