I often spend rounds painfully grimacing at some of the things golfers get up to on the course. It doesn’t matter if it’s club hackers or elite players they can find ways to get into trouble.
It’s why I’ve said, repeatedly, we should all have passed some kind of golf proficiency course before being let loose in competition.
But there is a rule that seems universally understood by the masses and it’s that we’re allowed a maximum of 14 clubs during a round.
Fun fact (though you’ll be the judge): The USGA brought in the 14-club rule in golf in 1938, with The R&A following the next year.
In his brilliant book The Rules of the Green, Kenneth Chapman wrote that Lawson Little was said to have up to 31 clubs in his bag when he won the Amateur Championship in 1934 and 1935.
Imagine the poor caddies? And while Chapman adds that 14 clubs seems to have been an arbitrary number, I’m not sure anyone would disagree a ceiling wasn’t a good idea!
Anyhow, we’ve been living with it for nearly 100 years and we understand it. But it’s propensity to get in the minds of golfers is still undimmed if this email is anything to go by:
“Whilst playing a mixed competition round we found a lost club on the course. My playing partners all had 14 clubs and were concerned that if they put the club in their bags to take it back to the club they would be penalised. I carry only 11 so I put it in my bag. Were they correct?”
That is one group determined to avoid a sanction. But did they need to worry? Let’s delve into the 14-club rule to find out…
14 club rule in golf: Does a lost club count?
You can’t start a round with more than 14 clubs or have more than 14 clubs during the round. So says Rule 4.1b (1). It’s a chunky penalty for those who breach it – I should know, it’s happened to me. In stroke play it’s two penalty shots for each hole where a breach occurred – up to a maximum of four in one round.
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In match play, you revise the score by deducting holes – up to a maximum of two. So if you started a game with 15 clubs and won the third to go two up, the penalty would bring you back to all square (I still can’t get to grips with saying ‘tied’).
So it’s a punishment you definitely want to avoid. But don’t worry, you’re not going to get struck down for picking up a club you’ve found on the course.
Scroll down Rule 4.1b (1) and you’ll see the following: “After a player’s round has started, if the player picks up another player’s club that was left behind, or a club is mistakenly put in the player’s bag without their knowledge, the club is not treated as one of the player’s club’s for purposes of the 14-club limit (but it must not be used).”
Why can’t you give it a spin? You’re not allowed take a shot with a club being used by anyone else who is playing on the course, says Rule 4.1b (2), “even if the other player is playing in a different group or competition”.
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
What do you think about the 14 club rule in golf? Let me you what you think, and send me your own rules questions, by emailing me at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com or by leaving us a comment on X.
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