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.
