For golfers in Australian club stroke-play competitions, based on the 2023 edition of the Rules of Golf (R&A and USGA). Covers penalties, starting times, 14 clubs, relief, lost balls, penalty areas, unplayable balls, unsure rulings, scorecards and suspensions.
The Rules of Golf have two levels of penalty for breaches during play, plus penalty strokes for specific actions:
When a penalty applies: when the breach results from your or your caddie's own actions, from someone acting at your request or authority, or when you see someone about to breach the Rules concerning your ball or equipment and do not take reasonable steps to stop it.
Multiple breaches: breaches between the same two events (completing a stroke, or becoming aware of a breach) get only one penalty, at the higher level if they differ.
Honesty: you must apply the Rules to yourself and apply your own penalties. Deliberately failing to apply a known penalty, or agreeing with others to ignore a Rule or penalty known to apply, means disqualification. (Rules 1.3b and 1.3c)
You must not start a round with more than 14 clubs or have more than 14 during the round. If you start with fewer than 14, you may add clubs up to 14. Parts of a broken club carried at the start do not count.
Stroke-play penalty: the general penalty (two penalty strokes) for each hole where the breach happened, to a maximum of four penalty strokes for the round. It applies at the end of the hole being played when you become aware of the breach, or at the end of the hole just completed if you become aware between holes. In match play, one hole is deducted per breach hole, up to two holes.
Taking clubs out of play: clearly indicate each club you are taking out of play before your next stroke, by telling your marker or another player in your group or by a clear action such as turning it upside down in the bag. Making a stroke with a club taken out of play means disqualification.
Lost or damaged clubs: if you lose a club after starting with 14 (or adding up to 14), you must not replace it. A conforming club damaged during the round, except through abuse, may be repaired or replaced, as long as this does not cause unreasonable delay and you do not borrow a club from another player on the course. (Rule 4.1)
You must start at the starting time set by the Committee, and not before it. The time is exact: 9 am means 9:00:00 am. You must be ready to play at the starting point at that time.
Breaching this Rule normally means disqualification, with three exceptions:
In stroke play the general penalty is two strokes. (Rule 5.3a)
You must not unreasonably delay play, either during a hole or between holes. The penalties escalate:
You should also play at a prompt pace. The Rules recommend making a stroke within about 40 seconds of when you are able to play, and usually faster. The Committee should adopt a Pace of Play Policy. (Rule 5.6)
Dropping (Rule 14.3): drop the ball yourself, from knee height, so it falls straight down without touching you or your equipment before it hits the ground. A ball dropped the wrong way must be dropped again with no penalty, as long as you have not played it. If you play a ball dropped the wrong way, it is one penalty stroke if played from the relief area, or the general penalty if played from outside it or if the ball was placed instead of dropped.
Replacing (Rule 14.2): replace the original ball on its original spot by hand and let go so it stays there. Replacing it the wrong way on the right spot is one penalty stroke. Playing it from the wrong place is the general penalty, as is failing to re-create a lie you altered in sand.
Marking and cleaning (Rule 14.1): before lifting a ball that must be replaced, mark its spot with a ball-marker or a club. Failing to mark, marking incorrectly, or playing with the marker still in place is one penalty stroke. Cleaning a ball when the Rules do not allow it is one penalty stroke.
Wrong place (Rule 14.7a): the general penalty (two strokes in stroke play). Under Rule 14.7b, a serious breach not corrected before the next hole begins means disqualification.
Free relief under Rule 16.1 depends on where your ball is:
General area: drop a ball in a relief area. The reference point is the nearest point of complete relief in the general area. The relief area extends one club-length from that point, must be in the general area, must not be nearer the hole than the reference point, and must give complete relief from the condition.
Bunker:
Putting green: place the ball on the nearest point of complete relief, which must be on the putting green or in the general area. If there is none, use the point of maximum available relief, again on the green or in the general area.
Penalty area: Rule 16.1 does not apply; the only relief is under the penalty area Rule.
Playing from a wrong place in breach of Rule 16.1 is the general penalty.
Lost: a ball is lost if it is not found within three minutes after you or your caddie begin searching. If a ball is found but you are unsure it is yours, you may take reasonable time to identify it, even past three minutes.
Out of bounds: a ball is out of bounds only when all of it is outside the boundary edge of the course. If any part touches or is above in-bounds ground, it is in bounds.
What you do: take stroke-and-distance relief for one penalty stroke, playing a ball from where you made your previous stroke. Once another ball is in play this way, the original must not be played, even if found within the three minutes. The exception is where it is known or virtually certain that an outside influence moved the ball, a person deflected it, or it is in a penalty area; the rules for those situations then apply.
Provisional ball: if your original ball might be lost outside a penalty area or out of bounds, you may play a provisional ball. Before you hit it, announce that it is a provisional (saying "another ball" is not enough). If you do not, the ball you played becomes the ball in play under stroke and distance, with one penalty stroke. If you find the original outside a penalty area within three minutes, you must abandon the provisional and play the original. (Rule 18)
If your ball is in a penalty area, or is known or virtually certain to be there even though you cannot find it, you may take relief for one penalty stroke:
A yellow penalty area therefore gives you two options and a red one gives you three. If you take stroke-and-distance relief, drop a ball and then do not play it, you can take further relief outside the penalty area, making two penalty strokes in total. (Rule 17.1d)
Only you can decide your ball is unplayable, and you can do so anywhere on the course except in a penalty area (there, the only relief is under the penalty area Rule).
General area or putting green (one penalty stroke for each option):
In a bunker:
If help with the Rules is not available within a reasonable time, play on and raise the issue later. In stroke play, if you are unsure of the right procedure while playing a hole, you may play a second ball without penalty:
If you have already made a stroke before deciding to play a second ball, this procedure does not apply: the score with the first ball counts. The Committee then decides the score for the hole, and strokes with the ball that does not count (including its penalty strokes) are ignored. A second ball played this way is not a provisional ball. (Rules 1.3b and 20.1c)
Your marker enters your score for each hole and certifies the hole scores when the round ends. You must then check the scores, raise any issues with the Committee, make sure the marker has certified them, certify the scores yourself and return the card to the Committee promptly.
Wrong scores:
You must also hole out at every hole. If you did not, you must fix it before starting another hole (or, on the last hole, before returning the card), or you are disqualified. (Rules 3.3b and 3.3c)
You must not stop play unless one of these applies:
When there is imminent danger, the Committee declares an immediate suspension, and you must not make another stroke until play resumes. Leaving the course does not by itself count as stopping play.
If you fail to stop when required, the penalty is disqualification, unless the Committee decides the circumstances justified it. (Rule 5.7)