A Quick Guide to the Rules of Golf

This guide provides a simple explanation of common Rules situations. It is not a substitute for the Rules of Golf, which should be consulted whenever any doubt arises. For more information on the points covered, please refer to the relevant Rule.

The game of golf should be played in the correct spirit and in accordance with the Etiquette Section in the Rules of Golf. In particular:

show consideration to other players,
play at a good pace and be ready to invite faster moving groups to play through, and
take care of the course by smoothing bunkers, replacing divots and repairing ball marks on the greens.

Before starting your round you are advised to:

read the Local Rules on the score card and the notice board
put an identification mark on your ball; many golfers play the same brand of ball and if you can’t identify your ball, it is considered lost.
count your clubs; you are allowed a maximum of 14 clubs. During the round:
don’t ask for advice from anyone except your caddie, your partner (i.e. a player on your side) or your partner’s caddie; don’t give advice to any player except your partner; you may ask for or provide information on the Rules, distances and the position of hazards, the flagstick, etc.
don’t play any practice shots during play of a hole.

At the end of your round:

in match play, ensure the result of the match is posted
in stroke play, ensure that your score card is completed properly and signed by you and your marker, and return it to the Committee as soon as possible.

Tee Shot

You may change your ball before playing your tee shot, but it is good practice to advise a player in your group if you are changing your ball. Play your tee shot from between, and not in front of, the teemarkers. You may play your tee shot from up to two club-lengths behind the front line of the tee-markers.

If you play your tee shot from outside this area:

in match play there is no penalty, but your opponent may require you to replay your stroke provided he does so immediately;
in stroke play you incur a two-stroke penalty, the stroke itself does not count and you must play a ball from within the correct area.

Playing the Ball

If you think a ball is yours but cannot see your identification mark, after notifying your marker or opponent, you may mark the position of the ball and lift it to identify it. When lifted under this Rule, the ball may not be cleaned except to the extent necessary to identify it. Play the ball as it lies. Don’t improve your lie, the area of your intended stance or swing, or your line of play by:

moving, bending or breaking anything fixed or growing, except in fairly taking your stance or making your swing, or
pressing anything down.

If your ball is in a bunker or a water hazard, don’t;

touch the ground (or the water in a water hazard) with your hand or club before your downswing, or
move loose impediments.

If you play a wrong ball (i.e. stray ball or ball being used by another player):

in match play you lose the hole
in stroke play you incur a two-stroke penalty, the strokes made with the wrong ball do not count and you must correct the mistake by playing the correct ball.

On the Putting Green

On the putting green, you may:

mark, lift and clean your ball (always replace it on the same spot), and
repair ball marks and old hole plugs, but not any other damage, such as spike marks.

When making a stroke on the putting green, you should ensure that the flagstick is removed or attended. The flagstick may also be removed or attended when the ball lies off the putting green.

Ball at Rest Moved

Generally, when your ball is in play, if you accidentally cause it to move, or you lift it when not permitted, add a penalty stroke and replace your ball.

If someone other than you, your caddie, your partner or your partner’s caddie moves your ball at rest, or it is moved by another ball, replace your ball without penalty.

If a ball at rest is moved by wind or it moves of its own accord, play the ball as it lies without penalty.

Ball in Motion Deflected or Stopped

If your ball in motion is deflected or stopped by you, your caddie, your partner, or your partner’s caddie, or by equipment belonging to you or your partner, you incur a penalty of one stroke and play the ball as it lies.

If your ball in motion is deflected or stopped by another ball at rest, there is normally no penalty and the ball is played as it lies. However, in stroke play only, if both balls lay on the putting green before you made your stroke, you incur a two-stroke penalty.

Lifting, Dropping and Placing the Ball

Prior to lifting a ball that has to be replaced (e.g. when you lift your ball on the putting green to clean it), the position of the ball must be marked.

When your ball is being lifted in order to drop or place it in another position (e.g. dropping within two club-lengths under the unplayable ball Rule), it is not mandatory to mark its position although it is recommended that you do so.

When dropping, stand erect, hold the ball at shoulder height and arm’s length and drop it. Common situations where a dropped ball must be re-dropped include when it:

rolls to a position where there is interference from the same condition from which free relief is being taken (e.g. an immovable obstruction)
comes to rest more than two club-lengths from where it was dropped, or
comes to rest nearer the hole than its original position, the nearest point of relief or where the ball last crossed the margin of a water hazard.

