When the first known Rules of golf – the 13 Articles and Laws in Playing at Golf – were drawn up in Edinburgh in 1744, they were just 338 words long. Using a smallish font size, they fit on a single page.
Although many of the principles contained in those 13 articles remain, the Rules of Golf have evolved slightly over the last 280 years. The current 2023 Rules of Golf are considerably longer.
There are now 25 Rules with multiple subsections contained within each of them. The section of the Rule book that covers those 25 rules comprises 192 pages of A5. The full rule book, including contents, definitions and index is 256 pages.
There’s also an Official Guide To The Rules of Golf that is published by The R&A and USGA. It includes the Rules but also clarifications for each of the 25 Rules – examples of situations pertaining to each Rule to help give context. It also contains guidance for Committees on General Play, Competitions and Model Local Rules. This Guide to the Rules stretches to a whopping 525 pages in total.
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The reason for the length and complexity of golf’s Rules is the fact the game can be affected by a huge number of variables. A vast array of scenarios can occur during 18 holes of golf and the Rules must be able to deal with each of them, even if a situation occurs that has never been faced before –
“An alien spacecraft has landed on the line of your putt… What do you do?”
Well, thankfully, the Rules have you covered. It would very much depend on the size of the alien spacecraft. If it was a really wee one, it would be a movable obstruction (Rule 15) and you could simply shift it politely out of the way. If it was a biggie, it would be an immovable obstruction (Rule 16) and, because you’re on the putting surface and it’s in your line, you could place your ball to the side of the craft and putt past it.
The Rules of Golf are undoubtedly quite long, but how do they compare to other sports? Does golf stand alone in having a weighty tome of a rule book?
Cricket
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Non cricketers tend to find it quite difficult to understand the sport of cricket, and it pushes golf all the way in terms of complexity of rules. The laws of cricket have been looked after by the Marylebone Cricket Club since the…
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