We will continue to explore the Rules of Golf in this article. Several sections of the rules have been discussed in previous articles and now the Order of Play and Teeing Ground will be reviewed.

You may not think that the Order of Play is very important in golf but it might serve as an advantage when every thing is “on the line.” Like football, basketball and baseball, the outcome may swing positively to the person that has the ball first.

In match play, the order of play on the first hole is determined by the order of the draw or by lot. Typically the order of play is by the draw. The side (one or more players) that starts the next hole first is the winner of the first hole except in the case of a tie then the order is the same as the first hole.

During play, the order of play is determined by the ball that is farthest away from the hole. In match play, you can require your opponent to replay a shot if they play out of turn.

The rules for the order of play are a little different in stroke play. The order of play on the first hole is determined the same way as in match play. Now in stroke play, the order of play on the next hole is determined by the individual scores. The order of play remains the same on the next hole if the players tie on the previous hole.

During play, the order of play is determined by the ball that is farthest away from the hole. But unlike match play, there is no penalty for playing out of turn during the course of play of a hole unless it is determined that it was done so to have an advantage then it is an automatic disqualification.

If there is a need to hit a provisional ball or second ball from the teeing ground then you must do it after everyone has made their first stroke.

When starting the play of a new hole, the player must tee off from the teeing ground. This area is easily seen on golf courses and is marked by tee markers on the ground. You may tee off between and behind the two tee markers. The furthest you may tee off behind the two markers is two club lengths.

When you tee your ball, you may just drop a ball on the ground, use a tee or even use some dirt or sand to raise your ball off of the ground. I would suggest you do the last two because raising your ball slightly off of the ground will allow you to hit a better shot.

The player may stand outside the teeing ground to play a ball within it. In teeing, if a player uses a non-conforming tee or any other object to raise the ball off the ground, he is disqualified.

Should your ball fall off of the tee in the teeing ground, you may re-tee the ball without a penalty.

If you play the ball outside of the teeing ground in match play, your opponent may require you to re-play the stroke without penalty. However, in stroke play, if you play the ball outside the teeing ground, then you will incur a penalty of two strokes and then one must play the ball correctly inside the teeing ground. In other words, you will be hitting three.

I realize this seems like a lot of information especially for the new player but through time you will pick up on the rules.

Should you have any rules questions, please send me an email.



Etiquette corner

Make sure you play ready golf. When it is your turn to hit — do it. The players you play with will enjoy your golf company more and the players behind you on the golf course will also appreciate it.

Mel Callender is a certified PGA instructor who resides in San Marcos. Contact him at mcallender@pga.com