The Rules of Golf

Golf is founded on two basic rules that govern all aspects of the game:

Play the ball as it lies: Never move your ball from where it has landed on the golf course.
Play the course as you find it: Never change any aspect of the course to improve your ability to hit the ball. If your ball lands in high grass, you may not try to flatten the grass to expose the ball, for instance.

Exceptions to the Rules

A few situations can arise during a round of golf in which it’s impossible to follow the two basic rules. The most common of these situations are as follows.

Lost Ball

If you hit the ball and then can’t find it, you must replay the ball from the spot where you hit it and add one stroke to your score. For example, if you hit your first shot from the tee and lose it in the rough, you have to hit your next shot from the tee as well. This would be counted as your third shot, despite the fact that you’d only taken two swings.

Unplayable Ball

If your ball lands in a spot that you can’t play from, you may move the ball and incur a penalty of one stroke. It’s always up to you to decide if the ball is playable. When moving the ball, you can’t simply place it wherever you want on the ground. Instead, you must drop it and let it come to a rest before you hit it. You have three options for moving the ball—you can choose whichever gives you the best shot:

You can drop the ball anywhere within two club lengths of the spot where the unplayable ball is resting, as long as you don’t move the ball closer to the cup.
You can drop a new ball behind the spot where the unplayable ball is resting. The new ball can be as far as you like behind the unplayable ball, as long as the unplayable ball is at a point on the line between the new ball and the cup.
You can treat the ball as if it were a lost ball and replay it from the spot where you hit it on your previous shot.

Water Hazards

Water hazards that cut across a hole are marked by yellow stakes. Water hazards parallel to a hole are marked by red stakes.

If a ball enters a water hazard with yellow stakes: You can treat it as a lost ball, or you can take a penalty stroke and drop the ball behind the hazard so that the point at which the ball entered the hazard is between you and the cup.
If a ball enters a water hazard with red stakes: You can treat it as a lost ball, or you can take a penalty stroke and drop the ball within two club lengths of the spot where the ball crossed into the hazard, as long as you don’t move the ball closer to the cup. Alternatively, you can penalize yourself one stroke and drop the ball on the opposite side of the hazard within two club lengths of a point no closer to the hole than the point where the ball originally entered the hazard.

Manmade Objects

If a manmade object affects your ability to play a ball, you don’t get a penalty stroke.

If a ball lands in a location blocked by an immovable manmade object, such as a shed, you can drop the ball within one club length of the nearest spot that gives you a clear swing, as long as it isn’t closer to the cup.
If a ball lands in a location blocked by a movable manmade object, such as a bench, you can move the object in order to be able to hit the ball.

Unfair Conditions

Some conditions that can occur on a golf course are considered unfair. If you face any of these conditions, drop the ball within one club length of the of the nearest spot that provides relief from the obstruction, but don’t move the ball closer to the cup. No penalty applies. Unfair conditions include:

An area of the course that the maintenance staff is attending to (a painted white line usually surrounds these areas)
A hole made by an animal
Casual water (any accumulation of water not designed as part of the course)

The USGA Rules Book

The official rules of golf include additional, less common scenarios and rules. The entire USGA Rules of Golf is available online at www.usga.org/playing/rules/rules.html.

Following the Rules

Golf is one of a few sports without a referee or an umpire. For this reason, golf places a profound emphasis on honesty and fair play. Trying to bend the rules of golf in your favor is seen as an major breach of golf etiquette.

Acknowledgments & Disclaimer