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Golf rules quiz

Twelve questions on the rules that come up most on a Saturday. Every answer quotes the Rules of Golf word for word and links to the rule, so the bar argument ends there.

Twelve questions

1. How many clubs may you carry during a round?
2. How long do you have to look for a ball before it is lost?
3. When you take relief, where do you drop the ball from?
4. Your tee shot goes out of bounds. What happens?
5. You putt with the flagstick left in the hole and the ball hits it. What is the penalty?
6. You accidentally knock your ball while marking it on the green. What is the penalty?
A links fairway in driving rain, long dune grass in the foreground and a flag on a distant green by the sea.
Halfway. The rules don't change with the weather.
7. You declare your ball unplayable in the rough. What does relief normally cost?
8. Your ball is in a red penalty area and you want relief. How many options do you have?
9. Your ball plugs in its own pitch-mark on the fairway. What can you do?
10. How long does the Rules recommend you take to play a stroke when it is your turn?
11. In stroke play you tee off from in front of the tee-markers. What happens?
12. In a Stableford competition you give up on a hole without holing out. What do you score?

Pick an answer to each question. Your score and the rule behind every answer appear here.

A golf ball resting on the lip of the hole beside the flagstick, the sun setting over water behind.
Every answer comes with the rule behind it.

A round worth remembering? Put their course on the wall, or see prizes for the society day.

About the quiz

We wrote the questions. The answers come straight from the R&A's Rules of Golf, quoted as written, with a link to the rule so you can read it in full. We read every rule on 30 October 2026.

It works for a society quiz night too. Send the link round, then compare scores in the bar. The score has a box for your name.

Source: R&A Rules of Golf, Rules 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 21, read 30 October 2026.

Written by Craig Fearn, The Golf Gift Co. Last updated .

Questions, answered

Are these the current rules?
They are the Rules of Golf as published on randa.org when we read them on 30 October 2026. Each answer links to the rule.
Is this an official R&A quiz?
No. The questions are ours; only the quoted rule text is the R&A's.