To begin this new year, I want to go over with you the first rules of golf that were put into effect in 1744 at Leith, Scotland.
Rule 1 You must Tee your Ball within a Club’s length of the hole
In those times, greens were not available for the golfers. You all can understand that players had to wait for the next tee to clear before hitting their tee shots. Separate tee boxes were known to be built only in 1875. If no tees were available, players could put their ball on a tee at 12 club length from the hole.
2017 – THINGS TO KNOW
- The teeing ground is a rectangular area two club-lengths in depth, the front and the sides of which are defined by the outside limits of two tee-markers
- The rules don’t permit to play a stroke on a wrong putting green
Rule 2 Your Tee must be upon the Ground
The players used sand or earth to make a mound and the ball was hit from that mound. In 2017, it is still possible to put your ball in play with the ball teed on a sand mound!
Note: The first wooden tee was invented by George F Grant in 1899.
2017 – THINGS TO KNOW
- A tee must not be longer than 4 inches
- We can repair or create any irregularities on the teeing ground prior to make a stroke
- We are not allowed to break any branches or move tee markers
- The teeing ground is the only area on the golf course where it is permissible to remove dew, water or frost
Rule 3 You are not to change the Ball which you Strike off the Tee
We have basically the same rule in 2017. You must finish the hole with the same ball you started on the tee. It is not possible without penalty to use what we call a putting ball. When I started to play golf I always had a brand new Spalding Canada Cup to make my putts because I was sure I would not lose the ball.
Some golf associations have the One Ball Rule. You may not change brand nor model.
2017 – THINGS TO KNOW
– If a ball is unfit for play, it may be changed without penalty
– 2 stroke penalty if we play a wrong ball (loss of hole in Match Play)
– 2 stroke penalty if after marking our ball we lose it in deep water
– importance to put an identification mark on our ball: 2 players are searching for their balls in the same area. They are found but they have the same identification marks. We must consider both ball as being lost…
Did you know? Before 1974, the Europeans played with a ball smaller than the Americans…
Howard Holcomb
Will there be rules seminars in English in Quebec ??
Édouard Rivard
Hi Howard
It looks like we will give a seminar in English at La vallée du Richelieu the last weekend of April. Call Eric Couture at Golf Quebec.
We will probably have enough participant to give the seminar. A meeting is schedules on Wednesday February 15th for more information at Stade Olympique