Rule reference guide

As a golfer, you have the right to:

• avoid any physical danger (bees, wild animals, etc.).
• suspend play if you become ill or are threatened by weather.
• place a second ball into play in situations where your first shot may be in question (stroke play only).
• replace any club that is damaged or broken.
• make practice swings and play practice strokes between holes, so long as you do not play on any green except the one you have just completed.
• seek advice from your caddy or partner.
• replace a ball that becomes damaged and is unplayable.
• ask anyone about general information about the course, lines of play, distances or location of the flagstick.
• make an opponent replay a shot from the tee that was made out of turn or played outside the teeing ground.
• re-tee your ball if it falls off the tee before you make your stroke or if you return to the tee for any reason to hit another ball.
• lift your ball to identify it.
• search for five minutes for a lost ball.
• ask your opponent how many strokes he or she has played at any time.
• another drop without penalty if you have accidentally dropped in the wrong place.
• a free drop to avoid immobile obstacles except in water hazards.
• remove moveable obstructions anywhere, and replace your ball if it moves.
• remove loose impediments (except in a hazard).
• take a free drop to avoid "ground under repair," marks made by animals, and temporary (causal) standing water or a free drop if you ball is lost in any of these situations.
• clean your ball before every putt on the green.
• mark and remove your ball from the green at anytime.
• repair pitch marks on the green.
• replace your ball if it is moved by an outside agent or an opponent.
• clean your ball when taking relief under the rules.
• touch grass or the banks of a bunker on your backswing (but not the sand!) when playing from a bunker.