Golf Club

The rules of golf are internationally standardized and are jointly governed by the Ancient golf club of St Andrews and the United States Golf Association. In the United States, these rules are scrutinized on a regular basis and change with the times. Although there may be a book of rules for this game, some golf courses may have their own special rules that must be obeyed if playing on that particular course.


The underlying principle of the rules is fairness. As declared on the back cover of the official rule book:
Play the ball as it lies,
Play the course as you find it,
If you cant do either do what is fair!

First, one should know the different types of matches played in golf. Each type of match has a different scoring method.

Match play if played hole by hole.

The score for this type of match is determined by how many holes each player wins or loses. The most a player can win by is 10 holes won and eight to go. If the match is tied, they call that a halved match. In this situation, the players begin again at the 1st hole and play until someone wins a hole.

The Stableford match

Is played by scoring points according to how many strokes you are under or over par at each hole. The total number of points scored at each hole equals the result.

Keep in mind that Par plus two strokes is called a Double bogey, par plus one stroke is called a Bogey, par minus one stroke is called a Birdie, par minus two stokes is called an Eagle and a par minus three strokes is called an Albatross.

Stroke-play

Is a match in which the score is based upon the total number of strokes for the round. A round is considered to be 18 holes in this case.

In a Foursome players take turns with the same ball. With two teams here, the golfers take turns teeing off at alternating holes. Scoring can be based upon any of the above methods.

Fourball match

Players enter in a partnership. The two players play the better of two balls against their opponents' best of two balls. This is a very popular method of play but can be very time consuming.

Some rules state:

» Every player is entitled to play the ball from the position where it came to rest after a stroke, unless a rule demands otherwise.

» A player must not accept assistance in making a shot.

» On all golf courses, various hazards are likely. Water and sand bunkers are two of the golfers greatest enemy's. There is a two-stroke penalty for touching the sand or grounds before hitting the ball.

» In the game of golf, one is only allowed to play with fourteen clubs in his bag. Penalties will be assessed for persons who break this rule.

This is just some of the golf rules.