Young Golfer Rules Quiz
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This is a Rules quiz with no trick questions. There are 29 questions, one for each of the first 30 Rules (except Rule 29.) Assume that the players are playing in a Match Play tournament, unless otherwise stated. Good Luck! Rule 1 - The Game Don and Joe are getting ready to tee off, and Don says to Joe, "You know, we're both really terrible out of sand traps. If we get into one, let's throw our ball out to the side, no penalty." Joe agrees to this. Don loses the first hole Don is disqualified Both Don and Joe are disqualified Rule 2 - Match Play Bill has a putt of two feet to win the hole. His opponent generously says, "That's good." Bill putts anyway, and misses it. Bill won the hole Bill halved the hole Bill lost the hole Rule 3 - Stroke Play In a stroke play tournament, Jim chips up to 2 inches from the hole. Another player in the group hits the ball back to him, saying "that's a gimme!" Jim replaces the ball where it was, and putts it into the hole. Jim is not penalized Jim is penalized one stroke Jim is penalized two strokes Rule 4 - Clubs Walking to the fifth tee, Ron discovers that someone else's club got stuck into his bag by mistake near the clubhouse before teeing off, meaning that Ron is now carrying 15 clubs, one more than the maximum of 14 clubs. After the fourth hole, Ron was two up. Ron is now: Two up Two down Even Ron loses the match Rule 5 - The Ball Steve tops his brand new Titleist on the sixth hole, and it hits the cart path. After he walks up to the ball, he sees a large scuff mark on his ball. May Steve declare the ball unfit for play and substitute a new ball? Yes No Rule 6 - The Player Rich and Jack have just teed off on fourteen, and a heavy rain shower starts. Rich is three down at the time. There is no thunder or lightning around. Rich says, "Let's duck into the shelter and wait for the rain to go away." Jack says, "No, let's play!" Rich goes into the shelter anyway, while Jack completes play of the 14th hole. Rich and Jack have to continue the match from where their tee balls landed after the rain stops. Rich is now four down. Rich is now five down. Rich is disqualified. Rule 7 - Practice Coming up the Eleventh hole after his tee shot, Joe is one-up. He sees a practice ball lying on the fairway, and hits it to the practice green, trying to see how close he can get it to the hole. Joe is takes a two stroke penalty and is lying three. Joe loses the hole. There is no penalty Joe is disqualified Rule 8 - Advice; Indicating Line of Play On the 18th tee, Monica and Chris (Monica's opponent) are even. Monica hits first. Chris asks Monica's caddie, "What club did she hit there?" Monica's caddie, wisely, doesn't say a word. There is no penalty Chris loses the hole Monica loses the hole Rule 9 - Information as to Strokes Taken After they complete play on the first hole, Gene asks George what he took. George says he had a 7. Gene says, "so did I, the match is even." After teeing off on the second hole, Gene says, "Wait a minute. I had a 6 back there." Gene won the first hole The first hole was halved and the match is even Gene lost the first hole. Rule 10 - Order of Play Joan won the 6th hole. On the 7th hole, Sally goes to the tee and tees off first. Sally lost the hole. Sally takes a two-stroke penalty. If Joan objects, Joan should tee off, and then Sally should hit another tee shot with no penalty. Rule 11 - Teeing Ground Bob tees off from the 11th tee into the 11th fairway when he should be playing the 17th hole. His opponent, Charlie, tees off from the 11th tee also. After they get to their tee shots, they realize their mistake, and both agree to play to the 17th green and they both hole out for a 5. Bob lost the hole. There is no penalty, and the hole stands as played. They should cancel the hole and start over from the 17th tee. Both players are disqualified. Rule 12 - Searching for and Identifying Ball On the 7th hole, Bill fades his ball to the right of the green. When he gets there, he finds a ball, but it is completely covered with mud. Bill yells to his opponent Jack, that he is going to lift his ball to identify it. Jack watches from the top of the hill. Bill marks the position of the ball, picks it up, rubs the surface on the ball to see if he can find his identifying mark, finds it, replaces the ball, and plays his next stroke. Bill lost the hole Bill took a one-stroke penalty Bill took a two-stroke penalty Bill did not take a penalty. Rule 13 - Ball Played as It Lies; Lie, Area of Intended Swing and Line