A Local Rule is a modification of a Rule or an additional Rule that the Committee adopts for general play or a particular competition. The Committee is responsible for deciding whether to adopt any Local Rules and for making sure they are consistent with the principles found in Section 8. The Committee needs to make sure that any Local Rules are available for players to see, whether on the scorecard, a separate handout, a notice board or the course’s website.
Local Rules that may be adopted for general play fall into the following general categories:
- Defining Course Boundaries and other Areas of the Course (Sections 8A-8D),
- Defining Special or Required Relief Procedures (Section 8E), and
- Defining Abnormal Course Conditions and Integral Objects (Section 8F).
The Committee should also take note of Section 8L – Unauthorized Local Rules.
A full listing of Model Local Rules can be found at the start of Section 8.
See Section 5C for other types of Local Rules that are more commonly adopted for competitions than for general play.