Take the test

Article from the August 2014 issue of Compleat Golfer Magazine.

How well do you know the rules of golf? Take our quick quiz to find out.

1.

In strokeplay, Player A looks inside Player B’s bag to determine which club B used for his last stroke. What is the ruling?

a) Player A incurs a penalty of two strokes.

b) Player A is disqualified.

c) There is no penalty.

2.

In matchplay, a player whose ball lies in a bunker casually leans on her club in the bunker while waiting for her opponent to play. What is the ruling?

a) There is no penalty.

b) The player incurs a penalty of one stroke.

c) The player loses the hole.

3.

In strokeplay, a competitor plays a left-handed stroke with the back of the head of a right-handed club. What is the ruling?

a) The player incurs a two-stroke penalty.

b) The player incurs a one-stroke penalty.

c) There is no penalty.

4.

A player takes a practice swing and accidentally moves his ball on the fairway with his club. What is the ruling?

a) The player has made a stroke and must now play the ball as it lies.

b) The player incurs a penalty of one stroke and must replace the ball.

c) There is no penalty, but the player must replace the ball to its original position.

5.

A player’s ball lies just off the putting green and sand lies on the putting green between his ball and the hole. What is the ruling?

a) The player must not remove the sand.

b) The player may only remove the sand by brushing it aside with a hand or a club.

c) The sand may be removed by any means.

6.

Unable to locate his golf ball after a shot of approximately 240 metres from the tee, a competitor then drops another ball in the approximate area where his original ball was lost and continues playing using the new ball. What is the ruling?

a) In strokeplay, the player incurs a two-stroke penalty for taking an incorrect drop.

b) The player is entitled to take a drop, but must add a penalty stroke to his score for the lost ball.

c) The player incurs a stroke-and-distance penalty and an additional penalty of two strokes for a breach of Rule 27-1. He must rectify the error; otherwise, he is disqualified.

7.

A player’s ball is unplayable behind a tree and so she drops the ball, under penalty of one stroke, within two clublengths of where it lay but not nearer the hole. The ball rolls back into the same unplayable lie as where it originally lay. What is the ruling?

a) The player may re-drop the ball without penalty.

b) The player must play the ball as it lies.

c) The player may play the ball as it lies or take another penalty drop for an unplayable ball.

8.

In strokeplay, a player removes a post defining out-of-bounds that is interfering with his swing. What is the ruling?

a) No penalty is incurred.

b) The player incurs a two-stroke penalty and must replace the post.

c) The player incurs a two-stroke penalty.

d) The player is disqualified for interfering with an integral part of the course.

9.

A player strikes his ball from a bunker and it comes to rest against the flagstick. The ball is not holed. Without the player’s authority, an opponent or fellow competitor moves the flagstick and causes the ball to move away from the hole. What is the ruling?

a) In matchplay, if an opponent moves the flagstick, he incurs a one-stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced against the flagstick.

b) In strokeplay, if a fellow competitor moves the flagstick, he incurs a two-stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced against the flagstick.

c) In all forms of play, there is no penalty to anyone and the ball must be replaced against the flagstick.

10.

In matchplay, at the 6th hole a player has made five strokes and her ball is on the putting green. Her opponent holed out for a five. The player then putted her ball into the hole. Which one of the following is correct?

a) The player incurs no penalty, but loses the 6th hole.

b) The player incurs a one-stroke penalty at the 7th hole for a breach of Rule 7-2.

c) The player loses the 7th hole for this action.

d) The player is disqualified from the competition.

11.

During the playing of the 8th hole, Player A asks Player B what club he used on the 3rd hole. Player A is in breach of the rules for asking for advice.

a) True

b) False

12.

The player is only permitted to have the flagstick attended when her ball lies on the putting green.

a) True

b) False

13.

A player searches for his ball for a total of five minutes but does not find it. On the way back to the tee he finds the original ball and plays it. There is no penalty.

a) True

b) False

14.

It is not permitted to use a tee to mark the position of the ball.

a) True

b) False

15.

A chipper can have more than one striking face.

a) True

b) False

16.

During a stipulated round, a player runs out of golf balls. He may borrow one or more balls from a fellow competitor.

a) True

b) False

17.

In strokeplay, the competitor returns her scorecard to the committee. The hole-by-hole scores are correct but the total is incorrect. The competitor is subject to a penalty.

a) True

b) False

18.

A player can accept protection from the elements by asking his caddie to hold an umbrella over his head while making a stroke.

a) True

b) False

19.

A player replaces her ball on the putting green but before she addresses it, it is moved by a sudden gust of wind. The player must play the ball from its new position.

a) True

b) False

20.

In strokeplay, if a player starting a hole plays from outside the teeing ground, the player incurs a penalty of two strokes and the ball must be played as it lies.

a) True

b) False

Your Score

20 The R&A called – they’d like you to officiate in The Open.

16-19 Well done, you certainly know your way around the rule book.

12-15 Fair result, but you’re no rules guru.

8-11 Time to brush up on the rules, pal.

4-7 You’ve got a lot of homework to do.

0-3 You call yourself a golfer?

Quiz Answers 

1. C (Rule 8-1) / 2. C (Rule 13-4) / 3. C (Rule 14-1) / 4. B (Rule 18-2a) / 5. C (Rule 23-1) / 6. C (Rule 27-1) / 7. C (Rule 28) / 8. C (Rule 13-2) / 9. A (Decision 17-4/3). In strokeplay, the ball is replaced with no penalty. /10. A (Rule 7-2) /11. False (Decision 8-1/6). Advice is any counsel or suggestion that could influence a player in determining his play, the choice of a club, or the method of making a stroke. /12. False. The flagstick may be attended no matter where the player is playing from. /13. False. The ball was lost and therefore out of play when the five-minute search period expired – see Definitions of “Ball in Play” and “Lost Ball”. When the player played a stroke with the ball out of play, they played a wrong ball – see Definition of “Wrong Ball” – and incurred a penalty of loss of hole in matchplay or two strokes in strokeplay – Rule 15-3. In strokeplay, they were disqualified if they did not correct the error by proceeding under Rule 27-1 before playing from the next tee – Rule 15-3b. /14. False. Using a ball-marker or coin is recommended, but not mandatory. /15. False. A chipper is an iron club and must have only one striking face. A putter is the only club that may have two (identical) faces. /16. True. You may not borrow clubs from another player, but you can borrow golf balls. /17. False. The competitor is responsible only for the correctness of the score recorded for each hole (Rule 6-6d). The Committee is responsible for the addition of scores (Rule 33-5). If the competitor records a wrong total score, the Committee must correct the error, without penalty to the competitor. /18. False. A player must not make a stroke while accepting physical assistance or protection from the elements. They may hold the umbrella themselves, but no other person may hold it for them. /19. True. Wind is not an outside agency. The ball is played as it lies. / 20. False If a competitor plays a ball from outside the teeing ground, they incur a penalty of two strokes and must then play a ball from within the teeing ground. If the competitor makes a stroke from the next teeing ground without first correcting their mistake or, in the case of the last hole of the round, leaves the putting green without first declaring their intention to correct their mistake, they are disqualified (Rule 11-4b).