If you're planning on playing some real competitive golf, moving forward the rules have changed quite a lot. You should rely on more trustworthy sources than me to get the details about what you're allowed and not allowed to do.

In my experience, knowing the rules will only help you in tournament play...it'll never hurt you.

Casual players shortcut a lot of the rules anyway, so there won't be huge impact for this crowd. That said, even if you're just playing some club golf or money games with your buddies, there are some rules that you should be able to take advantage of come crunch time.

Again, it never hurts to know what's going on.