NCG’s Golf Glossary: What is the honour?

Here at NCG we pride ourselves on being the publication for the everyday player, so we’ve taken it upon ourselves to delve into the wonderful world of the golfing lexicon.

Sometimes the most obvious terms have the most interesting story, so you might find yourself an interesting conversation starter…

What is the honour?

The honour in golf is when the player who scored the lowest score on the previous hole goes first on the next tee.

In matchplay the honour is given to the player who won the previous hole.

Once of the tee, the person is usually furthest away from the hole plays first.

How would I use it in a sentence?

“He won the previous hole so he takes the honour on the next tee”

What are the origins?

Giving a player the honour is simply seen as etiquette as the R&A say that the game likes to promote the places of courtesy, respect and fairplay.

In 1891 the R&A created a separate section in the rule of golf just on the etiquette in golf.

On the honour the rules stated: “The player who leads from the tee should be allowed to play before his opponent tees his ball”

Any other business?

Despite all this, the R&A are trying to promote ready golf which is under the ‘Pace of Play’ section of the ‘Rules and Equipment’.

These state that players should always try and tee off as quickly as they can and that the person who is ready first should tee off first.

This can’t be done in matchplay. If you play out of turn in matchplay you don’t receive a penalty, however, your opponent may ask you to retake your shot if you do so.

Click here to return to NCG’s Golf Glossary