What are the penalties in golf?
B · Beginner · Players, equipment and conduct · 13 of 13Golf has three levels of penalty. One penalty stroke covers minor breaches and taking penalty relief. The general penalty is two strokes in stroke play or loss of the hole in match play, and covers most breaches. Disqualification is for serious misconduct or a score that cannot be trusted.
How it works
| Level | Examples from this set |
|---|---|
| One penalty stroke | Stroke and distance for a lost ball or out of bounds; penalty area relief; unplayable ball; a player moving their own ball; lifting a ball without marking it; a ball that drops in after the ten-second wait |
| General penalty | Playing a wrong ball; playing from a wrong place; improving the lie; touching the sand before a bunker shot; asking for advice; anchoring the club; starting up to five minutes late |
| Disqualification | Returning a hole score lower than the one made; not holing out in stroke play; a stroke with a non-conforming club; starting more than five minutes late; playing on after an immediate suspension; serious misconduct |
- Players apply their own penalties. A player who knows of a penalty and deliberately does not apply it is disqualified. So are players who agree to ignore a Rule they know applies.
- No discretion. Neither a player nor the Committee may vary a penalty.
- Several breaches at once: a player who breaks more than one Rule, or one Rule several times, before making another stroke or learning of the breach gets a single penalty, the higher one. Breaches on either side of such an event are penalised separately.
- A penalty stroke for taking relief is always added on top of any other penalty.
- A caddie's breach is the player's.
Tricky cases
Can a referee reduce a penalty because the breach was an accident?
No. Penalties are applied only as the Rules provide, and nobody has authority to apply them differently.
A player broke two Rules with one action. Are there two penalties?
It depends on what happened in between. With no stroke completed and no awareness of the first breach in between, there is one penalty, the higher of the two.
Is there a two-stroke penalty in match play?
No. The general penalty in match play is loss of the hole. One-stroke penalties apply in both forms.
Why the rule exists
The Rules state the aim: penalties "are meant to cancel out any potential advantage to the player". The three levels match the size of the advantage.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Rules of Golf, stroke play | General penalty is two strokes | G 1.3c |
| Rules of Golf, match play | General penalty is loss of hole | G 1.3c |
| A Committee with a Code of Conduct | Extra penalties for conduct | G 1.2b |
From the rule book
The R&A and USGA Rules of Golf, Rules 1.2, 1.3 and 10.3c, and the Definition of general penalty. Effective January 2023. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: Rules of Golf (PDF).