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RULES
Golf is unique because its Rules assume players are honest.
In other sports, participants hope their referee misses a rules violation and when faced with one they often demand a replay or become crybabies. In golf, we don’t care about reviews because we have integrity to call penalties on ourselves.
Golf Rules are written and administered jointly by the Royal and Ancient (R&A) and the United States Golf Association (USGA). They involve amateur status and all aspects of play, including definitions of terminology, procedures, and equipment parameters. A central principle, although not one of the numbered rules, is found on the inside cover of the R&A publication. It states, “Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you find it, and if you cannot do either then do what is fair.”
While it’s tempting to overlook the Rules due to complexity, they provide the structure in which all players operate and when understood they can often help cut strokes from your score.
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