Section 5: Rules of Play
Playing the Round (Rule 5)
Rule 5.1: A round consists of playing the holes of the course in the correct order, unless the Committee allows or requires another order. A round consists of 18 holes unless a shorter number is set by the Committee. Rule 5.2 prohibits practice on the course before a stroke play round on that day (except on a separate practice area), though practice between rounds or before/during a match play round is generally permitted unless the Committee prohibits it.
Playing a Hole (Rule 6)
Rule 6.1: A hole starts when the player makes a stroke at a ball in the teeing area. Rule 6.3a: The player's ball must be teed up on or between the tee-markers, within the rectangular teeing area. The ball may be teed on a tee-peg, or may be placed on the ground. Rule 6.3b: If a ball falls off a tee or is knocked off by the player before making a stroke, it may be re-teed without penalty.
Rule 6.4: Players must play in correct order (farthest from hole first in stroke play, by agreement or lot in match play). Under Rule 6.4b(2), the player who wins the previous hole has the honor on the next teeing area in match play.
Ball Search (Rule 7)
Rule 7.1 allows the player to take reasonable actions to find and identify their ball, including moving sand in a bunker or water in a penalty area, moving or bending vegetation, and probing the ground. If the player accidentally moves their ball during search, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced (Rule 7.4).
Lost Ball: A ball is lost if it is not found within three minutes after the player (or their caddie) begins searching for it (Rule 18.2a). The three-minute rule was reduced from five minutes in 2019.
Playing the Ball as It Lies (Rules 8 and 9)
Rule 8.1 prohibits improving the conditions affecting the stroke, including the lie of the ball, area of intended stance, area of intended swing, line of play, or relief area — by moving, bending, or breaking anything growing or fixed; by removing or pressing down divots; by creating a foothold; or by moving sand. Exceptions include fairly taking a stance, making a stroke, removing loose impediments, and repairing damage on the putting green (Rule 13.1c).
Rule 9.2: If it is known or virtually certain that a player, opponent, or outside influence moved a ball at rest, the ball must be replaced to its original spot. If the original spot is not known, the ball must be replaced on the estimated original spot (Rule 14.2). If not known or virtually certain who moved the ball, there is no penalty and the ball is played from where it lies.
Making a Stroke (Rule 10.1)
Rule 10.1a: A stroke is made by fairly striking the ball with the head of the club. A player must not push, scrape, or scoop the ball. Rule 10.1b: The player must not make a stroke from a stance astride or touching the line of play (with limited exceptions for putts). Rule 10.1c: The player must not anchor the club, directly or by use of an anchor point, when making a stroke (the anchoring prohibition was introduced in 2016 and retained in 2019). Rule 10.1d: The player must not make a stroke at a moving ball, with exceptions (e.g., ball falling off tee, ball in water moving in current).
Lifting, Marking, Replacing, Dropping, and Placing (Rule 14)
Rule 14.1: Before lifting a ball, the player must mark its spot with a ball-marker or a small object (a coin, for example) placed directly behind or next to the ball. Failure to mark before lifting results in a one-stroke penalty. Rule 14.2: A ball must be replaced on its original spot by placing it by hand; it must not be dropped onto the spot. Rule 14.3: When dropping in a relief area, the ball must be dropped from knee height (changed from shoulder height in 2019) and must come to rest in the defined relief area. If it does not, the player must re-drop once; if the second drop also fails, the ball is placed at the spot where it first touched the ground on the second drop.
Relief Procedures
Stroke-and-Distance Relief (Rule 18.1): Always available as an option: the player takes a penalty of one stroke and returns to where the previous stroke was made. This applies for lost balls, out-of-bounds balls, and unplayable balls.
Lateral Relief from Penalty Areas (Rule 17.1d): For red penalty areas only, the player may drop within two club-lengths of the point where the ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area, no nearer the hole, for one penalty stroke.
Unplayable Ball (Rule 19): At any place except a penalty area, a player may declare their ball unplayable for one penalty stroke and take one of three options: (1) stroke-and-distance; (2) back-on-the-line relief, going back as far as desired on a line from the hole through the ball spot; or (3) lateral relief within two club-lengths of the ball spot, no nearer the hole. In a bunker, options (2) and (3) must keep the ball in the bunker, or the player may take back-on-the-line relief outside the bunker for two penalty strokes.
Flagstick (Rule 13.2)
Under Rule 13.2a (effective 2019), there is no penalty if a ball played from anywhere on the course hits the unattended flagstick in the hole. Prior to 2019, a ball played from the putting green that hit the flagstick in the hole incurred a two-stroke penalty. Players may have the flagstick attended, removed, or left in the hole before making a stroke.