The Rules of Golf, 1907

This particular version of the rules was in use in England in 1907 and I've copied them from The Golfer's Manual, by W. Meredith Butler.

I thought publishing this might be useful. A few of the older books listed at classicgolfbooks.com date back as far as the early 1900's. Also, the glossary of old terms elsewhere on classicgolfbooks.com refers to definitions from the rule book.

The Rules Of Golf

(As revised by the Rules of Golf Committee, 1907)

1. Definitions: (a) The Game of Golf is played by two sides, each playing its own ball. A side consists either of one or of two players. If one player play against another the match is called a "single." If two play against two, it is called a "foursome." One player may play against two playing one ball between them, when the match is called a "threesome." Matches constituted as above shall have precedence of and be entitled to pass any other kind of match. (b) The game consists in each side playing a ball from a teeing-ground into a hole by successive strokes, and the hole is won by the side which holes its ball in fewer strokes than the opposite side, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules. If the sides hole out in the same number of strokes, the hole is halved.

(c) The "teeing-ground" is the starting-point for a hole and shall be indicated by two marks placed in a line as nearly as possible at right angles to the course. The hole shall be 4½ inches in diameter, and at least 4 inches deep.

(d) The "putting-green" is all ground within 20 yards of the hole, except hazards.

(e) A "hazard" is any bunker, water (except casual water), sand, path, road, railway, whin, bush, rushes, rabbit-scrape, fence or ditch. Sand blown on to the grass, or sprinkled on the course for its preservation, bare patches, sheep tracks, snow, and ice are not hazards. Permanent grass within a hazard is not part of the hazard.

(f) "Through the green" is any part of the course except hazards and the putting-green which is being played to.

(g) "Out of bounds" is any place outside the defined or recognised boundaries of the course.

(h) "Casual water" is any temporary accumulation of water (whether caused by rainfall or otherwise) which is not one of the ordinary and recognised hazards of the course.

(i') A ball is "in play" as soon as a player has made a stroke at the teeing-ground in each hole, and remains in play until holed out, except when lifted in accordance with the Rules.

(j) A ball has "moved" only if it leave its original position in the least degree and stop in another; but if it merely oscillate, without finally leaving its original position, it has not "moved."

(k) A ball is "lost" if it be not found within five minutes after the search for it is begun.

(l) A "match" consists of one round of the Links, unless it be otherwise agreed. A match is won by the side which is leading by a number of holes greater than the number of holes remaining to be played. If each side win the same number of holes, the match is halved.

(m) A "stroke" is any movement of the ball caused by the player, except as provided for in Rule 3, or any downward movement of the club made with the intention of striking the ball.

(n) A "penalty stroke" is a stroke added to the score of a side under certain rules, and does not affect the rotation of play.

(o) The "honour" is the privilege of playing first from a tee-ing-ground.

(p) A player has "addressed the ball" when he has taken up his position and grounded his club, or if in a hazard, when he has taken up his position preparatory to striking the ball.

(q) The reckoning of strokes is kept by the terms -"the odd," "two more," "three more," etc., and "one off three," "one off two," "the like." The reckoning of the holes is kept by the terms - so many "holes up," or "all even," and so many "to play."

2. A match begins by each side playing a ball from the first teeing-ground. The player who shall play first on each side shall be named by his own side. The option of taking the honour at the first teeing-ground shall be decided, if necessary, by lot. A ball played from in front of, or outside of, or more than two club lengths behind the marks indicating the teeing-ground, or played by a player when his opponent should have had the honour, may be at once recalled by the opposite side, and may be re-teed without penalty. The side which wins a hole shall have the honour at the next teeing-ground. If a hole has been halved, the side which had the honour at the previous teeing-ground shall retain the honour. On beginning a new match the winner of the long match in the previous round shall have the honour, or if the previous match was halved, the side which last won a hole shall have the honour.

3. If the ball fall or be knocked off the tee in addressing it, no penalty shall be incurred, and it may be replaced, and if struck when moving no penalty shall be incurred.

4. In a threesome or foursome the partners shall strike off alternately from the teeing-grounds, and shall strike alternately during the play of the hole. If a player play when his partner should have done so, his side shall lose the hole.

