Lateral relief is the third and final way the Rules have for a player to take penalty relief, and it may actually be the most well-known. Lateral relief is only available for red penalty area relief and unplayable ball relief.

To take lateral relief, all you need to do is drop a ball within two club-lengths of the applicable reference point, no nearer the hole. All of the area within the two club-lengths is eligible, but just like with back-on-the-line relief if there are multiple areas of the course within the two club-lengths the ball will have to stay in the same area that it first touches when dropped.