Rules of golf

The Rules of Golf are standardized procedures according to which the game of golf should be played.

A central principle, although not one of the numbered rules, is found on the R&A rule book's cover:

Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either, do what is fair. But to do what is fair, you need to know the Rules of Golf.

A few examples are:

• Every player is entitled and obliged to play the ball from the position where it has come to rest after a stroke, unless a rule allows or demands otherwise (Rule 13-1).
• A player must not accept assistance in making a stroke (Rule 14-2)
• The condition of the ground or other parts of the course may not be altered to gain an advantage, except in some cases defined in the rules
• A ball may only be replaced by another during play of a hole if it is destroyed (Rule 5-3), lost (Rule 27-1), or unplayable (Rule 28), or at some other time permitted by the Rules. The player may always substitute balls between the play of two holes.
• If a ball is in a bunker, the player can play the ball as it lies within the bunker without incurring any penalty strokes. The player can also, under penalty of one stroke, deem the ball unplayable, and drop the ball inside the bunker (Rule 28). The player cannot test the condition of the bunker, nor can he/she touch the ground within the bunker with his/her hand or a club. The penalty for grounding is two strokes in stroke play, or loss of hole in match play (Rule 13-4).
• If a ball is in a water hazard, the player may play the ball as it lies or, under penalty of one stroke, play a ball from where it was originally hit; or, under penalty of one stroke, drop a ball at any point, as far back as the player chooses, on a line that keeps the last point at which the ball entered the hazard between the player, and the hole. (Rule 26-1). If a ball is in a lateral water hazard, in addition to the options for a ball in a water hazard, the player may under penalty of one stroke, drop a ball within two club lengths of the point of entry into the hazard; or, under penalty of one stroke, drop a ball on the opposite side of the hazard no closer to the hole (Rule 26-1).

The Rules of Golf (book)

The Rules of Golf and the Rules of Amateur Status is published every four years by the governing bodies of golf (R&A/USGA) to define how the game is to be played. The Rules have been published jointly in this manner since 1952, although the code was not completely uniform until 2000 (with mostly minor revisions to Appendix I). The Rules Committee of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) has responsibility for upkeep and application of the rules worldwide except in the United States and Mexico, which are the responsibility of the United States Golf Association (USGA).

The term "Rules" can be said to include the following:

• Decisions on the Rules of Golf, a book published every 2 years by the USGA and R&A to clarify questions and queries raised by the Rules.
• Local rules set by the Committee of a golf club, for example to denote the method used to define the boundaries of the course, ball drops, environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs), etc.
• Rules of golf etiquette, covered by the main book, define the proper behaviour of those playing the game.
• Rules often adopted in competitions, for example the prohibition on using automotive transportation during a round and Rules related to Temporary Immovable Obstructions (TIOs).
• Rules governing the size, shape and performance of golf equipment (clubs and balls) as defined by the R&A/USGA (Appendices I and II).
• Rules governing golfers with disabilities who play in accordance with A Modification of the Rules of Golf for Golfers with Disabilities as published by the R&A and USGA.

Note that while the USGA defines its own Handicapping and Course Rating system, the R&A defers this responsibility to each respective national governing body.

The R&A is a private golf club run for the benefit of its members. As such, since 2004 it has passed responsibility of publishing the rules to a private company, R&A Rules Ltd, operating under the stewardship of the R&A.

In 2004, the University of Chicago Press published a plain-language translation of this book. It was entitled The Rules of Golf in Plain English, by the lexicographer Bryan A. Garner and USGA rules official Jeffrey S. Kuhn. The purpose was to make the rules more accessible than the official version, which is pervasively legalistic and opaque.

The current rules booklet, the 31st edition, is valid from 1 January 2008 to the end of 2011. The big change that has come with this edition is a new rule about Club Heads not having too much 'spring' effect. This has led to the publishing of The List of Conforming Driver Heads and The List of Non-Conforming Drivers

External links

• 2008-2011 Rules of Golf (free download)
• Royal and Ancient Golf Club website
• United States Golf Association website