Golf
Get round a course of holes in as few strokes as possible, playing the ball as it lies.
Golf is the one major game without a shared playing area. Opponents do not obstruct one another, take the ball away or contest a position: each walks their own route, and the adversary is the course.
Hence the governing principle of the code: play the course as you find it and the ball as it lies. Improving the lie, the stance, the area of intended swing or the line of play is not allowed.
Two games under one name
adds up every stroke of the round. One catastrophic hole spoils the whole result, so the play is cautious.
compares holes one at a time. A hole lost costs exactly one hole however many strokes went into it — which makes risk cheap.
The same stroke is worth different things in the two forms, and the code says so. Play from outside the teeing area, for instance, and in match play the opponent may require the stroke to be cancelled, while in stroke play the general penalty applies.
Fourteen clubs
A rare rule restricting equipment rather than action. A round may be started with fewer and clubs added up to fourteen; a club lost during the round may not be replaced.
Golf Course
Under these rules: Usually eighteen holes.
A round of holes, usually eighteen, each with its own teeing area and green.
The one playing area in sport with no dimensions: every course is its own, and the Rules describe not its geometry but its kinds of ground — teeing area, fairway, bunker, penalty area, green.
Club
Under these rules: No more than fourteen for the round.
A club for striking the ball; no more than fourteen in the bag.
The limit of fourteen is a rare rule that restricts equipment rather than action. Start a round with fewer and you may add up to fourteen; lose one and you may not replace it.
Golf Ball
Under these rules: A hole is finished with the ball it was started with.
A ball that may not be substituted during a hole unless the Rules allow it.
Having started a hole, a player must finish it with the same ball. A ball to be lifted is marked first: without the mark it cannot be put back where it was.
The Rules of Golf: stroke play
The round
A player plays a set round of holes — usually eighteen. A hole begins with a stroke from the teeing area and ends when the ball comes to rest in the hole.
The governing principle
The course is played as found and the ball as it lies. Improving the lie, the stance, the area of intended swing or the line of play is not allowed, except where the Rules of relief expressly permit it.
Clubs
No more than fourteen clubs for the round. Starting with fewer, a player may add up to the limit.
On discovering an excess, the player must take the extra clubs out of play before the next stroke. A club lost during the round may not be replaced.
The ball
Having started a hole, a player must finish it with the same ball unless the Rules allow a substitution. A ball to be lifted is marked first.
Lost ball and out of bounds
A ball lost outside a penalty area, or out of bounds, brings : one penalty stroke and a return to where the previous stroke was made.
To save time, a player may announce a provisional ball in advance.
Relief
A ball is put back into play by a : released from knee height, falling straight down, it must first touch the relief area and then stay in it.
Relief from temporary water, ground under repair, animal holes and immovable obstructions is free. Relief from a penalty area, or for a ball declared unplayable, costs one stroke.
Scoring
The score for a hole is the number of strokes, penalties included. The score for the round is their total.
In stroke play the player must be satisfied that the hole scores are correct and certified by the marker.
Winning
The lowest total wins.
Sources
- The Rules of Golf, effective January 2023 · The R&A Open source
Glossary of terms
- Drop
- How a ball is put back into play when taking relief: dropped from knee height, it must land in the relief area and stay there.
- Match play
- The form in which opponents compare their score on each hole separately. Holes won are counted, not strokes.
- Stroke and distance
- The relief for a lost ball or one out of bounds: one penalty stroke and a return to where the previous stroke was made.
- Stroke play
- The form in which the total number of strokes for the round is counted. The lowest total wins.