5. When the balls are in play, the ball further from the hole which the players are approaching shall be played first, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules. If a player play when his opponent should have done so, the opponent may at once re-call the stroke. A ball so recalled shall be dropped, in the manner prescribed in Rule 15, as near as possible to the place where it lay, without penalty.

6. The ball must be fairly struck at, not pushed or scraped, nor spooned, under penalty of the loss of the hole.

7. A ball must be played wherever it lies or the hole be given up, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules.

8. Unless with the opponent's consent, a ball in play shall not be moved, nor touched before the hole is played out, under penalty of one stroke, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules. But the player may touch his ball with his club in the act of addressing it, provided he does not move it, without penalty. If the player's ball move the opponent's ball through the green, the opponent, if he choose, may drop a ball (without penalty) as near as possible to the place where it lay, but this must be done before another stroke is played.

9. Loose Impediments. - In playing through the green any loose impediment (not being in or touching a hazard) which is within a club length of the ball may be removed. If the player's ball move after any such loose impediment has been touched by the player, his partner, or either of their caddies, the penalty shall be one stroke. If any loose impediment (not being on the putting-green) which is more than a club length from the ball be removed, the penalty shall be the loss of the hole.

10. Any vessel, wheel-barrow, tool, roller, grass-cutter, box or similar obstruction may be removed. If a ball be moved in so doing, it may be replaced without penalty. A ball lying on or touching such obstruction, or on clothes, nets, or ground under repair or covered up or opened for the purpose of the upkeep of the Links, may be lifted and dropped without penalty as near as possible to the place where it lay, but not nearer the hole. A ball lifted in a hazard, under such circumstances, shall be dropped in the hazard.

A ball lying in a golf hole or flag hole, or in a hole made by the greenkeeper, may be lifted and dropped without penalty as near as possible to the place where it lay, but not nearer the hole.

11. Before striking at a ball in play, the player shall not move, bend, nor break anything fixed or growing near the ball, except in the act of placing his feet on the ground for the purpose of addressing the ball, in soling his club to address the ball, and in his upward or downward swing, under penalty of the loss of the hole, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules.

12. Ball in Hazard. - When a ball lies in or touches a hazard, nothing shall be done to improve its lie; the club shall not touch the ground, nor shall anything be touched or moved before the player strikes at the ball, subject to the following exceptions: (1) The player may place his feet firmly on the ground for the purpose of addressing the ball. (2) In addressing the ball, or in the upward or downward swing, any grass, bent, whin, or other growing substance, or the side of a bunker, wall, paling, or other immovable obstacle may be touched. (3) Steps or planks placed in a hazard by the Green committee for access to or egress from such hazard may be removed, and if a ball be moved in so doing, it may be replaced without penalty. (4) Any loose impediments may be removed from the putting-green. (5) The player shall be entitled to find his ball as provided for by Rule 31. The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall be the loss of the hole.

13. A player or caddie shall not press down nor remove any irregularities of surface near a ball in play. Dung, worm-casts, or mole-hills may be removed (but not pressed down) without penalty. The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall be the loss of the hole.

14. Ball in Water.- (1) If a ball lie or be lost in water or in casual water in a hazard a ball may be dropped in or as far behind the hazard as the player may please, under penalty of one stroke; but if it be impossible, from want of space in which to play, or from any other cause, to drop the ball behind the hazard, the player may drop a ball at the side of the hazard as near as possible to where the ball lay, but not nearer to the hole, under penalty of one stroke. (2) If a ball lie or be lost in casual water through the green, or if casual water through the green interferes with the player's stance, the player may drop a ball, without penalty, within two club lengths from the margin directly behind the place where the ball lay, or from the margin nearest to the place where the ball lay, but not nearer to the hole. If the ball, when dropped, roll into the water, or rest so that the water interferes with the player's stance, it may be re-dropped, without penalty, as near to the margin as the nature of the ground permits, but not nearer to the hole. (3) In dropping a ball behind the spot from which the ball was lifted the player shall keep that spot, or, in the case of water, the spot at which the ball entered, in a line between himself and the hole. Wherever it is impossible to drop a ball as prescribed in sections (1) and (2) it shall be dropped as near as possible to the place where it lay, but not nearer to the hole. (4) If a ball lie in casual water on a putting-green, a ball may be placed by hand behind the water without penalty. The penalty for a breach of this rule shall be the loss of the hole.

