You’re playing a blinder. You’re three ahead of your handicap through eight holes and feeling like this could be your “round of the year.”
On the 9th, you miss the green badly and are struggling for the first time during the game. You reach for your most lofted wedge and then realise, to your dismay, you are carrying an extra club.
You’d been at the practice chipping green before the round deciding which wedges to take and you’ve forgotten to remove the extra club before teeing off.
What happens now? You’re on the 9th hole with 15 clubs in your bag… Is your round ruined? Are you disqualified?
It’s good news with a bit of bad news thrown in. The good news is – you are not disqualified.
The Rules of Golf are quite clear when it comes to carrying golf clubs. Rule 4.1b says that a player must not start a round with more than 14 clubs, nor have more than 14 clubs during the round.
In the example above, you’ve realised on the course that you have more than 14 clubs during the round so you have broken Rule 4.1b.
The penalty for breaking Rule 4.1b depends on when you realise the breach has been made.
You will receive a general penalty (in stroke play) of two strokes per each hole on which the breach happened, up to a maximum of four shots, or (in match play) a deduction of one hole for each hole the breach occurred on, up to a maximum of two holes.
That means, if you realise on the 1st hole that you are carrying an extra club, you receive either a two stroke or one hole penalty.
That’s what happened to Ian Woosnam in the 2001 Open. He realised on the 2nd tee that he had an extra driver in his bag. He received a two-stroke penalty only, as he had not teed off on the 2nd when he noticed the mistake.
If you realise having teed off on the 2nd hole, or beyond, that you have 15 clubs, it’s the max – 4 shots or 2 holes penalty.
In your case (as per situation above on the 9th hole) – it’s the maximum penalty.
When you realise you have an extra club, you must follow Rule 4.1c and take the club out of play. You can do this by telling your playing partner or opponent it is out of play, or by turning it upside down in the bag to make it clear it is not being used.
If you were to use that club taken out of play at any point during the rest of the round, you would then be disqualified.
If you realise before your round that you have a 15th club in the bag, you can declare it out of play before you make a stroke on the 1st hole with no penalty. If you declare it or turn it upside down to make it clear it’s not in play, you won’t face a penalty for simply carrying it.
Again though, if you were to then make a stroke with that club you had declared out of play, you would be disqualified.
Simple answer to the question though – You realise on the 9th hole you have a 15th club in your bag, are you disqualified? No. You will though incur either a four-shot penalty or a deduction of two holes.
