Golf Rules and How To Use them Wisely

Golf is riddled with golf rules on every conceivable situation.

How do you remember them all ?

Many, you may think are petty and unnecessary, but study them carefully and you will discover there are many opportunities to use them wisely, and to your advantage.

Here are just a small selection of the golf rules which you will find extremely helpful in reducing your scores.

If It Moves...

If your ball moves after you have addressed it, but settles back into it's original position, you do not have to take a penalty stroke.

Moveable Obstructions...

Outside a water hazard, moveable obstructions, (artificial objects such as tin cans, sweet papers, cigarette packets etc), can be taken away if your ball lies on them or in them. Also if they interfere with your stance.

If the ball moves, it is nice to know that the golf rules allow it to be replaced without penalty.

If the ball has to be lifted in order to discard the item, it can be cleaned, then dropped. If on the green it is marked and replaced.

Moveable objects can also be moved, if they are on the intended line. (Tiger Woods had 6 men shift a boulder that was deemed a moveable !).

A rake is probably what you will come across most often.

If the ball is against the rake, rule 24 allows you to move the rake without penalty. If the ball moves it must be replaced in the original position.

A good idea is to mark the spot with a tee peg to avoid disputes.

Immoveable Obstructions...

Ball washers, sprinklers, parked tractors, and fixed tee markers are all common examples of immoveable obstructions.

The rules say you must take relief, which means the immoveable obstruction must not affect the ball's lie or your stance, without penalty.

Make sure you are allowed a drop.

There are 3 situations where you are not allowed a free drop:-

1.You have take an abnormal stance for the immoveable obstruction to affect you.

2. You can't take a swing because something else other than the immoveable obstruction is affecting you.

3. The immoveable obstruction is on your line of your shot. It has to affect ball lie or stance.

The easist way to deal with this problem is to mark the nearest point of relief with a tee peg. Measure 1 club length. Mark that position with a tee peg.

So now it is a simple question of dropping the ball. keep both the tees in the ground as you drop. Then you can check whether the ball rolls nearer the hole.

Provisional Ball

If you have to play a provisional ball, because you think the original maybe lost or out of bounds,you must clearly say so to your playing partner. If you do not then the second ball becomes the ball in play.

However, you can play this provisional ball until it passes the point where the original ball was deemed lost or out of bounds.

Then and onlt then do you have to make a decision about your original ball.

Cleaning Your Ball

If you lift your ball at any time under the rules in order to obtain relief, you may clean your ball before it is dropped or replaced.

More To Follow In The Next Few Weeks

Once you have studied these golf rules now you can apply them on the golf course. However it is useful also, to have a sound golf game.

Return to Top of Golf Rules Page

Return to Home Page