15. Dropping the Ball. - A ball shall be dropped in the following manner: The player himself shall drop it. He shall face the hole, stand erect, and drop the ball behind him from his head.

If the ball, when dropped, touch the player, he shall incur no penalty, and if it roll into a hazard it may be re-dropped without penalty. The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall be the loss of the hole.

16. Putting-Green. - When the balls lie within six inches of each other on the putting-green, or within a club length of each other through the green or in a hazard (the distance to be measured from their nearest points), the ball nearer the hole may, at the option of either the player or the opponent, be lifted until the other is played, and shall then be replaced as near as possible to the place where it lay. If the ball further from the hole be moved in so doing, or in measuring the distance, it shall be replaced without penalty. If the lie of the lifted ball be altered by the player in playing, the ball may be placed in a lie as nearly as possible similar to that from which it was lifted, but not nearer the hole.

17. Any loose impediments may be removed from the putting-green, irrespective of the position of the player's ball. The opponent's ball may not be moved except as provided for by the immediately preceding Rule. If the player's ball move after any loose impediment lying within six inches of it has been touched by the player, his partner, or either of their caddies, the penalty shall be one stroke.

18. When the ball is on the putting-green, the player or his caddie may remove (but not press down) sand, earth, dung, worm-casts, mole-hills, snow, or ice lying around the hole or in the line of his putt. This shall be done by brushing lightly with the hand only across the putt and not along it. Dung may be removed by a club, but the club must not be laid with more than its own weight upon the ground. The line of the putt must not be touched, except with the club immediately in front of the ball, in the act of addressing it, or as above authorised. The penalty for a breach of this Rule is the loss of the hole.

19. When the ball is on the putting-green, no mark shall be placed, nor line drawn as a guide. The line of the putt may be pointed out by the player's caddie, his partner, or his partner's caddie, but the person doing so must not touch the ground.

The player's caddie, his partner, or his partner's caddie, may stand at the hole, but no player nor caddie shall endeavour, by moving or otherwise, to influence the action of the wind upon the ball. The penalty for a breach of this Rule is the loss of the hole.

20. When on the putting-green, a player shall not play until the opponent's ball is at rest, under penalty of one stroke.

21. Holing Out.- Either side is entitled to have the flag-stick removed when approaching the hole, but if a player's ball strike the flag-stick which has been so removed by himself, or his partner, or either of their caddies, his side shall lose the hole. If the ball rest against the flag-stick when in the hole, the player shall be entitled to remove the stick, and, if the ball fall in, it shall be deemed as having been holed out at the last stroke. If the player's ball knock in the opponent's ball, the latter shall be deemed as having been holed out at the last stroke. If the player's ball move the opponent's ball, the opponent, if he choose, may replace it, but this must be done before another stroke is played. If the player's ball stop on the spot formerly occupied by the opponent's ball, and the opponent declare his intention to replace, the player shall first play another stroke, after which the opponent shall replace and play his ball. If the opponent's ball lie on the edge of the hole, the player, after holing out, may knock it away, claiming the hole if holing at the like, and the half if holing at the odd, provided that the player's ball does not strike the opponent's ball and set it in motion. If, after the player's ball is in the hole, the player neglect to knock away the opponent's ball, and it fall in also, the opponent shall be deemed to have holed out at his last stroke.

22. Rubs of the Green, etc. - If a ball in motion be stopped or deflected by any agency outside the match, or by the forecaddie, the ball must be played from where it lies, and the occurrence submitted to as a "rub of the green." If a ball lodge in anything moving, a ball shall be dropped as near as possible to the place where the object was when the ball lodged in it, without penalty. If a ball at rest be displaced by any agency outside the match, excepting wind, the player shall drop a ball as near as possible to the place where it lay, without penalty. On the putting-green the ball shall be replaced by hand, without penalty.