If a ball dropped for a second time rolls into any of these positions, you place it where it first struck the course when re-dropped.

Ball Assisting or Interfering with Play

You may:

lift your ball or have any other ball lifted if you think the ball might assist another player, or
have any ball lifted if it might interfere with your play.

You must not agree to leave a ball in position in order to assist another player. A ball that is lifted because it is assisting or interfering with play must not be cleaned, except when it is lifted from the putting green.

Loose Impediments

You may move a loose impediment (i.e. natural loose objects such as stones, detached leaves and twigs) unless the loose impediment and your ball are in the same hazard (i.e. bunker or water hazard). If you remove a loose impediment and this causes your ball to move, the ball must be replaced and (unless your ball was on the putting green) you incur a one-stroke penalty.

Movable Obstructions

Movable obstructions (i.e. artificial movable objects such as rakes, bottles, etc.) located anywhere may be moved without penalty.

If your ball moves as a result, it must be replaced without penalty. If your ball is in or on a movable obstruction, the ball may be lifted, the obstruction removed and the ball dropped, without penalty, on the spot directly under where the ball lay on the obstruction, except that on the putting green, the ball is placed on that spot.

Immovable Obstructions and Abnormal Ground Conditions

An immovable obstruction is an artificial object on the course that cannot be moved (e.g. a building) or cannot readily be moved (e.g. a firmly embedded direction post). Objects defining out of bounds are not treated as obstructions.

An abnormal ground condition is casual water, ground under repair or a hole or the cast from a hole made by a burrowing animal, a reptile or a bird.

Except when your ball is in a water hazard, relief without penalty is available from immovable obstructions and abnormal ground conditions when the condition physically interferes with the lie of the ball, your stance or your swing. You may lift the ball and drop it within one clublength of the nearest point of relief (see Definition of “Nearest Point of Relief”), but not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief (see diagram below). If the ball is on the putting green, you place it at the nearest point of relief, which may be off the putting green.

There is no relief for intervention on your line of play unless both your ball and the condition are on the putting green.

As an additional option when your ball is in a bunker, you may take relief from the condition by dropping the ball outside and behind the bunker under penalty of one stroke.

The following diagram illustrates the term “nearest point of relief” in the case of a right-handed player.

Water Hazards

If your ball is in a water hazard (yellow stakes and/or lines) you may play it as it lies or, under penalty of one stroke:

play a ball from where your last shot was played, or
drop a ball any distance behind the water hazard keeping a straight line between the hole, the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard and the spot on which the ball is dropped.

If your ball is in a lateral water hazard (red stakes and/or lines), in addition to the options for a ball in a water hazard (see above), under penalty of one stroke, you may drop a ball within two club-lengths of, and not nearer the hole than:

the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard, or
a point on the opposite side of the hazard equidistant to the hole from the point where the ball last crossed the margin.

Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball

Check the Local Rules on the score card to identify the boundaries of the course. These are normally defined by fences, walls, white stakes or white lines.

If your ball is lost outside a water hazard or out of bounds you must play another ball from the spot where the last shot was played, under penalty of one stroke, i.e. stroke and distance.

You are allowed 5 minutes to search for a ball. If it is not found within 5 minutes, it is lost.

If, after playing a shot, you think your ball may be lost outside a water hazard or out of bounds you should play a provisional ball. You must announce that it is a provisional ball and play it before you go forward to search for the original ball.

If the original ball is lost (other than in a water hazard) or out of bounds, you must continue with the provisional ball, under penalty of one stroke. If the original ball is found in bounds within 5 minutes, you must continue play of the hole with it, and must stop playing the provisional ball.

Ball Unplayable

If your ball is in a water hazard and you do not wish to play it as it lies, you must proceed under the water hazard Rule – the unplayable ball Rule does not apply. Elsewhere on the course, if you believe your ball is unplayable, you may, under penalty of one stroke:

play a ball from where your last shot was played, or
drop a ball any distance behind the point where the ball lay keeping a straight line between the hole, the point where the ball lay and the spot on which the ball is dropped, or
drop a ball within two club-lengths of where the ball lay not nearer the hole.

If your ball is in a bunker you may proceed as above, except that if you are dropping back on a line or within two club-lengths, you must drop a ball in the bunker.

Source: R&A Rules Limited and The United States Golf Association, 2015