Before commencing your round:
(1) Read the Local Rules on the score card.
(2) Put an identification mark on your ball. Many golfers play the same brand of ball and if you can't identify your ball, it's lost.
(3) Count your clubs. You are allowed a maximum of 14 clubs.
During the round, don't ask for "advice" from anyone except your partner or caddie. Don't give advice to anyone except your partner.
During a hole you may not play a practice stroke.

Golf rules and other regulations

The rules of golf are internationally standardised and are jointly governed by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club , which was founded 1754 and the United States Golf Association (USGA). By agreement with the R&A, USGA jurisdiction on the enforcement and interpretation of the rules is limited to the United States and Mexico. Canada has the separate Royal Canadian Golf Association, but generally follows the lead of the two larger bodies in the rules of golf continue to evolve, amended versions of the rule book are usually published and made effective in a four year cycle.

The underlying principle of the rules is fairness. As stated on the back cover of the official rule book: "play the ball as it lies", "play the course as you find it", and "if you can't do either, do what is fair". Some rules state that:

* every player is entitled and obliged to play the ball from the position where it has come to rest after a stroke, unless a rule allows or demands otherwise .

*a player must not accept assistance in making a stroke .

*the condition of the ground or other parts of the course may not be altered to gain an advantage, except in some cases defined in the rules

* a ball may only be replaced by another during play of a hole if it is destroyed , lost , or unplayable, or at some other time permitted by the Rules. The player may always substitute balls between the play of two holes.