Golf Rules Golf Rule 6 The Player (Video) - by Pete Styles
Golf Rules Golf Rule 6 The Player (Video) - by Pete Styles

So rule number six now covers the player. Rule number four was the clubs, rule number five was the ball, rule number six is you, the player. Now also interestingly the player, actually the rules cover the caddie as well. Because when you see two people out on the golf course you got the player and the caddie. The caddie is classed as the player. So any rules infringement of the caddie makes, the score is directly attributed to the player. So your caddie could do something wrong and you could get the penalty for it. That's quite interesting part of this rule.

Now rule six has actually got eight different subsections to it. It’s one of the biggest rules in the game of the golf, because you know you are quite important part of your game. So here I’ve got my rules app, I’ve got all six different subsections up there. Let's have a little look through that. So 6.1, that's the bit that covers the caddie. 6.2 is about the handicap. You're responsible for your handicap. So when you go out to the first tee and you say, I am playing off ten today, that goes as a trusted remark between all the players in the group, and all the players on the golf course that ten goes on your scorecard. That's going to be your next score at the end of the day. If you are playing a match play, I'm playing you off ten. Okay, there you go. That's ten shots I'll give you. It's your responsibility to make sure your handicap is correct. So if you're actually playing off the wrong handicap, you can be disqualified before you've even set foot on to the golf course. So check your handicap before you tee off. There should be a notice board with your handicap on if you're playing club golf. The handicap is important that you get that right. Right, 6.3 is starting times. When you go out to the golf course you are probably given a starting time. Again you could get penalized. You could lose the match, be disqualified just for being late. It’s your responsibility to get there on time, your responsibility to tee off on time. We all remember Rory McIlroy in Medina where he turned up a bit late. The question was if he gets to that first tee after we start time, he is going to lose a hole. If he misses the next hole, he is going to be two down. I think you could go to maximum three-four holes down before he actually starts his match. Thankfully McElroy made it on that time. And we all know what happened in Medina. 6.4, the caddie. The caddie is very responsible for lots of different things. Look at how much red is on that page. That's all red writing. Breach of the rule for different things. Generally in strokeplay if you make a mistake the caddie makes a mistake, two shot penalty. If you make a mistake in matchplay, just loss of holes. You immediately lost a hole just because the caddie did something wrong. 6.5, is the golf ball. It's your responsibility to make sure you can identify the golf ball at all times. So let’s say I take my – I take my tier list one, I slice it over there into the trees, I walk into the trees, there's two tier next to each other. I don't know which one is which. I can't just say, well I’ll play that one because it's in the best lie. You've actually got to be able to categorically confirm which is your golf ball. So most people would be better having a logo or a couple of dots or their initials on there. Then when you hit the tier list one into the trees, there’s two tier lists one is next to each other, oh yeah but mine have got red dots on. Okay, we’ll let your red dots that must be your ball. You can carry on playing. So identifying the golf ball is important. The next rule 6.6 covers scoring. Your responsibility to again to make sure you've scored correctly. You've counted the number of shots. You've written it down accurately on the score card. You've added it up at the end. You can't get to the green and then say, oh by the way how many have I taken so far. It’s nobody else responsibility but yours. And if you get that wrong particularly if you say it's a three, and actually it's a four disqualified already. If you say it's five and actually it's four, the five goes on the scorecard and you sign for the five. You keep the five. So just by adding up incorrectly you've added an extra shot onto your scorecard. So 6.6 is understanding that the number of shots you take is important. 6.7, we talk about slow play. So playing without delay, get to the ball play quickly. Playing slowly on the golf course, very rarely would actually get your penalty. But it's very poor etiquette, but it can in certain extreme circumstances get you penalties. There’s occasion on the PGA tour, they put people on the clock. They occasionally give out penalties for super-super slow play. 6.8 is the discontinuation of play. So either due to bad light at the end of the day, you're going to stop playing. You are going to come back out the next day and carry on playing or a rain delay or something like that, your responsibility to make sure you mark the golf ball and its location. You take the ball off, you come back the next day, you read – you unmark the golf ball back in the same location making sure you are not cheating or do anything on toward there. So lots of responsibility on the player, but ultimately when you put your scorecard on the bottom of that scorecard, that's you saying to the rest of the field, that's testament to my score. And that's how I played. You're expecting the same sort of level of trust from everybody else on the golf course. So of course there is a huge amount of responsibility on you. And with eight different subsections to rule six, that's probably the biggest rule in the book. 2015-07-16

So rule number six now covers the player. Rule number four was the clubs, rule number five was the ball, rule number six is you, the player. Now also interestingly the player, actually the rules cover the caddie as well. Because when you see two people out on the golf course you got the player and the caddie. The caddie is classed as the player. So any rules infringement of the caddie makes, the score is directly attributed to the player. So your caddie could do something wrong and you could get the penalty for it. That's quite interesting part of this rule.