of Play; Stance On the 8th hole, Frank hits his ball under a small tree. As he takes his stance, there is a branch with leaves on it hanging down from the tree directly behind the ball. Frank hooks the branch behind another branch, takes his stance and hits the ball. He then replaces the branch to it's original position. Frank did not take a penalty. Frank took a one-stroke penalty Frank took a two-stroke penalty Frank lost the hole. Rule 14 - Striking the Ball In a rainstorm, Jill's caddie holds an umbrella over her head as she makes a putt on the 9th hole. Jill did not take a penalty. Jill took a one-stroke penalty Jill took a two-stroke penalty Jill lost the hole. Rule 15 - Wrong Ball; Substituted Ball Both Joe and his opponent Don fade their balls very close to each other in the rough to the right of the 5th hole. Don finds a ball and hits it into the fairway. Joe finds another ball and hits it 50 yards beyond where the ball that Don hit lies. When Don gets to the ball, he finds that it is not his ball. Joe identifies it as his, and then goes forward to the other ball to find out that it is Don's ball. Since they played each other's ball, and no serious damage was done, Joe and Don should just continue play of the hole. Since Don hit the wrong ball first, he loses the hole. Since they both hit wrong balls, the hole is halved. They should both go back to where they hit each other's ball, drop a ball there, and continue with two-stroke penalties. Rule 16 - The Putting Green John is on the 13th green lying 3. He hits his putt and it stops on the lip of the hole. John walks to the ball and waits for twenty seconds to see if the ball will fall in; sure enough, it finally does! John took a 4. John took a 5. John lost the hole. Rule 17 - The Flagstick Phil and his opponent Scott are on the first green. Phil has a 40 foot putt, and he asks Scott to tend the pin. Phil hits the putt, and Scott tries to take the flagstick out of the cup but it sticks and doesn't come out. Phil's ball hits the flagstick and the ball stops 3 inches away. There is no penalty Phil lost the hole Scott lost the hole Phil takes a two-stroke penalty. Rule 18 - Ball at Rest Moved Jay has a five foot putt for a 3. His opponent Dwayne is in the hole in 4. Jay puts his feet in position for the stroke, and places his putter on the ground behind the ball. The ball moves a quarter turn. Jay picks up the ball, and replaces it. He then hits the ball into the cup. Jay incurs no penalty, holed the ball in 3 strokes, and won the hole. Jay incurs a one-stroke penalty, holed the ball in 4 strokes, and halved the hole. Jay lost the hole. Rule 19 - Ball in Motion Deflected or Stopped Jeff and his opponent, Kirk, are sharing a cart. Jeff's ball comes to rest in a bunker to the left of the 5th green. Kirk drops him off, and parks the cart near the 6th tee. Kirk then gets out of the cart, and stands on the 5th green. Jeff skulls his bunker shot across the green and it hits the cart. There is no penalty; play the ball as it lies. Jeff loses the hole. Kirk loses the hole. Rule 20 - Lifting, Dropping and Placing; Playing from Wrong Place On the 17th hole, Maria hits her tee shot into the rough. When she gets to that area, she is unable to find her ball. She drops another ball into that area, and hits onto the green. She takes two putts. Her opponent scored an 8 on the hole. Maria lost the hole. Maria took a 5 on the hole and won it. Maria took a 6 on the hole and won it. Rule 21 - Cleaning Ball On the 10th hole, George hits his tee shot into the fairway. When he gets there, he finds a large clump of mud on the ball. George marks the position of the ball, lifts it and removes the mud, replaces the ball and hits it onto the green. No penalty George lost the hole George took a one-stroke penalty George took a two-stroke penalty. Rule 22 - Ball Interfering with or Assisting Play Bill's ball lies on the green 2 inches from the hole. His opponent, Don, asks Bill not to lift the ball, in the hope that Don's putt might hit Bill's ball and ricochet into the hole. Bill marks and lifts the ball anyway. Bill loses the hole Don takes a two-stroke penalty Neither player receives a penalty Rule 23 - Loose Impediments Steve is required to drop his ball under another Rule into an area of the course that has a large number of loose twigs on the ground. Steve clears the drop area of twigs and then drops the ball. Steve did not take a penalty. Steve took a one-stroke penalty Steve took a two-stroke penalty Steve lost the hole. Rule 24 - Obstructions Jim has hit his ball to the