Purpose of Rule: Rule 1 introduces these central principles of the game for the player:
Play the course as you find it and play the ball as it lies.
Play by the Rules and in the spirit of the game.
You are responsible for applying your own penalties if you breach a Rule, so that you cannot gain any potential advantage over your opponent in match play or other players in stroke play.
Golf is played in a roundRound: 18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee.Round: 18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee. of 18 (or fewer) holes on a courseCourse: The entire area of play within the edge of any boundaries set by the Committee:(...Continued) by striking a ball with a club.
Each hole starts with a strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...Continued) from the teeing areaTeeing Area: The area the player must play from in starting the hole they are playing.(...Continued) and ends when the ball is holedHoled: When a ball is at rest in the hole after a stroke and the entire ball is below the surface of the putting green.(...Continued) on the putting greenPutting Green: The area on the hole the player is playing that:(...Continued) (or when the Rules otherwise say the hole is completed).
For each strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...Continued), the player:
Plays the courseCourse: The entire area of play within the edge of any boundaries set by the Committee:(...Continued) as they find it, and
Plays the ball as it lies.
But there are exceptions where the Rules allow the player to alter conditions on the courseCourse: The entire area of play within the edge of any boundaries set by the Committee:(...Continued) and require or allow the player to play the ball from a different place than where it lies.
All players are expected to play in the spirit of the game by:
Acting with integrity – for example, by following the Rules, applying all penalties, and being honest in all aspects of play.
Showing consideration to others – for example, by playing at a prompt pace, looking out for the safety of others, and not distracting the play of another player. If a player plays a ball in a direction where there might be a danger of hitting someone, they should immediately shout a warning, such as the traditional warning of “fore”.
Taking good care of the courseCourse: The entire area of play within the edge of any boundaries set by the Committee:(...Continued) – for example, by replacing divots, smoothing bunkersBunker: A specially prepared area of sand, which is often a hollow from which turf or soil was removed.(...Continued), repairing ball-marks, and not causing unnecessary damage to the courseCourse: The entire area of play within the edge of any boundaries set by the Committee:(...Continued).
There is no penalty under the Rules for failing to act in this way, except that the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. may disqualify a player for acting contrary to the spirit of the game if it finds that the player has committed serious misconduct.
“Serious misconduct” is player behaviour that is so far removed from what is expected in golf that the most severe sanction of removing a player from the competition is justified.
Penalties other than disqualification may be imposed for player misconduct only if those penalties are adopted as part of a Code of Conduct under Rule 1.2b.
The CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. may set its own standards of player conduct in a Code of Conduct adopted as a Local Rule.
The Code may include penalties for breach of its standards, such as a one-stroke penalty or the general penaltyGeneral Penalty: Loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play..
The CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. may also disqualify a player for serious misconduct in failing to meet the Code’s standards.
The term “Rules” means:
Rules 1-25 and the definitions in these Rules of Golf, and
Any “Local Rules” the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. adopts for the competition or the courseCourse: The entire area of play within the edge of any boundaries set by the Committee:(...Continued).
Players are also responsible for complying with all “Terms of the Competition” adopted by the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. (such as entry requirements, the form and dates of play, the number of roundsRound: 18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee. and the number and order of holes in a roundRound: 18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee.).
Players are expected to recognize when they have breached a Rule and to be honest in applying their own penalties.
If a player knows that they have breached a Rule that involves a penalty and deliberately fails to apply the penalty, the player is disqualified.
If two or more players agree to ignore any Rule or penalty they know applies and any of those players have started the roundRound: 18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee., they are disqualified (even if they have not yet acted on the agreement).
When it is necessary to decide questions of fact, a player is responsible for considering not only their own knowledge of the facts but also all other information that is reasonably available.
A player may ask for help with the Rules from a refereeReferee: An official named by the Committee to decide questions of fact and apply the Rules.(...Continued) or the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course., but if help is not available in a reasonable time the player must play on and raise the issue with a refereeReferee: An official named by the Committee to decide questions of fact and apply the Rules.(...Continued) or the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. when they become available (see Rule 20.1).
