Four situations that allow free relief: (1) animal holes, (2) ground under repair, (3) immovable obstructions, and (4) temporary water.
All 93 official golf terms briefly explained: from teeing area to wrong green.
Four situations that allow free relief: (1) animal holes, (2) ground under repair, (3) immovable obstructions, and (4) temporary water.
Your total score for a round, with each hole capped at net double bogey: the hole's par plus 2 strokes, plus the handicap strokes you receive on that hole via the Stroke Index. The World Handicap System uses this score for your daily result and your Handicap Index (Rule 3.1b of the Rules of Handicapping).
A remark or action meant to influence a player's choice of club, how they make a stroke, or how they play a hole. Public information isn't advice: the Rules, distances, and the location of things like a bunker, a penalty area, or the flagstick.
The strip of closely mown grass right around the putting green, shorter than the rest of the general area but longer than the green itself. Usually called the 'fringe'. It's not an official term from the Rules.
Rule 11 covers a ball in motion that accidentally hits a person, an animal, equipment, or anything else, and deliberate interference with a ball that's still rolling.
Your ball is in play as soon as you hit it from the teeing area. It stays in play until you hole it, unless you lift it, it's lost or out of bounds, or you put another ball into play (even if the Rules didn't allow that).
Your ball at rest has moved if it leaves its spot and comes to rest somewhere else, visible to the naked eye. If it only oscillates and stays or returns to the same spot, it hasn't moved. You only treat your ball as having moved if that's known or virtually certain (Rule 9.2a).
An artificial object, such as a coin, a tee or an actual marker, that you place right behind or beside your ball to mark its spot before lifting it.
One stroke under par on a hole. If you play a par 4 in 3 strokes, that's a birdie.
A score of one stroke over par on a hole.
The slope or curve in the putting green that causes the putt to curve.
A specially prepared area of sand, usually a hollow where grass or soil has been removed.
Rule 12 sets out the special rules for bunkers, including what you may and may not touch in the sand before you play your stroke.
Someone who helps you during your round: they carry or handle your clubs and may give you advice. They can also do anything else the Rules allow, such as holding the flagstick, raking bunkers, and cleaning clubs and balls.
The person or group responsible for the competition or the course. They set the local rules and the terms of the competition and decide on rules questions and questions of fact.
The entire area within which you play, within the boundaries the Committee has set.
The number of strokes you receive on a specific course, calculated from your Handicap Index, the Slope Rating, and the Course Rating of the tee played. Rule of thumb: Course Handicap = Handicap Index × (Slope / 113) + (Course Rating − Par). In practice, you use a course handicap table or a golf app, which rounds to a whole number. Your course handicap determines on which holes, based on the Stroke Index, you get extra strokes toward your net score (Stableford / stroke play with handicap).
A number that shows how difficult a course is for a player with handicap 0, under normal conditions. It's part of the World Handicap System and features in the calculation of your Score Differential: (113 / Slope Rating) × (Adjusted Gross Score − Course Rating − PCC).
An animal that could cause you serious physical injury if you had to play the ball as it lies, such as a venomous snake, stinging bees, alligators, fire ants or bears.
A hole with a clear bend, like a dog's leg, often so sharp that you can't see the green from the tee. It's not an official term in the Rules, but it does shape your strategy.
A controlled ball flight that, for a right-handed player, starts slightly right of the target and curves back left toward it.
An area designated by the Committee where you may or must drop your ball when taking relief. Your ball must be dropped in the dropping zone and also come to rest there.
A score of two strokes under par on a hole.
Your ball is in its own pitch mark from your previous stroke, with part of the ball below ground level.
A controlled ball flight that curves slightly from left to right for a right-handed player.
Traditional warning shout used when your ball might endanger other players.
Rule 23: two partners each play their own ball and form one side together. On each hole, the better of the two scores counts.
Rule 22: two partners form one side, play one ball together, and take turns hitting it. Player A tees off, player B plays the second stroke, player A the third, and so on until the ball is in the hole.
The area of the course that covers the whole course except the four specific areas: the teeing area of the hole being played, all penalty areas, all bunkers, and the putting green of the hole being played.
Loss of hole in match play, or two penalty strokes in stroke play.
Green in Regulation: you're on the green in par minus two strokes. So in 1 stroke on a par 3, in 2 strokes on a par 4, and in 3 strokes on a par 5.
Ground under repair (GUR) is an abnormal course condition: any part of the course marked as such by the Committee, holes made by the Committee or maintenance staff, and piles of cut grass, leaves or sand still to be removed. You may take free relief (Rule 16.1).
The endpoint on the putting green where you must play the ball into. The hole has a diameter of 108 mm (4.25 inches) and is at least 101.6 mm (4 inches) deep.
The total number of strokes (including penalty strokes) a player needs to complete the hole.
A ball flight where the ball curves strongly from right to left (for a right-handed player). A smaller, more controlled hook is called a draw.