right side of the 8th hole, near the 18th tee. A screen meant to protect players on the tee is 6 feet away from Jim's ball, between the ball and the hole. May Jim move his ball so that the screen is not in his way? Yes No Rule 25 - Abnormal Ground Conditions and Wrong Putting Green Wes has hit his tee shot on the 9th hole over the green onto the putting green. He wants to chip from the putting green over the cart path and rough and onto the 9th green. Is he allowed to do this? Yes No Rule 26 - Water Hazards (Including Lateral Water Hazards) Joe hooks his ball on the 14th hole into a water hazard. Joe decides not to hit the ball out of the hazard. Which of the following options is not open to Joe? Go back to the tee and hit another tee shot. Drop a ball behind the hazard, keeping the point of entry between him and the hole. Drop a ball on the fairway where the line of flight of the tee shot left the fairway. Rule 27 - Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball Chris hits his ball to the left on the 10th hole. After searching for the ball, he returns to the tee and hits another ball into the fairway. As he is returning, one of his group finds his original ball. Chris must: Play his original ball, lying one. Play his second ball, lying two. Play his second ball, lying three. Rule 28 - Ball Unplayable Scott hits his ball into some tree roots. He tells his opponent, Jack, that he is going to take an unplayable lie. Jack says, "You wimp! I could hit it outta there. Play it!" Can Scott take an unplayable lie? Yes No Rule 30. Three-Ball, Best-Ball and Four-Ball Match Play Bill and Joe are playing as a side in the semi-finals of the Club Two-Ball Championship, which is played at Four-Ball Match Play, against Gary and Tom. They have all agreed that the match will start at Noon. At that time, Bill, Gary and Tom are on the tee, but Joe is nowhere to be found. The three players tee off. As they are preparing to hit their second shots, Joe calls down, "Bill! Wait for me!" Which of the following must happen? Joe can hit his tee shot on one and join the match on the first hole. Joe can join the match on the second hole; Bill's ball must be played against the better ball of Gary and Tom on the first hole. Bill and Joe lose the hole. Bill and Joe must forfeit the match. Please fill in your details below and we will email you with your score and the correct answers. First Name: Last Name: Club: Age: Handicap: Email address:
This is a Rules quiz with no trick questions. There are 29 questions, one for each of the first 30 Rules (except Rule 29.) Assume that the players are playing in a Match Play tournament, unless otherwise stated. Good Luck!
Rule 1 - The Game Don and Joe are getting ready to tee off, and Don says to Joe, "You know, we're both really terrible out of sand traps. If we get into one, let's throw our ball out to the side, no penalty." Joe agrees to this. Don loses the first hole Don is disqualified Both Don and Joe are disqualified
Rule 2 - Match Play Bill has a putt of two feet to win the hole. His opponent generously says, "That's good." Bill putts anyway, and misses it. Bill won the hole Bill halved the hole Bill lost the hole
Rule 3 - Stroke Play In a stroke play tournament, Jim chips up to 2 inches from the hole. Another player in the group hits the ball back to him, saying "that's a gimme!" Jim replaces the ball where it was, and putts it into the hole. Jim is not penalized Jim is penalized one stroke Jim is penalized two strokes
Rule 4 - Clubs Walking to the fifth tee, Ron discovers that someone else's club got stuck into his bag by mistake near the clubhouse before teeing off, meaning that Ron is now carrying 15 clubs, one more than the maximum of 14 clubs. After the fourth hole, Ron was two up. Ron is now: Two up Two down Even Ron loses the match
Rule 5 - The Ball Steve tops his brand new Titleist on the sixth hole, and it hits the cart path. After he walks up to the ball, he sees a large scuff mark on his ball. May Steve declare the ball unfit for play and substitute a new ball? Yes No
Rule 6 - The Player Rich and Jack have just teed off on fourteen, and a heavy rain shower starts. Rich is three down at the time. There is no thunder or lightning around. Rich says, "Let's duck into the shelter and wait for the rain to go away." Jack says, "No, let's play!" Rich goes into the shelter anyway, while Jack completes play of the 14th hole. Rich and Jack have to continue the match from where their tee balls landed after the rain stops. Rich is now four down. Rich is now five down. Rich is disqualified.
