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    2 Most Common Causes Of Penalty Strokes

    Aside from knocking your ball into a hazard or out-of-bounds area, the two ways most commonly found to pile up the penalty strokes are from lost balls and unplayable lies.

    When you hit the ball in a wooded area on the side of the fairway, and the location is not considered to be out-of-bounds, you can dig around and try your best to find the ball. In doing so, one of the following three things is bound to happen:

    1. You may find the ball and then attempt to hit it onto the fairway.

    2. The ball might be located in an unplayable lie, which means that there is no chance to make a shot. You're only two options are to pick up the ball and move over by two club lengths or hit the ball again from where you originally took your last shot. Either way, you pick up a one-stroke penalty.

    3. The ball may not be easy enough to find, and can be declared lost. This means that you have to go back to the area where you hit your last shot, shoot over, and take a penalty stroke.

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    8 Basic Rules Of Golf As Outlined By The USGA

    By Foursome | February 13, 2008

    If you wish to play the game of golf exactly as the rules state, created by the United States Golf Association (USGA), then the following list will help you become familiar with some of the basic regulations:

    1. You are not allowed to give advice to your playing partners. Nor are you allowed to accept advice.

    2. Every player has a maximum limit of 14 clubs to bring in his or her golf bag when playing the course. Occasionally, a golf club may break and replacing this club is allowed, so long as it is quick and does not interfere or delay the game. In addition, regulations also state that if you purposely break a club out of frustration, you cannot replace it.

    3. All players must tee up their ball in the prescribed tee area.

    4. You are not allowed to fix any of the spike marks that may be between your ball and the playing hole on the green. Spikes from golf shoes occasionally leave a mark, but this is just considered a challenging hazard. Once the ball is in the hole, you may then fix the marks. And being considerate to fix these marks is good etiquette for the next round of players passing through.

    5. If there is frost or morning dew on the putting green, you cannot wipe it away. It must be left alone.

    6. On the first hole, the order of people who play will be determined by drawing lots. The following holes are played in the order of players with the best score. Then the player who has the second-best score goes next, then the third, etc.

    If there happens to be a tie, the player who had the better score on the previous hole is the one that tees off first. At all other times on the course, the order of players is determined by the furthest ball away from the whole, with the farthest going first, then the second farthest, etc.

    7. You can never putt your ball while another player’s ball is still moving.

    8. If you make a shot and the ball is literally lying on the edge of the cup, you have 10 seconds to wait until the ball drops in. Once the 10 seconds is over, you must give it another stroke. And if the ball happens to drop in after the 10 seconds is up, but before you actually make your putt, it is then considered an additional stroke.

    Topics: Golf Rules, Tips & Practice |

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