10 Golf Rules You Didn't Know

... and they save you strokes!

Your ball drifts away in a stream. You may hit it, without penalty. Your ball hangs in a pine. You may climb up and play it from there. Your putt rolls across the green and hits your partner's ball. The stroke does not count.

The Rules of Golf from The R&A and the USGA have clear answers for moments like these. We picked ten rules that even experienced players rarely have ready. For each one you find an example from the tour or a tip for your next round, at home or in Mallorca.

1. You may hit a ball that is drifting in water

Hitting a moving ball normally costs two penalty strokes. Rule 10.1d makes an exception: if your ball drifts in a penalty area or in temporary water, you play it without penalty while it moves. Only the water may move it. You may not help it along or wait until the current carries it into a better lie. Doing so delays play unreasonably.

Emiliano Grillo faced this in 2023 at the Charles Schwab Challenge. On the 72nd hole his tee shot landed in a creek and the ball floated away. Grillo took relief for one penalty stroke, finished the hole with a double bogey and still won in the playoff. Playing the drifting ball straight from the water would have been allowed.

Decide fast. If the ball drifts towards deeper water or an edge, you hit at once.

2. Out of the bunker backwards, for two penalty strokes

Your ball lies in a deep pot bunker right under the lip. There is no way forward. Rule 19.3b gives you a way out: for two penalty strokes you take relief on the line from the hole through your ball, going back and outside the bunker. You decide how far back you go. You drop the ball on that line, the relief area measures one club-length, no nearer the hole.

Two penalty strokes hurt. Three failed attempts in the sand often cost more, and a six quickly turns into an eight.

3. Your putt hits another ball in motion

On the green, accidental hits follow a clear line. If your ball hits you, your club, a playing partner or an animal, you play it as it lies. The stroke counts and there is no penalty. One exception demands a replay: if your putt runs into another ball that is also moving, the stroke does not count. You replay it from the original spot, without penalty.

This happens when two players putt at the same time. Wait until your partner's ball has stopped and the question never comes up.

4. Dangerous animals and dead animals near your ball

If your ball lies next to a venomous snake, an alligator or a beehive, you take relief without penalty (Rule 16.2). You find the nearest point free of danger and drop within one club-length, no nearer the hole.

Dead animals are different. A dead bird or a dead snake counts as a loose impediment (Rule 15.1). You remove it by hand, with a club or with a towel. If your ball moves while you do, it costs one penalty stroke and you replace the ball. On the green the penalty does not apply.

Cody Gribble tapped an alligator on the tail at a PGA Tour event until the animal slid into the water. That was allowed. By the book he could have saved himself the detour and dropped without penalty.

5. Ball in a tree: climbing yes, ladder no

Your ball hangs in the branches. You have two options: play it as it lies, or declare it unplayable. Climbing is allowed. In 2013 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Sergio Garcia climbed into a tree and hit the ball one-handed backwards onto the fairway. Shortly after he withdrew injured.

Any aid for your stance is forbidden. A bench, a bin or a ladder counts as building a stance and costs two penalty strokes.

If you declare it unplayable, you pay one penalty stroke. The reference point is on the ground directly below the ball, and you drop within two club-lengths, no nearer the hole. One condition applies: you must know for sure that it is your ball. If you cannot identify it, it counts as lost and you go back with stroke and distance.

In Mallorca pines stand along many fairways. Mark your ball with a sign of your own. The zoom on your phone camera often lets you read it from the ground.

6. Your ball comes to rest on a person

If a ball bounces off a spectator or caddie, you play it where it lands. If it stays in a pocket, in a bag or on a moving cart, you get relief without penalty. The reference point is the estimated spot on the ground directly below where the ball came to rest. You drop there within one club-length, no nearer the hole.

Rory McIlroy experienced this at the 2014 Tour Championship on the 14th hole. His tee shot flew into the trees and landed in a spectator's pocket. McIlroy was allowed to drop without penalty.

7. Ten seconds at the edge of the hole

Your putt stays on the lip. Rule 13.3 gives you a reasonable time to walk to the hole, then ten seconds. If the ball falls in that time, you holed out with your last stroke. If it falls later, it still counts as holed, but you add one penalty stroke.

Si Woo Kim waited at the RBC Heritage until his ball finally dropped after the time had run out. The birdie counted as a par.

Count along. After ten seconds you tap the ball in.

8. The ball breaks apart when you hit it

Rare, but it happens: the ball breaks into pieces at impact. The stroke does not count and costs nothing. You play a new ball from the spot of the stroke (Rule 4.2b). If you play on with the largest piece, you play from a wrong place and take two penalty strokes.

A crack or cut is a different case (Rule 4.2c). You may only change the ball if it is visibly cracked or cut and the damage happened on the current hole. Scratches, mud and chipped paint do not count. Announce beforehand that you want to inspect the ball, mark its spot and do not clean it. Otherwise it costs one penalty stroke.

9. The wind blows your dropped ball into a bunker

You drop in the relief area and the ball stays put, then a gust carries it into a bunker, a penalty area or out of bounds. Rule 9.3 (Exception 2) protects you from this bad luck: you replace the ball on its original spot without penalty. If you do not know the spot exactly, you estimate it. If the ball stays in the same area of the course, for example on the fairway, you play it from its new lie.

On windy days in Mallorca this rule is worth its weight in gold. If you play on from the wrong place, the general penalty of two strokes applies.

10. Towel at the cactus: protection yes, interference no

Your ball lies right under a prickly pear. You may protect yourself. Wrap a towel around your arm or leg and play through the thorns. Laying the towel over the plant or bending branches away improves your conditions for the stroke and costs two penalty strokes (Rule 8.1a).

The case of Craig Stadler shows how strictly towels are judged. At the 1987 San Diego Open he knelt on a towel under a low-hanging tree to keep his trousers clean. A television viewer reported it the next morning and the officials ruled the towel a built stance. Stadler had signed his scorecard without the two penalty strokes and was disqualified.

If you are unsure, play two balls (Rule 20.1c), tell your fellow competitor beforehand which one counts and let the committee decide after the round.

Ten rules in your head, no clubs in your luggage

All ten rules apply the same to every set of clubs, your own bag or a hire set. In Mallorca you play them with Callaway or TaylorMade, including the current TaylorMade Qi4D. You travel without a golf bag, save the airline's sports baggage fee and skip the oversize baggage belt. We deliver your set to your hotel on request. You book online, from two days.

You find more on how it works on our page about golf club hire in Mallorca and in the article about delivery to your hotel.