Golf Game Rules

The Equipment Rule

• Golf Club Limit
  For most Golf Tournaments, a golfer is only allowed a maximum of 14 Golf Clubs. Less than 14 clubs is accepted. You are also not allowed to borrow clubs from other players.


• The Golf Ball
  It is the Golfer's responsibility to identify his own Golf Ball. You may pick it up for identification anytime except in a hazard but it must be replaced to the exact spot where it originally landed. In professional Golf Tournaments, you should only use Golf Balls approved by Tournament Authorities and play it from the tee to the hole unless it is declared unfit to play.


• Damaged Balls
  You may use a new ball if your ball has been damaged, when it acquired a cut, has been cracked or has gone out of shape.

The Game Rules: Playing Golf

• The 18-Holes
  A round of Golf means completing all the 18-holes in the Golf Course. Some Golf Courses may only have nine holes, so each hole is played twice. If you are not in a tournament, you won't need to complete all these 18 holes. Some people may get too tired to finish an 18-hole round, some have other business to attend to. A nine-hole round is ideal for busy people and Golf Beginners, or those who do not intend to spend three to four hours for a single game.


• The Four-Player Limit
  When playing the round in group, a maximum of 4 players per group is allowed. When playing in a group of five, split up and take two different tee times.


• Teeing and Putting
  In Golf, who Tees first on the first hole is usually decided by lot. Once the players hit their shots on or near the green, the ball farthest from the hole is the one that is played first. The person with the lowest score for the Hole plays first on the next hole.


• Play the Golf Ball As it Lies
  This means that you cannot move the Golf Ball so you can have a better shot. In the Green, you are allowed to pick the ball up to clean it, but you have to put it back to where it originally landed. You use a Ball Marker to indicate the location of the Golf ball before it was picked up.


• Ball Marking
  You can only mark your ball when you are on the Green so your ball won't get in the way when someone Putts. It is illegal to do this in the Fringe.
  
  If your marker is in another player's line to the hole, ask if he wants you to move it. If he says yes, ask which direction. Then you move your marker one Clubhead's width from the original mark. After he makes his putt, you replace your ball to where the original mark was. If you forget to move your marker back to its original position, you get a two-stroke penalty.


• The Flagstick
  The Flagstick may be removed, left standing or held up. If you made a shot before the Flagstick removed, it cannot be removed while the ball is in motion.


• Obstructions
  If your ball lands on Natural Obstacles like the trees or large rocks, you will still have to play the ball as it lies. However, for artificial obstructions like a parked truck on the fairway, you are allowed to move your ball out of the way. If your ball rolls behind or under an artificial obstruction, you can pick your ball up and Drop it at the nearest fair ground which should not be closer to the hole.


• Loose Impediments
  When your Ball Lies on loose impediments: the branches, stones or leaves that are scattered around the Golf Course, you can clear your path but the ball must not be moved. If you move the ball as you clear your path, it will cost you a Penalty Stroke.


• Playing the Wrong ball
  When you accidentally play your partner's Golf Ball, you take two penalty strokes. You will also have to get the wrong ball into the hole before you get back to your own. So be sure you know your own ball.

Your Score

• Getting your Score
  Your score is determined by par. Most 18-hole Golf Courses have a par of 72-shots- that is three shots for a par-three hole, four for a par-four, and five for a par-five.


• Handicap
  Handicap in Golf is a system that levels the Golfers with different skill levels. To get your handicap, get your average score for the last 10 Golf rounds you played. Then, subtract it with the even-par of 72(e.g. 87 (your average score) - 72= 15 (your handicap). Handicaps are used in the following situation: A pro has a zero handicap and it took him 72 shots to finish all the 18-holes. You have a handicap of 15 and you made 90 shots to the holes. Subtract your score with your handicap: 90-15= 75. Your score is 75. The pro only won by three points.


• Birdies, Eagle, Bogies
  Birdies and eagles are good results. Hitting a birdie means you finished the hole one stroke below par. An eagle is two strokes below par. A bogey means you hit one stroke above par, a sample for this is taking four strikes in a par-three. When you hit two strokes above par, you have a double-bogey, a triple bogey for three above par, and so on. Golf is a game where the person with the least number in his scorecard wins.

Playing in the Hazard

• Out of Bounds or OB
  Hitting the Golf ball out of bounds is a Penalty Stroke. To determine if your ball hits OB, make an imaginary line between the white stakes. If the line crosses your ball and inbounds, you have an OB.


• Hitting the ball into the Water
  Hitting your ball into the Water Hazard will cause you one Penalty Stroke. If your stake is yellow or your Golf ball is in line with the Tee and the Green, you drop your ball between you and the hole. It is called a Lateral Water Hazard if the stakes are red or your ball is not directly in line between the Tee and the Green, you take the Penalty Shot and drop the ball two club-lengths from that spot. Make sure your drop is not closer to the hole.


• Lost Ball
  A ball is lost when it is not found after five minutes after the player or his caddy started searching for it. In this case, the player has to take Two-Shot Penalty and the player will have to go back to where he/she hit last.


• Unplayable Lie
  An Unplayable Lie is when the ball is in the position where there is no chance of getting the Golf Club on it. This will cost you one Penalty Stroke and you will have to take the next shot two club-lengths from where the ball is. You may also Drop your ball as far back as you want. The other option is to hit the ball on the spot where you hit it last- the one that brought you into this Penalty Stroke.

Winter Rule (unofficial)