Lesson 2: What to Do When You Don’t Know the Rule
Every golfer, at every level, sometimes doesn’t know what the rule is. This is completely normal. The rulebook is large and many situations are unusual.
When you don’t know the rule, there are three good options:
First: play two balls. In casual golf, if you’re unsure, you can play two balls — one under what you think the rule might be, one under the safest interpretation — and decide afterward. Keep both scores.
Second: ask. If there is a more experienced player in your group, ask them. Most golfers are happy to help.
Third: look it up. The USGA Rules app gives rulings in seconds. A rules official can be called in competitions. Never guess and never ignore a situation.
What you should never do is pretend nothing happened or make up a rule that happens to benefit you.
Guidance: When in doubt about a rule, play two balls and sort it out afterward, ask a more experienced player, or look it up. Never ignore a rules situation.
With your parent, create five ‘What would you do?’ situations — unusual or unexpected things that might happen on the golf course. For each one, try to find the answer in the USGA Rules app or rules book before looking at the answer key. Write the situation and the correct rule in your journal. Keep this as a personal rules reference you can add to over time.