Know The Rules

Know The Rules

USGA RULES

Golf Etiquette

No one wants to Play a 5 hour Round of Golf

Pace of Play:

A good pace of play is an important element in having a good experience at the golf course. It's often a combination of little things not done that wind up contributing to slow play and on-course traffic jams. Here are some tips for making sure your pace of play is as brisk as it should be. Remember: pace of play isn't about rushing your shots, it's about being ready to take your shot when it's your turn, and behaving efficiently on the course.

Heres How:

Each member of a foursome (or any group) should proceed directly to his or her ball. The group should not travel as a pack, going to first to one ball, then the next, and so on.
While walking (or riding) to your ball, use the travel time to begin thinkng over your next shot-the yardage, which club you'll use, and so on. Begin preparing before you get to your ball.
If sharing a cart, don't drive to the first ball, wait for the first player to hit, then head to the second ball. Drop the first player off at his ball, drive on ahead to the second ball. The first player should walk over to the cart as the second player is playing his shot.
When using a cart on a cart-path-only day, be sure to take a couple of clubs with you when you walk from the cart to the ball. This way, you won't have to return to the cart if you discover that you didn't bring the appropriate club.
Carry a few extras tees, ball markers and a spare ball in your pockets so you don't have to return to your golf bag to retrieve them, should you find yourself in need of one.
When you think your shot may have landed out of bounds or be lost, immediately hit a provisional ball. Don't walk (drive) ahead to search, only to have to return to the original spot to replay shot.
Limit your search time for lost ball.
Never hold up play because you're in the middle of a conversation. Put the conversation on hold, take your shot, then continue the conversation.
On the green, begin lining up your putt and reading the break as soon as you reach the green. When it's your turn to putt, be prepared to step right up and take the stroke.
Never stand on or next to the green after holing out in order to write down your score. Write it down when you reach the next tee.
If all else fails, try playing "ready golf", which simply means that order of play is based on who's ready, not who's away.

Safety:

Make certain the area ahead of you is clear before hitting your ball. If there is any doubt that your ball may strike another player, wait for that player to move beyond the area where your ball could possible strike him. If you errantly hit a ball toward other players, please yell “fore” as soon as possible in order to allow the players to take cover.

Courtesy:

Be on time for your starting time.
After playing a ball from a bunker, please rake it so as to leave the bunker in at least as good condition as when you arrived at it. After leaving the bunker, clean your shoes (by tapping the sole with a club or by other means) so as not to track sand onto the putting green.
Repair your ball marks and any other you encounter on the putting green. Remember, even short pitch shots leave marks, especially when the greens are soft.
Be careful not to walk on another player’s line of putt. Further, when attending the flagstick or otherwise walking near the hole, be careful not to step close to or on the hole. First person in the hole gets the flag.
Place the flagsticks onto the putting greens. Dropping or throwing the flagstick leaves marks and grooves which may cause problems for players in following groups
Do not remove your ball from the hole with your putter or other club. This often causes damage to the hole.
Repair your divots in the fairway.

Match Play

In match play, each hole is a separate competition. The player with the fewest strokes on an individual hole wins that hole; the player winning the most holes wins the match. The stroke total for 18 holes simply doesn't matter in match play⁽¹⁾. Match play matches do not have to go the full 18 holes. They often do, but just as frequently one player will achieve an insurmountable lead and the match will end early. If you win or lose your match before the 18th hole, you should play out the remaining holes in keeping with the integrity of the game.
Someone unfamiliar with match play scoring might be confused to see a score of "1-up" or "4 and 3" for a match. The first number in such a score tells you the number of holes by which the winner is victorious, and the second number tells you the number of holes remaining in the match when the match was won. So a score of "4&3" means the victor won the match 4 holes up, and the match ended with 3 holes remaining.
In match play, a putt, or an entire hole for that matter, can be conceded. Once a player concedes a putt or a hole, they cannot retract the concession. Putts are often conceded when your opponent hits their ball within a short distance from the hole. Holes are normally conceeded when the hole is already lost. Concessions help to speed up pace of play. Conceded putts should only be offered, they should never be requested.
There are several scenarios in match play where a transgression might result in your opponent canceling your shot and requiring you to replay it:
- Playing out of turn: In stroke play, order of play is a matter of etiquette. If you hit out of turn, it's a breach of etiquette, but there is no penalty. In match play, if you hit out of turn your opponent can require you to replay the shot in the proper order.
- Hitting from outside the teeing ground: In stroke play, teeing off from outside the teeing ground (the teeing ground is between the tee markers and up to two club lengths behind the tee markers) results in a 2-stroke penalty. In match play, there is no stroke penalty, but your opponent can cancel your shot and require you to replay it.
- Hitting an opponent: In stroke play, if your ball hits a fellow-competitor or his equipment (if it is accidently stopped or deflected by same), it's rub of the green. In match play, you have the option to replay the shot.
- Hitting a ball at rest on the green: In stroke play, if your putt strikes another ball on the green, you get a 2-stroke penalty. In match play, there is no penalty.

⁽¹⁾Whereas your 18 hole stroke total does not come into play regarding your match play match, you still post your total stroke count for both your handicap and for event prizes.

Unplayable Ball

The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course, except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable.

If the player deems his ball to be unplayable, he must, under penalty of one stroke:

a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or

b. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or

c. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.

If the unplayable ball is in a bunker, the player may proceed under Clause a, b or c. If he elects to proceed under Clause b or c, a ball must be dropped in the bunker.

When proceeding under this Rule, the player may lift and clean his ball or substitute a ball.