Many Rules require a player to determine a spot, point, line, edge, area or other location under the Rules, such as:
Estimating where a ball last crossed the edge of a penalty areaPenalty Area: An area from which relief with a one-stroke penalty is allowed if the player’s ball comes to rest there.(...Continued),
Estimating or measuring when droppingDrop: To hold the ball and let go of it so that it falls through the air, with the intent for the ball to be in play.(...Continued) or placing a ball in taking relief, or
ReplacingReplace: To place a ball by setting it down by hand and letting it go, with the intent for it to be in play.(...Continued) a ball on its original spot (whether the spot is known or estimated).
Determining the area of the courseAreas of the Course: The five defined areas that make up the course: where the ball lies, including whether the ball lies on the courseCourse: The entire area of play within the edge of any boundaries set by the Committee:(...Continued), or
Determining whether the ball touches or is in or on an abnormal course conditionAbnormal Course Condition: Any of these four defined conditions:.
Such determinations about location need to be made promptly and with care but often cannot be precise.
So long as the player does what can be reasonably expected under the circumstances to make an accurate determination, the player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if, after the strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...Continued) is made, the determination is shown to be wrong by video evidence or other information.
If a player becomes aware of a wrong determination before the strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...Continued) is made, it must be corrected (see Rule 14.5).
A penalty also applies when:
Another person takes an action that would breach the Rules if taken by the player or caddieCaddie: Someone who helps a player during a round, including in these ways:(...Continued) and that person does so at the player’s request or while acting with the player’s authority, or
The player sees another person about to take an action concerning the player’s ball or equipmentEquipment: Anything used, worn, held or carried by the player or the player’s caddie.(...Continued) that they know would breach the Rules if taken by the player or caddieCaddie: Someone who helps a player during a round, including in these ways:(...Continued) and does not take reasonable steps to object or stop it from happening.
One-Stroke Penalty. This penalty applies in both match playMatch Play: A form of play where a player or side plays directly against an opponent or opposing side in a head-to-head match of one or more rounds:(...Continued) and stroke playStroke Play: A form of play where a player or side competes against all other players or sides in the competition.(...Continued) under certain Rules where either (a) the potential advantage from a breach is minor or (b) a player takes penalty relief by playing a ball from a different place than where the original ball lies.
General Penalty (Loss of Hole in Match Play, Two-Stroke Penalty in Stroke Play). This penalty applies for a breach of most Rules, where the potential advantage is more significant than where only one penalty stroke applies.
Disqualification. In both match playMatch Play: A form of play where a player or side plays directly against an opponent or opposing side in a head-to-head match of one or more rounds:(...Continued) and stroke playStroke Play: A form of play where a player or side competes against all other players or sides in the competition.(...Continued), a player may be disqualified from the competition for certain actions or Rule breaches involving serious misconduct (see Rule 1.2) or where the potential advantage is too significant for the player’s score to be considered valid.
Neither a player nor the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. has authority to apply penalties in a different way, and
A wrong application of a penalty or a failure to apply a penalty may stand only if it is too late to correct it (see Rules 20.1b(2), 20.1b(3), 20.2d and 20.2e).
In match playMatch Play: A form of play where a player or side plays directly against an opponent or opposing side in a head-to-head match of one or more rounds:(...Continued), the player and opponentOpponent: The person a player competes against in a match. The term opponent applies only in match play. may agree how to decide a Rules issue so long as they do not agree to ignore any Rule or penalty they know applies (see Rule 20.1b(1)).
For the purpose of applying this Rule, there are two intervening events:
The completion of a strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...Continued), and
Being aware or becoming aware of a breach of a Rule (this includes when a player knows they breached a Rule, when the player is told of a breach, or when the player is uncertain whether or not they have breached a Rule.)
Penalties are applied as follows:
Single Penalty Applied for Multiple Breaches Between Intervening Events: If a player breaches multiple Rules or the same Rule multiple times between intervening events, the player gets only one penalty.
If the Rules breached have different penalties, the player gets only the higher-level penalty.
Multiple Penalties Apply for Breaches Before and After Intervening Event: If a player breaches a Rule and then breaches the same Rule or another Rule after an intervening event, the player gets multiple penalties.
Exception – Failure to Replace a Moved Ball: If a player is required to replace a moved ball under Rule 9.4 but fails to do so and plays from a wrong placeWrong Place: Any place on the course other than where the player is required or allowed to play their ball under the Rules.(...Continued), they get only the general penalty General Penalty: Loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play. under Rule 14.7a.
But any penalty strokes a player gets for taking penalty relief (such as a one-stroke penalty under Rules 17.1, 18.1 and 19.2) are always applied in addition to any other penalties.