Golf rules for juniors: a practical first guide

You do not need to memorise a rulebook before enjoying golf. Start with the situations you are likely to meet, practise one at a time and learn how to ask for help. This guide is for juniors learning with a parent, carer or coach.

The Rules of Golf apply to juniors too. A beginner event may have its own format, tees or conditions, so read the organiser's information rather than assuming every junior competition works the same way.

Before the first tee

Put a recognisable mark on your ball and tell the people playing with you what it looks like. Check the tees you should use and find out who can answer a rules question. You can carry fewer than 14 clubs; 14 is the maximum, not a shopping list. Official reference: Rule 4.1b.

Play your own ball

A ball with the same brand and number may belong to someone else. Check your identifying mark before playing. If you cannot identify a ball without lifting it, follow the identification procedure: mark its position first and clean it only as much as needed to identify it. Rule 7.3 explains the conditions.

Leave the ball where it lies unless a rule allows a change

A difficult lie is part of golf. You cannot simply move the ball to a nicer patch of grass. When you think relief might be available, pause and work out which rule applies before lifting or moving anything. Official reference: Rule 9.

Know what to do when a ball might be lost

The search limit is three minutes from when you or your caddie start looking. If the ball may be lost outside a penalty area or out of bounds, a provisional ball can save a walk back: announce that it is provisional before playing it. A lost ball outside a penalty area or a ball out of bounds normally requires stroke-and-distance relief, not a free drop where it disappeared. Check any applicable Local Rule. Official reference: Rule 18.

Learn this with your coach before a competition. It is much easier to remember a procedure you have walked through than one you have only read about.

Drop from knee height when taking relief

When a rule calls for a drop, the player normally drops the ball straight down from knee height, without throwing or spinning it. It must land in, and come to rest in, the required relief area. The correct area depends on the situation; knee height alone does not make a drop correct. Official reference: Rule 14.3.

Take care in a bunker

Before your bunker shot, do not test the sand, touch it with the club immediately in front of or behind the ball, or hit it with a practice swing or backswing. Not every contact with sand is forbidden: the rule includes permitted actions such as digging your feet in for a stance. Official reference: Rule 12.2.

Mark and replace on the putting green

You may lift and clean your ball on the putting green, but mark its spot before lifting and replace it on that spot. You can putt with the flagstick left in the hole. Decide what you want to do before the stroke. Rule 13 covers putting greens and the flagstick; Rule 14.1 covers marking.

Ask before guessing

Tell the other players what happened and ask a referee or the Committee when you are unsure. In stroke play, there is a procedure for playing two balls when uncertain, with conditions and a reporting requirement; it is not a shortcut to use without understanding it. Official reference: Rule 20.1c.

A simple learning routine

Choose one situation after each coaching session. Ask “What would you do next?” and let your junior explain. Check the official reference together, then return to that situation another day in a slightly different example. Understanding the next action matters more than remembering the rule number.

Use our free ten-question rules quiz for a short practice session, or print the first-competition checklist. For the full rules and further learning, visit the R&A's rules education resources.