Rule 6: Starting a Hole
What this is about
Rule 6 covers the start of every hole: teeing off from the teeing area, and how you play from there.
What you need to do
- The teeing area is the space between the two tee-markers and two club-lengths back.
- Your ball must be within that space, or just above it on a tee. You yourself may stand outside it.
- You play from a tee or straight off the ground.
- In the teeing area, you may adjust the ground, bend or break grass or weeds, and remove sand, dew, and water.
- Do you tee off from outside the teeing area? Match play: no penalty, but your opponent may cancel your stroke, after which you tee off again. Stroke play: two penalty strokes, your stroke doesn't count, and you must tee off again from the correct spot.
Common mistake
Thinking you yourself must stand entirely between the tee-markers. Only your ball needs to be within the teeing area.
Example
You place your ball just in front of the line between the tee-markers and hit a beautiful drive. In stroke play, that costs two penalty strokes and you must tee off again from the correct spot.
Practise this rule with real exam questions in the free app.
6.1 Starting a hole
6.1a When a hole begins
A hole begins as soon as you make a stroke to start it. This is true even if you played from outside the teeing area, or if that stroke ends up not counting.
6.1b Ball must be played from within the teeing area
Your first stroke on every hole must come from within the teeing area. Play from outside it: in match play, no penalty, but your opponent may have the stroke replayed. In stroke play, you get the general penalty of 2 penalty strokes, that stroke doesn't count, and you must correct it by playing from within the teeing area after all. Fail to correct it before you tee off on the next hole, or on the last hole before returning your scorecard, and you're disqualified.
6.2 Playing a ball from the teeing area
6.2a When the Rules for the teeing area apply
The Rules for the teeing area apply whenever you're required or allowed to play from there: your first stroke on a hole, replaying after a breach, or playing after stroke and distance.
6.2b Rules for the teeing area
The teeing area is a rectangle two club-lengths deep: bounded at the front by the front of the two tee-markers, and at the sides by their outer edges. Your ball must be within that rectangle, on a tee or on the ground, though you may stand outside it yourself. Treat the tee-markers as fixed. Don't move them.
6.3 Ball used in playing a hole
6.3a Finishing the hole with the same ball played from the teeing area
Finish the hole with the same ball you teed off with, unless the rules allow or require a different ball, for example when taking relief, with an unplayable ball, or a damaged ball.
6.3b Replacing a ball with another ball while playing a hole
You may only put another ball into play when the Rules allow it, for example during a relief procedure or for an unplayable ball. If you substitute wrongly and play that ball, you get one penalty stroke and finish the hole with the wrongly substituted ball.
6.3c Wrong ball
Never make a stroke at a wrong ball, meaning a ball that isn't your ball in play. In match play, you lose the hole. In stroke play, you get the general penalty (two penalty strokes), the strokes made with that ball don't count, and you must correct the mistake by continuing with your own ball. If you don't correct it before you tee off on the next hole, or before returning your scorecard on the last hole, you're disqualified.
6.3d When a player may play more than one ball at the same time
Playing two balls at the same time is only allowed when a Rule permits it: a provisional ball (Rule 18.3), or in stroke play, two balls when you're unsure of the right procedure (Rule 20.1c).
6.4 Order of play during play of a hole
6.4a Match play
On the first hole, a draw or the Committee decides who starts. After that, the winner of the previous hole has the honour and tees off first; if the hole was halved, whoever had the honour keeps it. If someone plays out of turn, the opponent may have that stroke replayed without penalty.
6.4b Stroke play
On the first hole, a draw or the Committee decides the order. After that, the player with the lowest score on the previous hole tees off first. Within a hole, whoever is farthest from the hole plays first. Playing out of turn carries no penalty in stroke play: you may even play in a different order to save time ("ready golf"), as long as it's safe to do so. Just never agree to do this to give someone an advantage: everyone who agrees to that gets the general penalty.
6.4c Playing a provisional or another ball from the teeing area
If you play a provisional ball or another ball from the teeing area, you do so only after everyone else in your group has made their first stroke. If more than one player does this, they keep the same order as for their first strokes.
6.4d Taking relief or playing a provisional ball outside the teeing area
If you take relief, the spot of your previous stroke (for stroke and distance) or the spot of your ball (when relief is optional) decides when it's your turn. You play a provisional ball from outside the teeing area right after your previous stroke, before anyone else plays.
6.5 Finishing a hole
A hole is finished as soon as your ball is in the hole. In match play, the hole is also finished when your opponent concedes your next stroke or the hole, or when the result of the hole is already decided.