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1The Game, Player Conduct and the Rules
1
The Game, Player Conduct and the Rules
Purpose of Rule:
Rule 1 introduces these central principles of the game for the player:
- Play the course as you find it and play the ball as it lies.
- Play by the Rules and in the spirit of the game.
- You are responsible for applying your own penalties if you breach a Rule, so that you cannot gain any potential advantage over your opponent in match play or other players in stroke play.
1
The Game, Player Conduct and the Rules
1.1
The Game of Golf
Golf is played in a round of 18 (or fewer) holes on a course by striking a ball with a club.
Each hole starts with a stroke from the teeing area and ends when the ball is holed on the putting green (or when the Rules otherwise say the hole is completed).
For each stroke, the player:
- Plays the course as they find it, and
- Plays the ball as it lies.
1.2
Standards of Player Conduct
1.2a
Conduct Expected of All Players
All players are expected to play in the spirit of the game by:
- Acting with integrity – for example, by following the Rules, applying all penalties, and being honest in all aspects of play.
- Showing consideration to others – for example, by playing at a prompt pace, looking out for the safety of others, and not distracting the play of another player. If a player plays a ball in a direction where there might be a danger of hitting someone, they should immediately shout a warning, such as the traditional warning of “fore”.
- Taking good care of the course – for example, by replacing divots, smoothing bunkers, repairing ball-marks, and not causing unnecessary damage to the course.
1.2b
Code of Conduct
The Committee may set its own standards of player conduct in a Code of Conduct adopted as a Local Rule.
- The Code may include penalties for breach of its standards, such as a one-stroke penalty or the general penalty.
- The Committee may also disqualify a player for serious misconduct in failing to meet the Code’s standards.
1.3
Playing by the Rules
1.3a
Meaning of “Rules”; Terms of the Competition
The term “Rules” means:
- Rules 1-25 and the definitions in these Rules of Golf, and
- Any “Local Rules” the Committee adopts for the competition or the course.
1.3b
Applying the Rules
(1) Player Responsibility for Applying the Rules. Players are responsible for applying the Rules to themselves:
- Players are expected to recognize when they have breached a Rule and to be honest in applying their own penalties.
- If a player knows they have breached a Rule that involves a penalty and deliberately fails to apply the penalty, the player is disqualified.
- If two or more players agree to ignore any Rule or penalty they know applies and any of those players have started the round, they are disqualified (even if they have not yet acted on the agreement).
- When it is necessary to decide questions of fact, a player is responsible for considering not only their own knowledge of the facts but also all other information that is reasonably available.
- A player may ask for help with the Rules from a referee or the Committee, but if help is not available in a reasonable time the player must play on and raise the issue with a referee or the Committee when they become available (see Rule 20.1).
- Many Rules require a player to determine a spot, point, line, edge, area or other location under the Rules, such as:
- Estimating where a ball last crossed the edge of a penalty area,
- Estimating or measuring when dropping or placing a ball in taking relief,
- Replacing a ball on its original spot (whether the spot is known or estimated),
- Determining the area of the course where the ball lies, including whether the ball lies on the course, or
- Determining whether the ball touches or is in or on an abnormal course condition.
- Such determinations about location need to be made promptly and with care but often cannot be precise.
- So long as the player does what can be reasonably expected under the circumstances to make an accurate determination, the player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if, after the stroke is made, the determination is shown to be wrong by video evidence or other information.
- If a player becomes aware of a wrong determination before the stroke is made, it must be corrected (see Rule 14.5).
1.3c
Penalties
(1) Actions Giving Rise to Penalties. A penalty applies when a breach of a Rule results from a player’s own actions or the actions of their caddie (see Rule 10.3c).
A penalty also applies when:
- Another person takes an action that would breach the Rules if taken by the player or caddie and that person does so at the player’s request or while acting with the player’s authority, or
- The player sees another person about to take an action concerning the player’s ball or equipment that they know would breach the Rules if taken by the player or caddie and does not take reasonable steps to object or stop it from happening.
- One-Stroke Penalty. This penalty applies in both match play and stroke play under certain Rules where either (a) the potential advantage from a breach is minor or (b) a player takes penalty relief by playing a ball from a different place than where the original ball lies.
- General Penalty (Loss of Hole in Match Play, Two-Stroke Penalty in Stroke Play). This penalty applies for a breach of most Rules, where the potential advantage is more significant than where only one penalty stroke applies.
- Disqualification. In both match play and stroke play, a player may be disqualified from the competition for certain actions or Rule breaches involving serious misconduct (see Rule 1.2) or where the potential advantage is too significant for the player’s score to be considered valid.
- Neither a player nor the Committee has authority to apply penalties in a different way, and
- A wrong application of a penalty or a failure to apply a penalty may stand only if it is too late to correct it (see Rules 20.1b(2), 20.1b(3), 20.2d and 20.2e).
- The completion of a stroke, and
- Being aware or becoming aware of a breach of a Rule (this includes when a player knows they breached a Rule, when the player is told of a breach, or when the player is uncertain whether or not they have breached a Rule).
- Single Penalty Applied for Multiple Breaches Between Intervening Events: If a player breaches multiple Rules or the same Rule multiple times between intervening events, the player gets only one penalty. If the Rules breached have different penalties, the player gets only the higher-level penalty.
- Multiple Penalties Apply for Breaches Before and After Intervening Event: If a player breaches a Rule and then breaches the same Rule or another Rule after an intervening event, the player gets multiple penalties.