Rule 7 - Practice Coming up the Eleventh hole after his tee shot, Joe is one-up. He sees a practice ball lying on the fairway, and hits it to the practice green, trying to see how close he can get it to the hole. Joe is takes a two stroke penalty and is lying three. Joe loses the hole. There is no penalty Joe is disqualified
Rule 8 - Advice; Indicating Line of Play On the 18th tee, Monica and Chris (Monica's opponent) are even. Monica hits first. Chris asks Monica's caddie, "What club did she hit there?" Monica's caddie, wisely, doesn't say a word. There is no penalty Chris loses the hole Monica loses the hole
Rule 9 - Information as to Strokes Taken After they complete play on the first hole, Gene asks George what he took. George says he had a 7. Gene says, "so did I, the match is even." After teeing off on the second hole, Gene says, "Wait a minute. I had a 6 back there." Gene won the first hole The first hole was halved and the match is even Gene lost the first hole.
Rule 10 - Order of Play Joan won the 6th hole. On the 7th hole, Sally goes to the tee and tees off first. Sally lost the hole. Sally takes a two-stroke penalty. If Joan objects, Joan should tee off, and then Sally should hit another tee shot with no penalty.
Rule 11 - Teeing Ground Bob tees off from the 11th tee into the 11th fairway when he should be playing the 17th hole. His opponent, Charlie, tees off from the 11th tee also. After they get to their tee shots, they realize their mistake, and both agree to play to the 17th green and they both hole out for a 5. Bob lost the hole. There is no penalty, and the hole stands as played. They should cancel the hole and start over from the 17th tee. Both players are disqualified.
Rule 12 - Searching for and Identifying Ball On the 7th hole, Bill fades his ball to the right of the green. When he gets there, he finds a ball, but it is completely covered with mud. Bill yells to his opponent Jack, that he is going to lift his ball to identify it. Jack watches from the top of the hill. Bill marks the position of the ball, picks it up, rubs the surface on the ball to see if he can find his identifying mark, finds it, replaces the ball, and plays his next stroke. Bill lost the hole Bill took a one-stroke penalty Bill took a two-stroke penalty Bill did not take a penalty.
Rule 13 - Ball Played as It Lies; Lie, Area of Intended Swing and Line of Play; Stance On the 8th hole, Frank hits his ball under a small tree. As he takes his stance, there is a branch with leaves on it hanging down from the tree directly behind the ball. Frank hooks the branch behind another branch, takes his stance and hits the ball. He then replaces the branch to it's original position. Frank did not take a penalty. Frank took a one-stroke penalty Frank took a two-stroke penalty Frank lost the hole.
Rule 14 - Striking the Ball In a rainstorm, Jill's caddie holds an umbrella over her head as she makes a putt on the 9th hole. Jill did not take a penalty. Jill took a one-stroke penalty Jill took a two-stroke penalty Jill lost the hole.
Rule 15 - Wrong Ball; Substituted Ball Both Joe and his opponent Don fade their balls very close to each other in the rough to the right of the 5th hole. Don finds a ball and hits it into the fairway. Joe finds another ball and hits it 50 yards beyond where the ball that Don hit lies. When Don gets to the ball, he finds that it is not his ball. Joe identifies it as his, and then goes forward to the other ball to find out that it is Don's ball. Since they played each other's ball, and no serious damage was done, Joe and Don should just continue play of the hole. Since Don hit the wrong ball first, he loses the hole. Since they both hit wrong balls, the hole is halved. They should both go back to where they hit each other's ball, drop a ball there, and continue with two-stroke penalties.
Rule 16 - The Putting Green John is on the 13th green lying 3. He hits his putt and it stops on the lip of the hole. John walks to the ball and waits for twenty seconds to see if the ball will fall in; sure enough, it finally does! John took a 4. John took a 5. John lost the hole.
Rule 17 - The Flagstick Phil and his opponent Scott are on the first green. Phil has a 40 foot putt, and he asks Scott to tend the pin. Phil hits the putt, and Scott tries to take the flagstick out of the cup but it sticks and doesn't come out. Phil's ball hits the flagstick and the ball stops 3 inches away. There is no penalty Phil lost the hole Scott lost the hole Phil takes a two-stroke penalty.