Now rule six has actually got eight different subsections to it. It’s one of the biggest rules in the game of the golf, because you know you are quite important part of your game. So here I’ve got my rules app, I’ve got all six different subsections up there. Let's have a little look through that. So 6.1, that's the bit that covers the caddie. 6.2 is about the handicap. You're responsible for your handicap. So when you go out to the first tee and you say, I am playing off ten today, that goes as a trusted remark between all the players in the group, and all the players on the golf course that ten goes on your scorecard. That's going to be your next score at the end of the day.

If you are playing a match play, I'm playing you off ten. Okay, there you go. That's ten shots I'll give you. It's your responsibility to make sure your handicap is correct. So if you're actually playing off the wrong handicap, you can be disqualified before you've even set foot on to the golf course. So check your handicap before you tee off. There should be a notice board with your handicap on if you're playing club golf. The handicap is important that you get that right. Right, 6.3 is starting times. When you go out to the golf course you are probably given a starting time. Again you could get penalized. You could lose the match, be disqualified just for being late.

It’s your responsibility to get there on time, your responsibility to tee off on time. We all remember Rory McIlroy in Medina where he turned up a bit late. The question was if he gets to that first tee after we start time, he is going to lose a hole. If he misses the next hole, he is going to be two down. I think you could go to maximum three-four holes down before he actually starts his match. Thankfully McElroy made it on that time. And we all know what happened in Medina. 6.4, the caddie. The caddie is very responsible for lots of different things.

Look at how much red is on that page. That's all red writing. Breach of the rule for different things. Generally in strokeplay if you make a mistake the caddie makes a mistake, two shot penalty. If you make a mistake in matchplay, just loss of holes. You immediately lost a hole just because the caddie did something wrong. 6.5, is the golf ball. It's your responsibility to make sure you can identify the golf ball at all times. So let’s say I take my – I take my tier list one, I slice it over there into the trees, I walk into the trees, there's two tier next to each other.

I don't know which one is which. I can't just say, well I’ll play that one because it's in the best lie. You've actually got to be able to categorically confirm which is your golf ball. So most people would be better having a logo or a couple of dots or their initials on there. Then when you hit the tier list one into the trees, there’s two tier lists one is next to each other, oh yeah but mine have got red dots on. Okay, we’ll let your red dots that must be your ball. You can carry on playing. So identifying the golf ball is important. The next rule 6.6 covers scoring. Your responsibility to again to make sure you've scored correctly.

You've counted the number of shots. You've written it down accurately on the score card. You've added it up at the end. You can't get to the green and then say, oh by the way how many have I taken so far. It’s nobody else responsibility but yours. And if you get that wrong particularly if you say it's a three, and actually it's a four disqualified already. If you say it's five and actually it's four, the five goes on the scorecard and you sign for the five. You keep the five. So just by adding up incorrectly you've added an extra shot onto your scorecard.

So 6.6 is understanding that the number of shots you take is important. 6.7, we talk about slow play. So playing without delay, get to the ball play quickly. Playing slowly on the golf course, very rarely would actually get your penalty. But it's very poor etiquette, but it can in certain extreme circumstances get you penalties. There’s occasion on the PGA tour, they put people on the clock. They occasionally give out penalties for super-super slow play. 6.8 is the discontinuation of play. So either due to bad light at the end of the day, you're going to stop playing. You are going to come back out the next day and carry on playing or a rain delay or something like that, your responsibility to make sure you mark the golf ball and its location. You take the ball off, you come back the next day, you read – you unmark the golf ball back in the same location making sure you are not cheating or do anything on toward there.

So lots of responsibility on the player, but ultimately when you put your scorecard on the bottom of that scorecard, that's you saying to the rest of the field, that's testament to my score. And that's how I played. You're expecting the same sort of level of trust from everybody else on the golf course. So of course there is a huge amount of responsibility on you. And with eight different subsections to rule six, that's probably the biggest rule in the book.