Basic golf rules that you have to know

Let's begin with an elemantary golf terminology and explain the most common phrases.

What is golf?

It's played on a course with different obstacles. You have to play with a golf club and a ball according to Rules of Golf. The goal is to put the ball in a hole by as few strokes as possible, thus beating your opponent or the golf course itself.

What is a golf course and what to expect there?

Standard course consist of 18 holes, but there are also 9-hole golf courses. It's about 5 to 6 kilometers long and the player usually walk double the distance: by getting from hole to hole, looking for the lost golf balls or to plan out the next stroke.

Golf hole

Each pit (also called "cup"), in which you have to put the ball, is allocated 1/18 of the entire golf course area, is called simply a hole. Every hole consist of a tee ground where you drive the ball, continue with a faiway and ends with a green with the cup itself, marked with flagpole.

Length of holes differ, on average the distance is between 90 to 550 metres. If the hole is on the edge of the course, the border is marked with white poles.

Tee

A place with even surface with marked teeing ground. It's the only spot where a player can place the ball on an elevated platform, in most cases it's a small peg, called simply tee.

Good to know:
Each player starts every round at a different place. More the player is experienced, further he/she starts from the cup. Teeing grounds are dotted with marked spots of various colours to indicate the difficulty level. Therefore, players are assigned different colours. Basic ones are red (closest to the cup), white (medium distance) and blue (the farthest). You can also come across other colours, such as black, green or gold.

Fairway and hazards

About a hundred meters from the tee a fairway starts, with grass cut short so the ball is clearly visible. Outside the fairway, the grass is more dense and taller - also referred to as rough or semi-rough - which player tries to avoid since it presents a natural obstacle (hazard) for a next stroke.

Other hazards include bunkers (sand traps or grass depressions), rocks, shrubs, trees, forest and bodies of water (alongside the fairway marked red, across marked yellow).

Green

The last part of the hole comes with the most manicured, dense and short grass. There is the hole itself, in which the ball is put by a special club - putter. The green can be undulated or feature several elevated terraces.

How the golf is played?

A game of golf starts with teeing at the first hole and ends with the last putt at 18th hole - actually, that's the end of the first round. In case of a 9-hole course, each hole is played twice. Some tournaments have 4 rounds in total, and the second round is followed by a cut, after which only a certain number of top players continue to play.

Rules of Golf and etiquette

Golf require to follow strict rules of conduct and apparel. Even though the society tend to be more liberal nowadays and certain golf standards are being adjusted, there's still a plethora of rules that are untouchable. Breaking them is considered as rude as a loud burp in a theater or restaurant, for example. Rules also outline how to spend your time on a golf course effectively and in a safe manner.

General golf etiquette

1. Know the rules and don't cheat! You don't have to know every rule by heart, just pack printed Rules of Golf in your golf bag and you'll always have a professional guide at your disposal, so you'll always find a legit solution to every situation.
2. Don't improve the score or the ball position, and don't approach the cup in an unfair manner.
3. Be mindful of other players - don't put them at any risk, restrict them or make them wait for too long.
4. Never spoil the game to the others and help with finding the balls.
5. "Wear appropriate golf apparel and choose proper golf shoes. And above all, don't wear jeans, cargo pants, tank tops, sweatpants or sandals."
6. Mark your golf ball to make sure you always play with yours and not the opponent's by mistake.
7. Don't play with training or used golf balls.
8. Don't touch others' golf balls or collect them, they still might be in the game.
9. Always pay your fee and never play illegally.

Main principles of code of conduct

1. Don't disturb the player that is about to stroke the ball - don't move around or talk in his/hers vincinity.
2. Be careful with practice drives on a tee, so you don't damage it.
3. Don't stand in front of the player who's about to stroke, or on the green itself.
4. Don't make the other players wait on the course. If there's a group waiting behind you, let them through on the next hole.
5. Never stroke the ball if there's someone that you could hit.
6. In case that you might endanger other player, call a sign "Fore".
7. Keep the course tidy - put back the torn out divot (pieces of grass with soil) on a fairway, smooth the sand in bunker after a stroke, fix the bump on the green after the ball has landed, take extra care of an immediate area around the cup and put back the flagpole in it once you're done with the hole.
8. Don't enter the green when other players are still putting. Leave the hole once the last player finishes his putt.

The most important Rules of Golf

Knowing the rules give the player ability to utilize a variety of advantages and odds that might help to improve the score. Your lack of knowledge of rules might cost you a penalty stroke. Rules of Golf are complex and complicated, thus the print version is updated every now and then. Last significant revision of the rules took place in 2019. You can find all the changes in the current edition of the Rules.Check the most important ones that are essential to the game.

• Maximum number of players in a group is 4.
• Order of players: first to tee off is the player with the lowest number of strokes (best score); while playing the hole, the fartherst golf ball from the cup is played first.
• The stroke is played from the exact position of the ball, it can't be moved.
• If the ball gets into a sand trap and or a water hazard, you cannot move anything. Also, you cannot fold your turn.
• If there's a moveable object (excluding any hazard) obstructing the stroke, the player can move it. If that object cannot be moved, the player can move the ball to a proper position without any penalty.
• If the ball gets out of bounds (white poles) or it gets lost, the penalty stroke needs to be played from the same position.
• If the ball gets into a water hazard (red and yellow poles), the penalty stroke is played from the position where the ball entered the hazard.

• The newest set of rules allocate a maximum of 3 minutes to look for a lost ball and maximum of 15 minutes to play a hole.
• If there's still a chance that the lost ball will be found, the player will keep playing with a backup ball until the initial one is found.
• According to the recent update, it's permitted to drop (pick up and drop the ball at the other place) fromfrom knee height, zone which is measured with the longest club in a bag, exluding the putter.
• On a green, a player can pick up and clean the ball, but firstly its position needs to be exactly marked (for example with a ballmarker).
• During the game, a player cannot ask for or give an advice to other player.
• A Player is solely responsible for his/hers score and has to add a penalty stroke in a case of breaking the rules.

We believe that after reading this article there's nothing to surprise you on a course. If you want to be sure that you have everything you need for your next game, check these golf sets.