23. Various Penalties. - If the player's ball strike, or be moved by an opponent or an opponent's caddie or clubs, the opponent shall lose the hole.

24. When a player has holed out and his opponent has been left with a putt for the half, nothing that the player can do shall deprive him of the half which he has already gained.

25. If the player's ball strike, or be stopped by himself or his partner, or either of their caddies or clubs, his side shall lose the hole.

26. If the player, when not intending to make a stroke, or his partner or either of their caddies move his or their ball, or, by touching anything, cause it to move when it is in play, the penalty shall be one stroke. If a ball in play move, after the player has grounded his club in the act of addressing it, or, when in a hazard, if he has taken up his stand to play it, he shall be deemed to have caused it to move, and the movement shall be counted as his stroke.

27. Except from the tee a player shall not play while his ball is moving under penalty of the loss of the hole. If the ball only begin to move while the player is making his upward or downward swing, he shall incur no penalty for playing while it is moving, but is not exempted from the penalty stroke which he may have incurred under Rules 9, 17, or 26. and, in a foursome, a stroke lost under Rule 26 shall not, in these circumstances, be counted as the stroke of the player so as to render him liable for having played when his partner should have done so.

28. If the player, when making a stroke, strike the ball twice, the penalty shall be one stroke, and he shall incur no further penalty by reason of his having played while his ball was moving.

29. If a player play the opponent's ball his side shall lose the hole, unless (1) the opponent then play the player's ball, whereby the penalty is cancelled, and the holes must be played out with the balls thus exchanged, or (2) the mistake occur through wrong information given by the opponent or his caddie, in which case there shall be no penalty, but the mistake, if discovered before the opponent has played, must be rectified by placing a ball as near as possible to the place where the opponent's ball lay.

If a player play a stroke with the ball of a party not engaged in the match, and the mistake be discovered and intimated to his opponent before his opponent has played his next stroke, there shall be no penalty, but if the mistake be not discovered and so intimated until after the opponent has played his next stroke, the player's side shall lose the hole.

30. Lost Balls and Out of Bounds. - If a ball be lost, except as otherwise provided for in the Rules, the player's side shall lose the hole; but if both balls be lost, the hole shall be considered halved.

31. If a ball lie in fog, bent, whins, long grass, or the like, only so much thereof shall be touched as will enable the player to find his ball, but if a ball lie in sand, the sand shall not be touched. The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall be the loss of the hole.

32. If a ball be played out of bounds, a ball shall be dropped at the spot from which the stroke was played, under penalty of loss of the distance. A ball played out of bounds need not be found. -

If it be doubtful whether a ball has been played out of bounds another may be dropped and played, but if it be discovered that the first ball is not out of bounds, it shall continue in play without penalty.

A player may stand out of bounds to play a ball lying within bounds.

33. Asking Advice. - A player shall not ask for advice from anyone except his own caddie, his partner, or his partner's caddie, nor shall he willingly be otherwise advised in any way whatever, under penalty of the loss of the hole.

34. Ball Cracking. - If a ball split into separate pieces, another ball may be put down where the largest portion lies, or if two pieces are apparently of equal size, it may be put where either piece lies, at the option of the player. If a ball crack or become unfit for play, the player may change it on intimating to his opponent his intention to do so. Mud adhering to a ball shall not be considered as making it unfit for play.

35. Where no penalty for the breach of a rule is stated, the penalty shall be the loss of the hole.

36. Disputes. - If a dispute arise on any point, the players have the right of determining the party or parties to whom it shall be referred, but should they not agree, either side may refer it to the Rules of Golf Committee, whose decision shall be final. If the point in dispute be not covered by the Rules of Golf, the arbiters must decide it by equity.

37. An umpire or referee, when appointed, shall take cognisance of any breach of rule that he may observe, whether he be appealed to on the point or not.


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The Golfer's Manual, by W. Meredith Butler.

*The book is out of copyright, and transcripts are available for free download from the internet. I don't have a particular source to recommend: if you're interested in downloading a copy, I suggest you try a Google search.