Rule 18 - Ball at Rest Moved Jay has a five foot putt for a 3. His opponent Dwayne is in the hole in 4. Jay puts his feet in position for the stroke, and places his putter on the ground behind the ball. The ball moves a quarter turn. Jay picks up the ball, and replaces it. He then hits the ball into the cup. Jay incurs no penalty, holed the ball in 3 strokes, and won the hole. Jay incurs a one-stroke penalty, holed the ball in 4 strokes, and halved the hole. Jay lost the hole.
Rule 19 - Ball in Motion Deflected or Stopped Jeff and his opponent, Kirk, are sharing a cart. Jeff's ball comes to rest in a bunker to the left of the 5th green. Kirk drops him off, and parks the cart near the 6th tee. Kirk then gets out of the cart, and stands on the 5th green. Jeff skulls his bunker shot across the green and it hits the cart. There is no penalty; play the ball as it lies. Jeff loses the hole. Kirk loses the hole.
Rule 20 - Lifting, Dropping and Placing; Playing from Wrong Place On the 17th hole, Maria hits her tee shot into the rough. When she gets to that area, she is unable to find her ball. She drops another ball into that area, and hits onto the green. She takes two putts. Her opponent scored an 8 on the hole. Maria lost the hole. Maria took a 5 on the hole and won it. Maria took a 6 on the hole and won it.
Rule 21 - Cleaning Ball On the 10th hole, George hits his tee shot into the fairway. When he gets there, he finds a large clump of mud on the ball. George marks the position of the ball, lifts it and removes the mud, replaces the ball and hits it onto the green. No penalty George lost the hole George took a one-stroke penalty George took a two-stroke penalty.
Rule 22 - Ball Interfering with or Assisting Play Bill's ball lies on the green 2 inches from the hole. His opponent, Don, asks Bill not to lift the ball, in the hope that Don's putt might hit Bill's ball and ricochet into the hole. Bill marks and lifts the ball anyway. Bill loses the hole Don takes a two-stroke penalty Neither player receives a penalty
Rule 23 - Loose Impediments Steve is required to drop his ball under another Rule into an area of the course that has a large number of loose twigs on the ground. Steve clears the drop area of twigs and then drops the ball. Steve did not take a penalty. Steve took a one-stroke penalty Steve took a two-stroke penalty Steve lost the hole.
Rule 24 - Obstructions Jim has hit his ball to the right side of the 8th hole, near the 18th tee. A screen meant to protect players on the tee is 6 feet away from Jim's ball, between the ball and the hole. May Jim move his ball so that the screen is not in his way? Yes No
Rule 25 - Abnormal Ground Conditions and Wrong Putting Green Wes has hit his tee shot on the 9th hole over the green onto the putting green. He wants to chip from the putting green over the cart path and rough and onto the 9th green. Is he allowed to do this? Yes No
Rule 26 - Water Hazards (Including Lateral Water Hazards) Joe hooks his ball on the 14th hole into a water hazard. Joe decides not to hit the ball out of the hazard. Which of the following options is not open to Joe? Go back to the tee and hit another tee shot. Drop a ball behind the hazard, keeping the point of entry between him and the hole. Drop a ball on the fairway where the line of flight of the tee shot left the fairway.
Rule 27 - Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball Chris hits his ball to the left on the 10th hole. After searching for the ball, he returns to the tee and hits another ball into the fairway. As he is returning, one of his group finds his original ball. Chris must: Play his original ball, lying one. Play his second ball, lying two. Play his second ball, lying three.
Rule 28 - Ball Unplayable Scott hits his ball into some tree roots. He tells his opponent, Jack, that he is going to take an unplayable lie. Jack says, "You wimp! I could hit it outta there. Play it!" Can Scott take an unplayable lie? Yes No
Rule 30. Three-Ball, Best-Ball and Four-Ball Match Play Bill and Joe are playing as a side in the semi-finals of the Club Two-Ball Championship, which is played at Four-Ball Match Play, against Gary and Tom. They have all agreed that the match will start at Noon. At that time, Bill, Gary and Tom are on the tee, but Joe is nowhere to be found. The three players tee off. As they are preparing to hit their second shots, Joe calls down, "Bill! Wait for me!" Which of the following must happen? Joe can hit his tee shot on one and join the match on the first hole. Joe can join the match on the second hole; Bill's ball must be played against the better ball of Gary and Tom on the first hole. Bill and Joe lose the hole. Bill and Joe must forfeit the match.
Please fill in your details below and we will email you with your score and the correct answers.
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