Rule 1 - The Game, Player Conduct and 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 that 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 roundRound: 18 or fewer holes played in the order set by the Committee., 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 refereeReferee: An official named by the Committee to decide questions of fact and apply the Rules.(...Continued) or the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course., but if help is not available in a reasonable time the player must play on and raise the issue with a refereeReferee: An official named by the Committee to decide questions of fact and apply the Rules.(...Continued) or the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. when they become available (see Rule 20.1).

(2) Accepting Player’s “Reasonable Judgment” in Determining a Location When Applying the Rules.

• 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 areaPenalty Area: An area from which relief with a one-stroke penalty is allowed if the player’s ball comes to rest there.(...Continued),

  • Estimating or measuring when droppingDrop: To hold the ball and let go of it so that it falls through the air, with the intent for the ball to be in play.(...Continued) or placing a ball in taking relief, or

  • ReplacingReplace: To place a ball by setting it down by hand and letting it go, with the intent for it to be in play.(...Continued) a ball on its original spot (whether the spot is known or estimated).

  • Determining the area of the courseAreas of the Course: The five defined areas that make up the course: where the ball lies, including whether the ball lies on the courseCourse: The entire area of play within the edge of any boundaries set by the Committee:(...Continued), or

  • Determining whether the ball touches or is in or on an abnormal course conditionAbnormal Course Condition: Any of these four defined conditions:.

• 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 strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...Continued) 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 strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...Continued) is made, it must be corrected (see Rule 14.5).

(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 caddieCaddie: Someone who helps a player during a round, including in these ways:(...Continued) (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 caddieCaddie: Someone who helps a player during a round, including in these ways:(...Continued) 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 equipmentEquipment: Anything used, worn, held or carried by the player or the player’s caddie.(...Continued) that they know would breach the Rules if taken by the player or caddieCaddie: Someone who helps a player during a round, including in these ways:(...Continued) and does not take reasonable steps to object or stop it from happening.

(2) Levels of Penalties. Penalties are meant to cancel out any potential advantage to the player. There are three main penalty levels:

• One-Stroke Penalty. This penalty applies in both match playMatch Play: A form of play where a player or side plays directly against an opponent or opposing side in a head-to-head match of one or more rounds:(...Continued) and stroke playStroke Play: A form of play where a player or side competes against all other players or sides in the competition.(...Continued) 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 playMatch Play: A form of play where a player or side plays directly against an opponent or opposing side in a head-to-head match of one or more rounds:(...Continued) and stroke playStroke Play: A form of play where a player or side competes against all other players or sides in the competition.(...Continued), 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.

(3) No Discretion to Vary Penalties. Penalties need to be applied only as provided in the Rules:

• Neither a player nor the CommitteeCommittee: The person or group in charge of the competition or the course. 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).

In match playMatch Play: A form of play where a player or side plays directly against an opponent or opposing side in a head-to-head match of one or more rounds:(...Continued), the player and opponentOpponent: The person a player competes against in a match. The term opponent applies only in match play. may agree how to decide a Rules issue so long as they do not agree to ignore any Rule or penalty they know applies (see Rule 20.1b(1)).

(4) Applying Penalties to Multiple Breaches of the Rules. Whether a player gets multiple penalties for breaching multiple Rules or the same Rule multiple times depends on whether there has been an intervening event and on what the player did.

For the purpose of applying this Rule, there are two intervening events:

• The completion of a strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...Continued), 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.)

Penalties are applied as follows:

• 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.

Exception – Failure to Replace a Moved Ball: If a player is required to replace a moved ball under Rule 9.4 but fails to do so and plays from a wrong placeWrong Place: Any place on the course other than where the player is required or allowed to play their ball under the Rules.(...Continued), they get only the general penalty General Penalty: Loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play.  under Rule 14.7a.

But any penalty strokes a player gets for taking penalty relief (such as a one-stroke penalty under Rules 17.1, 18.1 and 19.2) are always applied in addition to any other penalties.