An artificial object on the course that you can't move, such as a sprinkler head, a paved path, a shelter or a tree support. If your ball lies on or in it, or it interferes with your stance or swing, you may take free relief (Rule 16.1).
The spot where your ball rests, plus everything the ball touches or is right next to: growing grass, an immovable obstruction, a boundary object or an integral object.
The line along which you want your ball to travel after your stroke, plus a reasonable margin to the side and in height. This line doesn't have to be straight.
The angle of the clubface in relation to the shaft.
Any natural object that isn't fixed: stones, loose grass, leaves, twigs, dead animals and droppings, and worms and insects along with the mounds and webs they make. Objects that are attached, growing, solidly embedded, or stuck to your ball don't count as loose. Sand, loose soil, dew, and frost don't count either. You may treat snow and natural ice on the ground as either a loose impediment or temporary water, your choice.
A natural object that isn't attached, such as leaves, twigs, stones, pinecones or dead insects. You may remove them anywhere without penalty (Rule 15.1a). If your ball moves as a result outside the putting green or teeing area, you replace it and get one penalty stroke (Rule 15.1b). On the putting green and in the teeing area, this is free of penalty.
The person who records and confirms your score for each hole. Often a fellow competitor, but never your partner. The Committee can also appoint someone else.
Indicating the spot of your ball at rest before you pick it up: placing a ball-marker right behind or beside the ball, or holding your club there on the ground.
A form of play where you compete hole by hole against an opponent or opposing side. Whoever plays a hole in fewer strokes wins that hole. You win the match as soon as you're more holes up than there are holes left to play.
Rule 25 provides modifications to certain Rules of Golf so that players with a specific disability can play fairly against players with or without disabilities.
An artificial object you can move without much effort, such as a rake, a sign or a can. You may remove it anywhere without penalty, including in a bunker (Rule 15.2).
An informal do-over after a bad stroke, not allowed in official golf.
The reference point for taking free relief from an abnormal course condition (Rule 16.1), a dangerous animal (Rule 16.2), a wrong green (Rule 13.1f) or a no play zone. It's the estimated point nearest to your ball's original spot, not nearer the hole, in the correct area of the course, where the condition no longer interferes with your lie, stance or swing.
The estimated point closest to your ball's original spot, not nearer the hole, where the condition no longer interferes with your lie, stance, and swing.
An obstruction is any artificial object on or next to the course, except boundary objects and integral objects. There are two types: a movable obstruction, which you can move and remove, and an immovable obstruction, from which you may take free relief (Rule 16.1).
Rule 21 describes four forms of play: Stableford, maximum score, and par/bogey (variations of stroke play usually played individually), and three-ball match play, where three players each play one ball and play two matches at once against the other two. Four-ball falls under Rule 23, not Rule 21.
An automatic adjustment from -1 to +3 that the World Handicap System applies when conditions on a given day clearly differ from normal, for example due to wind or rain. It's calculated from all rounds played on the course that day, so you never estimate it yourself. In the Score Differential formula: (113 / Slope Rating) × (Adjusted Gross Score − Course Rating − PCC).
Any body of water on the course is a penalty area, even if it isn't marked. The Committee can also designate other areas, such as woods, rocks or desert. Markings are yellow or red. If your ball is in one, you may play it as it lies or take relief with one penalty stroke (Rule 17).
A penalty area is a body of water on the course, or another area the committee has designated as such, marked with yellow or red stakes or lines. If your ball is in it, you play it as it lies or take relief with a penalty stroke. Rule 17 gives the options.
Damage on the putting green where your ball has landed.
Rule 9 describes the fundamental principle of "play the ball as it lies" and what to do when a ball at rest is lifted or moves.
Rule 4 sets out which equipment you may use during your round. Your clubs, balls and other gear must conform to the rules, and you may carry a maximum of 14 clubs. Golf tests your skill, not your equipment.
Rule 6 describes how you play a hole, from the tee shot to holing out, including the order of play.
One of the fundamental principles of golf: you play the course as you find it. This mainly means:
Rule 5 describes how a round is played, including rules about practicing, starting on time, pace of play, and stopping play.
Rule 10 covers how you make a stroke, what advice and help you may ask for and give, and what your caddie may do for you.
Rule 14 describes what to do when you touch or move your ball.
An extra ball you play if your original ball may be lost outside a penalty area or out of bounds. This way you don't have to walk back. You must announce beforehand that it's a provisional ball (Rule 18.3).
The area of the hole you're playing that's specially prepared for putting, or that the committee has designated as such. Your ball is on the green as soon as any part of it touches the green.
The very closely mown part of the hole where the hole itself is located and where you play with your putter. Because the putting green is vulnerable, special rules apply, for example about marking and cleaning your ball and repairing damage (Rule 13).
