Knowing and understanding the rules of golf is important. As I work through my Golf Canada Level 11 officials course, Rule 11 caught my attention and I wanted to revisit it. The infographic below sums up most of the pertinent information, but there were a couple of other instances that caught my eye when reading the rules material. So, let’s get started!

Here is a quick Rule 11 overview by Golf Canada:

And my Infographic:

 

These are the basics relating to Rule 11. However, here are a couple of interesting (and stroke saving!) things that also apply:

• Playing from outside the teeing ground in stroke play is a 2-stroke penalty and the player must rehit immediately. If their ball goes out-of-bounds on the first hit, no extra penalty strokes are awarded because the stroke itself did not count (Decisions – 11-4b/6).
• If there is only one marker or no markers on the teeing ground, play must stop until the Committee rectifies the situation. If the players continue to play anyway, the Committee will determine if they gained an advantage (Rule 1-4). If none was gained, they accept the score; if an advantage was determined, the appropriate penalty strokes are added to the player’s score (Rule 11-4b).
• If a player takes a swing at the ball and misses, it counts as a stroke. If their ball falls off the tee during the stroke, the player must play it as it lies. They cannot re-tee it (Decisions – 18-2).
• Lastly, on the teeing ground, a player does not “in creating or eliminating irregularities of the surface within the teeing ground or in removing dew, frost or water from the teeing ground.” They do, however, incur a 2-stroke penalty if they replace a divot in their line of play that is outside a teeing ground before they take their swing (Rule 13-2).

As I continue to read the rules, I am fascinated by how much I really do not know. I am only a third of the way finished the written portion of the course and I already know more about the rules that I ever thought I would. I hope this quick synopsis of Rule 11 – Teeing Ground helps you avoid unwanted penalty strokes by playing within the rules.

Have you ever needed to invoke Rule 11?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!