Here are the 10 most common ones - click on the
link to go to the rule
More Clubs in Bag than Allowed
Wrong Score Recorded on Scorecard
Playing out of Turn
Grounding the Club in a Hazard
Hitting an Unattended Flagstick with a Putt
Ball Moves after Address
Ball Moves after Loose Impediment is Removed
Ball in Water Hazard
Ball Lost or Out of Bounds
Ball Unplayable
More Clubs in Bag than Allowed
(Rule 4-4)
Fourteen clubs is the maximum allowed. Penalty for exeeding 14
in match play is loss of hole for each hole on whick the breach
occurred, up to a maximum of two holes. In stroke play, penalty
is two strokes for each hole on which the breach occurred, up
to a maximum of four strokes.
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Wrong Score Recorded on
Scorecard (Rule 6-6d)
Penalty for signing scorecard that includes scores lower than
actually recorded is disqualification.
There is no penalty for signing a scorecard that incorrectly inflates
a player's score, but the higher score stands.
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Playing out of Turn (Rule
10)
There is no penalty for playing out of turn. Other than the scorn
of other members of your group. In match play, a competitor has
the option of making you re-do your shot in the correct order
of play.
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Grounding the Club in a
Hazard (Rule 13-4)
Grounding the club in a hazard is illegal. Anyone who does it
must assess themselves (or have assessed) a 2-stroke penalty (or
loss of hole in match play).
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Hitting an Unattended Flagstick
with a Putt (Rule 17-3)
The flagstick is in the hole, unattended, and your putt strikes
it. That's a 2-stroke penalty in stroke play (ball subsequently
played as it lies) and loss of hole in match play.
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Ball Moves after Address
(Rule 18-2b)
If your ball moves once you've taken your address, it's a 1-stroke
penalty. The ball is replaced on its original spot.
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Ball Moves after Loose Impediment
is Removed (Rule 18-2c)
Players can remove loose impediments without penalty as long as
the ball and the loose impediment are not both in a hazard. Through
the green, if the ball moves when any loose impediment within
one club length of the ball is removed, it's a 1-stroke penalty.
The ball is replaced at the original spot.
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Ball in Water Hazard (Rule
26-1)
If you find your ball in a water hazard, you can always try to
play it without penalty. Otherwise, it's a stroke-plus-distance
penalty. Option 1: Take a 1-stroke penalty and return to the spot
of the original shot to re-play. Option 2: Take a 1-stroke penalty
and drop a ball behind the water hazard (going back as far as
you want), keeping the point at which the original shot crossed
into the hazard directly between your drop and the hole. For a
lateral water hazard, drop within two club lengths of the spot
where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard (no nearer the
hole), or on the opposite side of the hazard at an equidistant
spot.
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Ball Lost or Out of Bounds
(Rule 27-1)
Stroke plus distance. Take a 1-stroke penalty and return to the
spot of the original shot to re-play. A provisional ball may be
played before searching for the original ball begins.
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Ball Unplayable (Rule 28)
You can declare a ball unplayable anywhere except in a water hazard,
and you are the sole judge as to whether your ball is unplayable.
Declaring a ball unplayable results in 1-stroke penalty and a
drop. Drop as close as possible to the spot of the old ball; within
two club lengths and not nearer the hole; or at any point behind
the spot of the original ball, as long as that spot remains in
between the hole and the location of the dropped ball.
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