Rules of the Game
Golf is played with a club (but really there are multiple types) and a ball on a course where the objective is the get the ball in the hole in the fewest number of shots (‘strokes’). In this sport, the lowest score wins! A game of golf is typically 18 holes and every course is unique. All holes contain a tee box (where you start from), fairway (the nice grass where you want to hit your ball) and a putting green (where the hole is located). Each hole is given a score of the number of strokes it should take a skilled golfer to get the ball in the hole. That is par for that hole which can vary depending on distance and allowing 2 putts on the green.
Equipment:
There are multiple kinds of clubs: the driver, fairway woods, irons, wedges, and the putter. Different clubs are used for different types of shots and different distances. The higher the number on the club, the higher the loft and shorter the distance that club is designed to hit. The longest club is the 1-Wood or the Driver. The shortest clubs are the wedges. The putter is only used when the golfer wants the ball to stay on the ground – usually on the green. You can carry 14 clubs in your bag at once. The hole is 4.5” in diameter and the ball is 1.6”. Hole locations on the green change after every round on the PGA Tour so don’t be surprised if you remember seeing the flag in one spot on Thursday and the next day its in a different spot. Golfers in professional leagues are required to mark their balls to distinguish their ball before a round or hole. Carts are not used in PGA Tour play only in your man’s game of golf.
Time:
A round of golf is 18 holes which can take 4 hours to a lot longer. However on the PGA Tour, you can only take a certain amount of time. Players who take a long time will be placed on an Observation List. A player will make the list if he takes longer than 45 seconds per stroke average, or he takes longer than 120 seconds on one shot. Obviously, exceptions are made if your ball is lost, you need a ruling, etc. These timing rules have been recently updated. Golf has always gotten a bad reputation as slow to watch and the PGA Tour is trying to combat that. That being said, if your man is going to play 18 and gets stuck behind slow players, he can be gone for a long time (think up to 6 hours not counting beers at the clubhouse after). If he says a group let him ‘play through’ it simply means they knew they would take longer so they let him play first and pass them on the course.
Other rules:
There are many intricate rules in golf. Even PGA Tour players still call over rules officials during their rounds to make sure they don’t break any rules. Here are some of the weirdest ones:
- If you have to move sand or lose impediments to find and identify your ball, you must replace it before you hit it or it’s a 2 stroke penalty.
- You can use a handkerchief, cigar smoke or throwing grass into the air to see the wind direction, but you cannot use a windsock as that equipment is for that purpose and this is not allowed.
- If you hit the ball into the clubhouse, it is technically not out of bounds. You are allowed to hit it through the doors of the clubhouse or a window.
- If your ball is lodged in an orange, you can take relief without penalty… yes that’s an actual ruling.
If you found words that you don’t understand, check the Golf Vocab page.
