Rules School

(Effective January 2023) Rule 15 covers when and how the player may take free relief from loose impediments and movable obstructions.

• These movable natural and artificial objects are not treated as part of the challenge of playing the course, and a player is normally allowed to remove them when they interfere with play.
• But the player needs to be careful in moving loose impediments near their ball off the putting green, because there will be a penalty if moving them causes the ball to move.

(Effective January 2023) Rule 14 covers when and how the player may mark the spot of a ball at rest and lift and clean the ball and how to put a ball back into play so that the ball is played from the right place.

• When a lifted or moved ball is to be replaced, the same ball must be set down on its original spot.
• When taking free relief or penalty relief, a substituted ball or the original ball must be dropped in a particular relief area.

A mistake in using these procedures may be corrected without pealty before the ball is played, but the player gets a penalty if they play the ball from the wrong place.

(Effective January 2023) Rule 13 is a specific Rule for putting greens. Putting greens are specially prepared for playing the ball along the ground and there is a flagstick for the hole on each putting green, so certain different Rules apply than for other areas of the course.

(Effective January 2023) Rule 12 is a specific Rule for bunkers, which are specially prepared areas intended to test the player's ability to play a ball from the sand. To make sure the player confronts this challenge, there are some restrictions on touching the sand before the stroke is made and on where relief may be taken for a ball in a bunker.

(Effective January 2023) Rule 11 covers what to do if the player's ball in motion hits a person, animal, equipment or anything else on the course. When this happens accidentally, there is no penalty and the player normally must accept the result, whether favourable or not, and play the ball from where it comes to rest. Rule 11 also restricts a player from deliberately taking actions to affect where any ball in motion might come to rest.

(Effective January 2023) Rule 10 covers how to prepare for and make a stroke, including advice and other help the player may get from others (including caddies). The underlying principle is that golf is a game of skill and personal challenge.

(Effective January 2023) Rule 9 covers a central principle of the game: "play the ball as it lies".

• If the player's ball comes to rest and is then moved by natural forces such as wind or water, the player normally must play it from its new spot.
• If a ball at rest is lifted or moved by anyone or any outside influence before the stroke is made, the ball must be replaced on its original spot.
• Players should take care when near any ball at rest, and a player who causes their own ball or an opponent's ball to move will normally geta a penalty (except on the putting green).

(Effective January 2023) Rule 8 covers a central principle of the game: "play the course as you find it". When the player's ball comes to rest, they normally have to accept the conditions affecting the stroke and not improve them before playing the ball. However, a player may take certain reasonable actions even if they improve those conditions, and there are limited circumstances where conditions may be restored without penalty after they have been improved or worsened.

(Effective January 2023) Rule 7 allows the player to take reasonable actions to fairly search for their ball in play after each stroke.

• But the player still must be careful, as a penalty will apply if the player acts excessively and causes improvement to the conditions affecting their next stroke.
• The player gets no penalty if the ball is accidentally moved in trying to find or identify it, but must then replace the ball on its original spot.

(Effective January 2023) Rule 6 covers how to play a hole - such as the specific Rules for teeing off to start a hole, the requirement to use the same ball for an entire hole except when substitution is allowed, the order of play (which matters more in match play than stroke play) and completing a hole.