Penalty for Breach of Rule:
Match play - Loss of hole; Stroke play - Two strokes.

Out Of Bounds/Lost Ball

If a ball is out of bounds, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played.
If a ball is lost as a result of not being found or identified as his by the player within five minutes after the player's Side or his or their caddies have begun to search for it, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played

Exceptions:
1. If it is known or virtually certain that the original ball that has not been found is in an obstruction (Rule 24-3) or is in an abnormal ground condition (Rule 25-1c), the player may proceed under the applicable Rule.

2. If it is known or virtually certain that the original ball that has not been found has been moved by an outside agency (Rule 18-1) or is in a water hazard (Rule 26-1), the player must proceed under the applicable Rule.

PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE 27-1:
Match play - Loss of hole; Stroke play - Two strokes.

27-2. Provisional Ball
a. Procedure

If a ball may be lost outside a water hazard or may be out of bounds, to save time the player may play another ball provisionally in accordance with Rule 27-1. The player must inform his opponent in match play or his marker or a fellow-competitor in stroke play that he intends to play a provisional ball, and he must play it before he or his partner goes forward to search for the original ball.
If he fails to do so and plays another ball, that ball is not a provisional ball and becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 27-1); the original ball is lost.
Note: If a provisional ball played under Rule 27-2a might be lost outside a water hazard or out of bounds, the player may play another provisional ball. If another provisional ball is played, it bears the same relationship to the previous provisional ball as the first provisional ball bears to the original ball.

b. When Provisional Ball Becomes Ball in Play

The player may play a provisional ball until he reaches the place where the original ball is likely to be. If he makes a stroke with the provisional ball from the place where the original ball is likely to be or from a point nearer the hole than that place, the original ball is lost and the provisional ball becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 27-1).
If the original ball is lost outside a water hazard or is out of bounds, the provisional ball becomes the ball in play, under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 27-1).
If it is known or virtually certain that the original ball is in a water hazard, the player must proceed in accordance with Rule 26-1.
Exception: If it is known or virtually certain that the original ball is in an obstruction (Rule 24-3) or an abnormal ground condition (Rule 25-1c), the player may proceed under the applicable Rule.

c. When Provisional Ball to Be Abandoned

If the original ball is neither lost nor out of bounds, the player must abandon the provisional ball and continue playing the original ball. If he makes any further strokes at the provisional ball, he is playing a wrong ball and the provisions of Rule 15-3 apply.
Note: If a player plays a provisional ball under Rule 27-2a, the strokes made after this Rule has been invoked with a provisional ball subsequently abandoned under Rule 27-2c and penalty strokes incurred solely by playing that ball are disregarded.

Water Hazards

It is a question of fact whether a ball lost after having been struck toward a water hazard is lost inside or outside the hazard. In order to treat the ball as lost in the hazard, there must be reasonable evidence that the ball lodged in it. In the absence of such evidence, the ball must be treated as a lost ball and Rule 27 applies.
If a ball is in or is lost in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:
	a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played; or
	b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or
	c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard (Stakes or lines used to define a lateral water hazard must be red. When both stakes and lines are used to define lateral water hazards, the stakes identify the hazard and the lines define the hazard margin.), drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole..
When proceeding under this Rule, the player may lift and clean his ball or substitute a ball.

Substituted Ball/Wrong Ball

15-1. General - A player must hole out with the ball played from the teeing ground unless the ball is lost or out of bounds or the player substitutes another ball, whether or not substitution is permitted (see 15-2). If a player plays a wrong ball, see Rule 15-3.

15-2. Substituted Ball - A player may substitute a ball when proceeding under a Rule that permits the player to play, drop or place another ball in completing the play of a hole. The substituted ball becomes the ball in play.
If a player substitutes a ball when not permitted to do so under the Rules, that substituted ball is not a wrong ball; it becomes the ball in play. If the mistake is not corrected as provided in Rule 20-6 and the player makes a stroke at a wrongly substituted ball, he loses the hole in match play or incurs a penalty of two strokes in stroke play under the applicable Rule and, in stroke play, must play out the hole with the substituted ball.
Exception: If a player incurs a penalty for making a stroke from a wrong place, there is no additional penalty for substituting a ball when not permitted.
(Playing from wrong place - see Rule 20-7.)

15-3. Wrong Ball a. Match Play
If a player makes a stroke at a wrong ball, he loses the hole.
If the wrong ball belongs to another player, its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played.
If the player and opponent exchange balls during the play of a hole, the first to make a stroke at a wrong ball loses the hole; when this cannot be determined, the hole must be played out with the balls exchanged.

Exception: There is no penalty if a player makes a stroke at a wrong ball that is moving in water in a water hazard. Any strokes made at a wrong ball moving in water in a water hazard do not count in the player's score. The player must correct his mistake by playing the correct ball or by proceeding under the Rules.

b. Stroke Play
If a competitor makes a stroke or strokes at a wrong ball, he incurs a penalty of two strokes.
The competitor must correct his mistake by playing the correct ball or by proceeding under the Rules. If he fails to correct his mistake before making a stroke on the next teeing ground or, in the case of the last hole of the round, fails to declare his intention to correct his mistake before leaving the putting green, he is disqualified. Strokes made by a competitor with a wrong ball do not count in his score. If the wrong ball belongs to another competitor, its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played.

Exception: There is no penalty if a competitor makes a stroke at a wrong ball that is moving in water in a water hazard. Any strokes made at a wrong ball moving in water in a water hazard do not count in the competitor's score.
(Lie of ball to be placed or replaced altered - see Rule 20-3b.) (Spot not determinable - see Rule 20-3c.)