Golf rules and regulations: Know how to play

A 15th-century phenomenon from Scotland, golf boasts a rich history.

The sport made an appearance at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics, but was dropped from the 1908 London Games. However, golf was reinstated into the Olympic program starting in Rio 2016.

Today, golf is one of the most popular and lucrative sports to play professionally.

Golf is often seen as a niche sport. The high cost of staying involved creates a high barrier to entry, which has often referred to golf as a sport for the wealthy.

Another challenge in learning the sport of golf is the complicated rules and regulations that have often been a challenge to the sport’s mass adoption.

Here’s a breakdown of the rules of golfto simplify the unique and captivating sport for non-professionals.

How to play golf and competition formats

In golf, a player uses a club to hit a ball into a hole. The main goal of golf is to sink or putt the ball in as few strokes as possible.

Stroke format in golf

Generally, golf competitions are played over four rounds of 18 holes each. The player who completes the entire course with the fewest shots wins. This is called the stroke play scoring format and is most commonly used in golf tournaments.

A cut is often established after the first two rounds. Only the players who are above the cut point on the leaderboard at this stage are allowed to play the last two rounds, while the remaining players fold.

In stroke play, tied finishes are acceptable, but if there is a tie at the top of the leaderboard, a tie-breaker called a playoff is played to determine a winner.

In the playoffs, additional holes are played until a winner is determined.

playing game

An alternative format called Matchplay Scoring is used for certain special events such as the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup.

In this format, players or teams compete against each other over 18 holes.

Players/teams receive a point for the hole if they use fewer strokes than their opponent to putt the ball for a specific hole. No one scores a hole if they complete it in the same number of strokes.

At the end of the game, the player or team with more points over the 18 holes wins the game.

In the event of a tie, play will be extended to additional holes to determine a winner.

golf course

In golf, the playing field is referred to as a golf course. Each golf course consists of 18 holes, the first nine of which are called the front nine and the rest are called the back nine.

There are certain golf courses with only nine holes. In this case the entire course is repeated once to form a round of 18 holes.

The course for each hole is unique with its own topography. Most of the course is covered with grass and is called The Rough. A specific area near the hole is designated for this green or fairway. The grass in this area is cut shorter than the rough and the surface is much smoother.

There can be trees, shrubs or even forest surrounding a golf course and they can even be within the playing area, which is often marked by white stakes.

In addition, each hole has its unique set of Driven in the form of sand traps (small sandy beaches) and water particles.

In short, no two holes are exactly alike on any golf course in the world. This distinguishes golf from any other sport, which typically uses a standardized playing surface.

rules of golf

For each hole, players start from the starting position called the tee and hit the ball towards the hole.

There are a variety of golf clubs that meet specific specifications available to a golfer. Some of the most commonly used golf clubs are irons, woods, drivers, wedges, chippers and putters, each of which is specifically designed for different types of shots and situations. There are several variations of each of these racquets.

Interestingly, a golfer can have a maximum of 14 clubs in their bag at the start of a round. Otherwise penalties will be imposed.

Players are allowed to add clubs to their kit as long as the limit is under 14. Changing clubs is only allowed after the end of each round.

Golfers do not carry their bags with them to competitive events. They called helpers caddies to do that for her.

Players must also keep track of their ball at all times, as hitting the wrong ball can result in a two-stroke penalty

For their first shot, players are allowed to slightly elevate their ball with a small pin, also known as an a tea.

However, subsequent shots must be played “as the ball lies,” which is often considered the golden rule of golf.

This in turn gives rise to different rules if and when the player deems a shot unplayable. This can happen if the ball lands out of bounds (playing field), in a bush, too close to a tree, between rocks or in a sticky situation on a sandbar.

Players must not alter their surroundings in any way, including breaking branches, clearing debris, or moving sand, to improve their chances of playing the ball out of a tight spot.

In these scenarios, players can take a distance and penalty stroke to continue play. If the ball can be saved, players are allowed to pick up the ball and place it at a playable point directly in line with the hole and behind its current position before resuming play.

If the ball cannot be saved, a fresh ball is used to continue play.

• Interestingly, if the ball goes into a water hazard during a shot, a player can continue play without penalty if possible, but in most cases this is not feasible and the player must take a distance and shot penalty before continuing play with a fresh one Play ball.

If a ball is lost, the player has three minutes to find his ball. If they fail to do so, a penalty will be imposed.

Golf Scoring: Pars, Birdies and more

Although golf events played in stroke play format are decided by the number of strokes made to put the ball into the holes over the rounds, they are not scored simply by counting strokes. There is a system and some terminology that viewers need to know in order to follow a golf game.

A par is already set for each hole on a course. Pars can be defined as the number of shots an average player would take to complete a given hole.

If the number is four, the hole is a par 4 hole. Most golf courses have a mix of par 3, par 4 and par 5 holes.

Players can go over or under in a hole. For example, if they take one less stroke to complete a hole than it is par, their score for that particular hole is one under par. Similarly, a shot more than par means their score is one over par.

With that in mind, here are some specific terminologies used to score in golf.

• Birdie – a score of one under par for a hole
• Eagle – a score of two under par for a hole
• Double Eagle/Albatross – a score of three under par for a hole
• Hole in one – When a golfer puts the ball in the hole in one shot (score is awarded by par)
• Par – Adjusting the par for a hole
• Bogey – a score of one over par for a hole
• Double Bogey – A score of two over par on a hole
• Triple Bogey – a score of three over par for a hole

Likewise, there’s quadruple bogey, quintuple bogey, and so on.

The over and under system is also used to indicate official results for rounds and the event as a whole.

For example, if a golfer takes 14 more shots to complete a round than the total number of pars for all 18 holes, their score is said to be 14 over par for the round. If they hit 11 fewer strokes to complete the entire event than the sum of the pars for all 72 holes over the four rounds, their score is 11-under for the event. The golfer with the best under par score at the end of the specified number of rounds is the winner.