Quick Guide to the Rules of Golf with Padraig Harrington – Part 1.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Knowing the rules of golf can save you shots during the round.
In the same way, you go to the range and work on your game, sometimes go to your rule book and study the rules. Better still, get the USGA’s book called “Rules and Decisions” This is a book filled with letters written into the USGA requesting a ruling that happened in live play. It is much easier to learn the rules this way, but it shows the complexity of a game played on different terrains in different weather conditions. Great read.
Here is the first part in a new series, “Do you know the rules,” that I will be posting on a fairly regular basis. These will feature common rules that often arise while playing the game we all love. To compete on a level playing field, we must all adhere to the rules. Our first video is brought to you by Swing by Swing
17 Rules of Golf that every golfer should know – #4 is the most abused!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
As a golf instructor, I help people improve their golf.
One of the sessions I hold at my club once in a while is a rules seminar. To play good golf and score well, you need to know some basic rules for situations that you will come across fairly regularly. If you don’t know the rules, you will get penalized, which will add strokes to your score.
How many times do we see on the PGA and LPGA Tours golfers who make an innocent mistake that costs them dearly? Dustin Johnson in the PGA Championship, Roberto DiVincenzo at the Masters, Craig Stadler kneeling on the towel, and Davis Love accidentally touching his ball on the 17th green at TPC Sawgrass. The list can go on and on. See these basic rules that are a MUST READ! Brought to us by residentialgolflessons.com
The first known written rules of golf were put into writing by the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith, now the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers based at Muirfield, Scotland.
Lots of people play golf yet very few know or understand the rules of golf there are not many but it is worth taking the time to learn the basic rules of golf. Understanding the rules of golf can be a big advantage, the main rules people get wrong are listed below.
1. Red Lateral Hazard.
1 – Play it from the hazard
2 – Replay the shot from the original position, incurring a stroke and distance penalty
3 – Draw a line from the hole to where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard and drop anywhere behind that point keeping the point between you and the hole, incurring a one-shot penalty
4 – Go to the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard and drop within two (2) club lengths, no nearer the hole, on either side of the hazard, incurring a one-shot penalty
2. Yellow Water Hazard.
1 – Play it from the hazard
2 – Replay the shot from the original position, incurring a stroke and distance penalty
3 – Draw a line from the hole to where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard and drop anywhere behind that point keeping the point between you and the hole, incurring a one-shot penalty
3. Lost Ball or Out-of-Bounds.
After looking for a maximum of five (5) minutes, you must go back to where the shot was originally played from and replay, incurring a stroke and distance penalty.
Unplayable Lie
1 – Take two (2) club lengths relief, no closer to the hole and assess a one-stroke penalty
2 – Replay the shot from the original position, incurring a stroke and distance penalty
3 – Take the ball back as far as you want, keeping the point where the ball lays between you and the hole, incurring a one-shot penalty
4. Improving Your Swing Path.
You cannot bend, break, or hack anything growing or fixed if it improves your lie, your stance, or your area of intended swing. The penalty for doing so is loss of hole in Match Play or a two-shot penalty in Stroke Play.
5. Unplayable Lie in a Bunker.
1 – Take a drop of no more than two (2) club lengths no closer to the hole, but still in the bunker, incurring a one-shot penalty
2 – Replay the shot from the original position, incurring a stroke and distance penalty
3 – Go back as far as you like in the bunker and drop, keeping that spot where your ball laid between you and the hole. This incurs a one-shot penalty.
6. Removing Objects in a Bunker.
You may not move or remove any loose impediments in the bunker unless they are foreign to the area. For example, you may remove a candy wrapper, but may not remove a pine cone or tree branch.
7. Number of Allowed Clubs.
You are only allowed to carry 14 clubs in your bag. The penalty for carrying more than 14 clubs in Match Play is loss of hole (maximum of two holes). In Stroke Play, the penalty is two (2) strokes per hole (maximum of two holes/four shots).
17 Rules of Golf that every golfer should know – #4 is the most abused!
I have found reading the Decisions on the Rules of Golf put out by the USGA is an easier way to get familiar with the rules rather than trying to read a rule book.
