The answer to this question as of January 1, 2023, and at the date of publication of this article, is 25 but that number has changed over the years.
Back in 1744, The Gentlemen Golfers of Leith, who would later become the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield, drafted the earliest known written rules of the game – ‘Articles and Laws in Playing at Golf’ (known today as the ‘13 Articles’) - for a specific competition day on Leith links. So, the earliest known number of Rules is 13, with some of those early principles still recognisable in today’s code.
Various other clubs had their own codes and rules in golf’s early era and it wasn’t until 1891 that The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews first formed a committee to oversee a major update of its own code, which would subsequently become widely adopted. A few years later, The R&A became the game’s recognised rulemaking authority and its newly established Rules of Golf Committee published golf’s first ever ‘official’ Rules in 1899.
It is not the remit of this article to chronicle every change over the years, but the author did acquire a copy of the 1988 Rules in a charity shop some years ago. By then, the number of Rules totalled 34, albeit with countless sub-sections, clauses and exceptions, which meant that the number of scenarios and situations addressed probably ran well into treble figures if you really dissected things.
As a brief aside, in 2000 Callaway tried to add an extra Rule tongue-in-cheek when it named its first ever golf ball ‘Rule 35’, suggesting that Rule 35 should simply be, ‘Enjoy the game!’
But the actual figure remained at 34 until January 1, 2019 when The R&A’s and USGA’S major modernisation and improvement programme reduced that number down to 24 via various acts of streamlining, restructuring and amalgamation.
In the January 2023 Rules revisions, the number rose again to 25 when the Rules for players with disabilities were incorporated into the main Rules. They had been available via Local Rule for over 25 years but The R&A and USGA were eager to bring them into the main Rule book… although they also chose that year to stop printing and publishing pocket-sized books for players to carry around as part of a drive towards sustainability and to adapt to our modern digital world.
Just to recap, then - if the question, ‘How many Rules of Golf are there?’ comes up in your next pub quiz, the correct answer (as of early 2024) is 25.
The 25 Rules of Golf
Rule 1 – The Game, Player Conduct and the Rules
Rule 2 – The Course
Rule 3 – The Competition
Rule 4 – The Player’s Equipment
Rule 5 – Playing the Round
Rule 6 – Playing a Hole
Rule 7 – Ball Search: Finding and Identifying Ball
Rule 8 – Course Played as It Is Found
Rule 9 – Ball Played as It Lies; Ball at Rest Lifted or Moved
Rule 10 – Preparing for and Making a Stroke; Advice and Help; Caddies
Rule 11 – Ball in Motion Accidentally Hits Person, Animal or Object; Deliberate Actions to Affect Ball in Motion
Rule 12 – Bunkers
Rule 13 – Putting Greens
Rule 14 – Procedures for Ball: Marking, Lifting and Cleaning; Replacing on Spot; Dropping in Relief Area; Playing from Wrong Place
Rule 15 – Relief from Loose Impediments and Movable Obstructions
Rule 16 – Relief from Abnormal Course Conditions (Including Immovable Obstructions), Dangerous Animal Condition, Embedded Ball
Rule 17 – Penalty Areas
Rule 18 – Stroke-and-Distance Relief; Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball
Rule 19 – Unplayable Ball
Rule 20 – Resolving Rules Issues During Round; Rulings by Referee and Committee
Rule 21 – Other Forms of Individual Stroke Play and Match Play
Rule 22 – Foursomes (Also Known as Alternate Shot)
Rule 23 – Four-Ball
Rule 24 – Team Competitions
Rule 25 – Modifications for Players with Disabilities
