The Rules of Golf, in plain language.

One set of Rules

The R&A and the USGA publish the Rules of Golf together. According to Wikipedia, the USGA governs the game in the United States and Mexico and the R&A everywhere else, but both apply the same code. The R&A's own guide to the Rules says the current edition took effect in January 2023 for golfers worldwide, and that official Clarifications are added on the R&A and USGA websites each quarter.

The rule book that these pages summarise is the 2023 Rules of Golf, in effect from 1 January 2023. It builds on the modernised Rules that took effect on 1 January 2019. The editions page sets out what changed in each, and what is known so far about the 2028 edition.

The two principles

Rule 1.1 rests every stroke on two ideas: play the course as you find it, and play the ball as it lies. Rule 1.1 itself notes exceptions to those two ideas, and many other Rules are exactly that, saying when you may change conditions, lift your ball or play from somewhere else.

Golfers also police themselves. Rule 1 says players apply their own penalties, and Rule 1.3b disqualifies a player who knowingly fails to apply one, as well as any players who agree to ignore a Rule they know applies.

The three levels of penalty

Rule 1.3c says neither the players nor the Committee may change a penalty. And if a player breaks several Rules before an intervening event (such as completing a stroke, or becoming aware of the breach), only one penalty applies, the higher one if they differ.

The five areas of the course

Rule 2.2 divides the course into five areas, because the Rules treat a ball differently depending on where it lies:

• The general area: everything that is not one of the four specific areas, including fairway, rough and trees.
• The teeing area of the hole being played.
• Penalty areas, covered by Rule 17.
• Bunkers, covered by Rule 12.
• The putting green of the hole being played, covered by Rule 13.

A ball is only ever in one area. Under Rule 2.2c, a ball partly in the general area and partly in a specific area is in the specific area; a ball touching two specific areas is treated as in a penalty area first, then a bunker, then the putting green. Everything outside the boundaries the Committee sets is out of bounds (Rule 2.1).

Local Rules and the Committee

Rule 1.3a defines "the Rules" as Rules 1 to 25, the Definitions and any Local Rules the Committee adopts. The R&A and USGA publish Model Local Rules that a Committee may choose to adopt, and a Model Local Rule applies only when the Committee for that course or competition has adopted it. The Model Local Rules page lists the ones that matter most, including the changes made available from 1 January 2026.

How to use these pages

Each page names the Rule numbers it summarises. The wording here is our own plain-language summary, not the official text, so for a real ruling read the Rule itself or ask the Committee. If you are new to the game, start with how golf works and the course, and keep the glossary open for terms such as club-length and relief area.