Playing as soon as you're ready instead of waiting for your turn. In stroke play, this is recommended to keep up the pace of play, as long as you do it safely (Rule 6.4b).
An official appointed by the Committee to determine facts and apply the rules. You must abide by their decision. The Committee can still correct a wrong decision as long as the competition isn't closed (Rule 20.2).
Rule 15 explains when you may remove loose impediments (leaves, twigs, stones) and movable obstructions (a rake, a towel, a bottle, a golf bag) without penalty. These aren't part of the challenge of playing the course.
Rule 20 explains what to do if you're in doubt about a rule during your round. In stroke play, you may play two balls and have it decided later. A referee or the Committee makes the ruling.
18 holes or fewer, played in the order the Committee has set.
The value that updates your Handicap Index after every qualifying round. Formula: (113 / Slope Rating) × (Adjusted Gross Score − Course Rating − PCC). The Adjusted Gross Score is your score capped per hole at net double bogey (Rule 3.1b of the Rules of Handicapping).
The form on which your score per hole is recorded in stroke play. Both you and your marker must sign it.
Rule 7 lets you search for your ball using reasonable actions. If you go too far and improve your conditions in the process, you get a penalty. If you accidentally move your ball while searching, that's free of penalty: just replace it (Rule 7.4).
Stroke play only: you play from a wrong place and that could give you a significant advantage over playing from the right place. You must correct the mistake by finishing the hole with a ball played from the right place, or you're disqualified (Rule 14.7b).
A ball that curves sharply off your target line due to sidespin: left to right for a right-handed player, right to left for a left-handed player.
A number between 55 and 155 that shows how much harder a course plays for an average golfer than for a top player. The higher the number, the more handicap strokes you receive. Course Rating measures the difficulty for the top player, Slope Rating how quickly that difficulty rises for everyone else.
A points system per hole based on your net score, including your handicap strokes. Net double bogey or worse = 0 points, bogey = 1, par = 2, birdie = 3, eagle = 4, albatross = 5. Most points wins.
The position of a player's feet and body in preparation for and while making a stroke.
Any forward movement of your club made to hit the ball. A whiff counts too. If you deliberately stop your swing before reaching the ball, it doesn't count.
Rule 18 applies when your ball is lost or out of bounds. You add one penalty stroke and play again from the spot of your previous stroke: stroke and distance. To avoid walking back, you may first play a provisional ball, under the conditions of Rule 18.3.
The Stroke Index (SI) is a numbering from 1 to 18 on the scorecard that determines on which holes a player receives their handicap strokes. The Committee sets this index and uses it to apply handicap strokes on a hole-by-hole basis. For Stableford competitions, this is essential for calculating the points per hole.
The type of play where you count the total number of strokes over the whole round. The lowest score wins.
Rule 16 covers free relief from abnormal course conditions: animal holes, ground under repair, immovable obstructions and temporary water. It also covers a dangerous animal condition, and an embedded ball in the general area (your ball is in its own pitch mark, partly below ground level).
Competitions where players or sides play as a team and their results combine into a team score. Rule 24 governs how the Rules of Golf apply.
The place where you start playing a hole. It's a rectangular area two club-lengths deep, with the front and sides defined by the two tee-markers. You can tee off up to two club-lengths behind the markers, as long as you stay between them, not in front.
Water standing on the ground that isn't a penalty area, for example a puddle after rain or irrigation. It counts if you can see it before or after taking your stance, without pressing down extra hard. You may take free relief from it (Rule 16.1).
Rule 3 covers the three basic elements of every competition: match play or stroke play, playing alone or with a partner, and gross or net scores.
The entire area where you play golf, within the boundaries the Committee sets, for example with lines, stakes or natural objects. The course consists of five areas: the general area (fairway and rough), the teeing area, the penalty areas, the bunkers and the putting green.
Rule 1 sets out the fundamental principles of the game: play the course as you find it, play the ball as it lies, and play by the Rules and in the spirit of the game.
You're the only one who decides whether your ball is unplayable. You can do this anywhere on the course except in a penalty area. Rule 19 then gives you three options, each with one penalty stroke. If your ball is in a bunker, there's an extra option with two penalty strokes to drop outside the bunker.
Any ball other than your ball in play. For example another player's ball, a stray ball, your own ball that's out of bounds or lost, or a provisional ball you've abandoned (Rule 18.3c(3)). If you play a wrong ball, you get the general penalty and must correct the mistake (Rule 6.3c).
Any green on the course other than the one for the hole you're playing. Practice greens count too, as does a green the Committee has designated as a wrong green, for example with a temporary green. A wrong green is part of the general area. If your ball lies on it, you must take free relief (Rule 13.1f).
A spot where the rules didn't allow you to play your ball from. For example, after dropping incorrectly, playing outside your relief area, or replacing your ball at the wrong spot. Playing from a wrong place costs the general penalty (Rule 14.7).
