Winter Rules in Golf: Lift, Clean and Place Explained

Winter rules in golf are what most players call preferred lies, set out in Model Local Rule E-3. When a course puts them in place, you may lift your ball on the fairway, clean it, and place it within a specified distance of its original spot — usually six inches, a scorecard length, or one club-length — no nearer the hole. They only apply when your club’s Committee has formally announced them, not automatically every cold day.

The point is fairness. When mud and frost wreck the fairways, a good shot should not finish in a footprint-sized crater. Preferred lies even that out.

Winter rules vs preferred lies: the same thing

There is no real difference between the terms. “Preferred lies” is the language the R&A and USGA use in the Model Local Rule; “winter rules” is the nickname because clubs almost always invoke the rule in the wet months; and “lift, clean and place” describes the action itself. All three point to Model Local Rule E-3.

Because it is a Local Rule and not part of the standard code, preferred lies are not in force by default. The Committee at each course decides, usually when poor conditions are widespread, and posts the terms — including how far you may move the ball and which parts of the course it covers.

How lift, clean and place works

The mechanics are short, but the details are where people slip up.

Step	What you do	Watch out for
Where it applies	Usually the fairway or closely mown grass only, unless the notice says otherwise	It rarely covers the rough — check the wording
Mark first	Mark the ball’s spot before lifting it	Recommended, but no penalty if you forget
Lift and clean	Pick the ball up and clean it fully	Cleaning is expressly allowed
Place	Set it down within the stated relief area, no nearer the hole	Common sizes: six inches, scorecard length, one club-length
Once only	You get to prefer the lie a single time	If it rolls after placing, replace it on the same spot

That “once only” line is the one to remember. Preferred lies are not a licence to keep re-placing the ball until it sits perfectly.

When are winter rules in effect?

Only when your Committee says so. A frost delay or an open course does not switch them on by itself. Look for a notice in the clubhouse, on the first tee, or printed on the winter scorecard, and take them off again as soon as the ground firms up — the R&A guidance is that they should be lifted once conditions improve, not left running out of habit.

If it is genuinely too cold or too wet — standing water, frozen greens, no roll on the ball — preferred lies will not save the round, and most clubs simply close or move to temporary greens. Preferred lies address a muddy lie, not an unplayable course.

Before your first winter round, confirm your bag is legal for the conditions with our guide to how many clubs are allowed in a golf bag — cold-weather golfers sometimes add a club and forget the 14 limit still applies.

How it differs from the other soft-ground rules

Preferred lies are easy to mix up with two other wet-weather rules. They are not the embedded ball rule, which gives free relief only when your ball is actually plugged in its own pitch-mark and applies across the general area, not just the fairway. And they have nothing to do with the sand, where you still cannot ground your club in a bunker regardless of the weather.

New to the game and picking up the rules as you go? Start with golf clubs for beginners, then layer the seasonal rules on top.