Rules & Etiquette

Casual Relief

Free relief from casual water, loose debris and more.

Why it matters

Casual relief is the free help the rules give you for conditions nobody intended to be part of the course: puddles, loose debris, a spectator, a parked car. Knowing you are entitled to it saves genuinely awkward lies, and knowing its limits saves you from taking relief you were not owed.

How to do it

Casual water — temporary water, usually from rain, rather than a permanent feature — gives free relief (PDGA 803.06).
Relief means moving to the nearest spot that avoids the condition, along the line of play, NO CLOSER to the target.
Loose debris not attached to anything — leaves, twigs, loose stones — may be moved.
Fixed or growing obstacles may not be moved, and neither may anything that is part of the course (803.01).
Casual obstacles such as people, animals, vehicles and equipment can be moved or waited out.
When in doubt about whether something is casual, ask the group and take the stricter reading.

Common mistakes

Treating permanent water or mud as casual.Casual means temporary and unintended. A pond that is always there is part of the course.

Breaking or bending a branch that is in the way.Growing obstacles may not be moved. This is also the rule that keeps courses from being gradually destroyed.

Taking relief closer to the target.Never closer. That constraint is what makes the relief free rather than an advantage.

Key points

You may get relief from casual water — no closer to the target.
Movable obstacles behind your lie can be moved; fixed ones cannot.

The drill

Drill · Name the condition — 1 wet round, naming the relief rule for every awkward lie. Play after rain and, at each awkward lie, say out loud whether the condition is casual and what relief you are entitled to. You will find you are entitled to more than you thought on puddles and less than you thought on branches, which is the useful correction.

Watch: Disc Golf Rules School - Episode 8: Obstacles & Relief — PDGA