The First Rules of Golf

Golf was not made official until the 18^th century, year 1744 to be precise. At that time, all the then known rules of the game were written properly by the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith (who are now known as the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers).

Thirteen of the originally written down rules of golf are stated here:

• The ball must be tee-ed when the length of the ‘hole’ equals the length of the club. The modern day definition of ‘teeing grounds’ is the length equal to two club lengths in depth.
• The tee should be on the ground. Originally, tees were small pyramid structures which were made of sand.
• The ball, once you tee it, should not be changed’. This version of the rule (of not changing the golf ball until after holing it) can be found in modern-day golf also.
• Anything obstructing the way of the ball should be removed (until and unless it is on the fair green).
• If the ball lands in water, it should be removed from and placed behind the hazard for the next stroke. However, a stroke should be given to the opponent when the ball is fetched.
• If two balls touch each other at any time during the game play, the first ball should be kept lifted until the second one is played.
• One must not try to hit the opponent’s ball with his own when they both are close to the target (hole).
• If a player is somehow unable to get the same ball back after a stroke, he must go back to the spot where he last played with that ball, and drop another ball there. Also, the opponent should be given a bonus stroke for the misfortune.
• When the ball is close to the hole, a player is not allowed to use a club or any other related thing to measure or mark its distance from the hole.
• If the ball is stopped by any obstacle, it must be played from where it lies.
• If the club is drawn for a stroke (and goes as far as very close to striking the ball), if it breaks somehow, it is considered a stroke. This is a part of the modern day definition of stroke.
• The player whose ball lies the farthest from the hole is allowed to play the first stroke.
• Anything that can be counted as the part of ground repair should be treated as a hazard and dealt with accordingly.

All these rules are incorporated in the modern-day golf rulebook in some way or the other. The R&A and the United States Golf Association meet every two years for setting a uniform set of rules for the game of golf.

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