Golf is a game of Rules, but at The Open some of them feel very different. As the world’s best take on Royal Birkdale, they’ll have to deal with rules most club golfers will never experience.
Whether it’s relief from grandstands and camera towers to drones circling overhead, The Open has a set of rules that can seem a world away from your average weekend competition.
The R&A, who run The Open, have their own Local Rules and Terms of Competition for their championships. It’s more commonly known as the Hard Card. They also bring in specific additional Local Rules for the course where the championship is being played.
Some of these are quirky, to say the least. So here are eight you’ll see at Royal Birkdale this week but are unlikely to ever find at your club.
It’s one Hard Card: 8 Open rules you’ll never see at your club
A golf ball on its way into the hole | Source: Supplied
You can’t change golf ball brands during the round
What if Rory McIlroy wanted to change his TaylorMade TP5 ball to a TP5X between holes? Would that be a problem at The Open at Royal Birkdale?
It would. A big one. No one is rummaging around your bag to see what balls can be found – it will be all sorts! – but players at Birkdale, as they are at most professional tournaments, are restricted by the official sounding Model Local Rule G-4. It’s better known as the One Ball Rule.
It says players must use the same brand and model of ball for every stroke of a round. That ball also needs to be on a conforming list.
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The aim is to stop players from switching balls to suit different holes – from, say, a low-spin ball for a long Par-5 to a high-spin model on a tricky Par-3.
This rule is really strict. Two versions of the same ball, where one has a dash and one doesn’t, are different balls. It’s even the same for different coloured balls.
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The penalty for those who get this wrong can be tournament defining. It’s one shot for every hole where a different ball is used. Those penalty strokes soon add up!
And as soon as a player has realised they have messed up, they must put the original brand and model of ball back into play by the next tee. If they don’t, they’ll be disqualified!
A ball embedded into a stacked turf face above a bunker | Source: Getty Images
No relief for a plugged ball in a bunker face
The bunkers at Royal Birkdale are very tricky. Anyone who has ever played a links course will know the type that cause the biggest problem – those small, difficult, traps that have been build up with mounds of turf.
They’re known as stacked turf faces and, most of the time, you’ll usually get free relief if you’re ball got wedged into one.
Not at The Open. The R&A Hard Card is modified to say: “No free relief is allowed for a ball embedded in the stacked turf face above a bunker”.
Now, there are some links courses where this is a standard Local Rule – check those scorecards! – but most golfers will escape this situation.
If you see a ball stuck fast in one of these brutal bunkers faces at Royal Birkdale, pray for the unfortunate player and cross your fingers they can get it out.
Rangefinders are banned
Some big tournaments, noticeably many women’s tour events and the men’s PGA Championship, allow players to use distance measuring devices.
But The Open is not one of those. Model Local Rule G-5 prohibits the use of rangefinders, watches, and anything that can measure distance.
Tiger Woods putts out on the 18th hole at The Open at Royal Troon in 2024 | Source: Getty Images
Practice putting is off limits
Did you know you can practise putting or chipping “on or near the putting green of the hole last completed”? So if you’ve had a shocker with a tiddler at your club, you are allowed to try and right that wrong once the hole is over. It’s there in Rule 5.5b.
I say, YOU are allowed, because the competitors at Royal Birkdale this week are not. Model Local Rule I-2 forbids it and the penalties will be steep for anyone who forgets. It’s two-shots. Imagine missing the cut on Friday because you got this one wrong!
But it’s probably for the best. Rounds can be long enough already in professional events – even with a Pace of Play policy in place.
Older clubs might not conform
I once played a round with a fella boasting a full collection of Ping Eye 2 permission woods. They were a thing of beauty, and he hit them perfectly. This wasn’t decades ago, either, it was only in the last couple of years.
Plenty of club players still use older irons and clubs because they work – or because a new set costs a small fortune.
But Model Local Rule G-2, on Groove and Punch Mark Specifications, bans players at The Open from using any club that doesn’t conform to strict guidelines introduced in January 2010. You might not believe it, but there is an entire database of fairway woods, hybrids, irons and wedges players can consult to avoid a nasty surprise.
And while your club could apply this rule, I’ve never seen it happen. Let me know if you have! So if you’re still swinging that trusty old club – knock yourself out.
A player looks at their scorecard at The Open | Source: Getty Images
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Players can get time to fix a scorecard mistake
You stick your scorecard in a box at the end of the round and that’s it. If you suddenly go wide-eyed and realise you have made a mistake then you’re stuck. Let’s just hope it wasn’t a great score.
But it’s different this week during The Open at Royal Birkdale and generally on tour. While it’s not a change to the Rules of Golf, it gives Open competitors a bit of breathing room if they’ve sorted out their scorecard only to discover there might be a problem.
This policy says a player’s scorecard is officially “returned to the Committee 15 minutes after the scorecard is entered into the electronic scoring system”.
It adds: “But if a scorecard mistake is discovered before it is accepted into the electronic scoring system and the player is not in the scoring area to correct that mistake, the player’s scorecard is returned 15 minutes after that mistake is discovered.”
That basically means if they’ve signed their card, entered it, and a few minutes later realise there’s a mistake, they can catch the error before a penalty is enforced.
Now your club could adopt this too, but let’s be honest: once your card’s in the box, good luck convincing anyone to open it up again! Would there be anyone around to help anyway?
The old style green books before restrictions came into place on their use | Source: NCG
The use of green books are restricted
Did you know you can still use green books? The rules limit the size and scale, but you can still take a peek at a few arrows and gradients to figure out loosely where your putts are going.
At Royal Birkdale, though, the restrictions this week are on an entirely different level.
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Model Local Rule G-11 requires players to only use the yardage book that’s been “approved for use in the competition” and The Open’s Local Rule explicitly states: “Only the R&A Committee approved book may be used. Restrictions on handwritten notes for green reading materials apply.”
The overall rule says it’s to ensure “players and caddies use only their eyes and feel to help them read the line of play on the putting green”.
The wire camera that was above the Postage Stamp hole at The Open at Royal Troon in 2024 | Source: NCG
If a drone gets in the way, you replay the shot
Watching The Open on TV these days is a pretty immersive experience. That’s thanks to the incredible technology that helps beam the pictures into our homes. At Royal Birkdale, there is a particularly impressive spider camera that fans along the 18th hole and there are others at the 1st and 9th hole.
Drones are also scooting around the course capturing incredible pictures. But what happens if a player’s shot strikes one? Though it will be very rare, a Local Rule does cater for the possibility. It says if it’s known or virtually certain a player’s ball has “hit the camera wire on the player’s line of play or a drone in flight, the player must replay the stroke”.
If they don’t they get a two-shot penalty, but their stroke counts. Those that do replay it still need to be careful. If they do that from the wrong place, that two-shot sanction is coming their way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there different rules at The Open?
It’s not that the rules are different, it’s that some Local Rules are only designed to be used in professional and elite amateur tournaments. Others can be used to apply in specific circumstances and some only relate to the surroundings of a particular course.
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Does every Open use the same Local Rules?
While much of The R&A’s Hard Card will apply to The Open as it does for the governing body’s other championships, Local Rules can also be specific to a particular course. So while some, such as what happens if a golf ball hits a spider camera, will be the same for every Open, others are unique to Royal Birkdale.
These include where out of bounds is located, abnormal course conditions like paths, and when a player is deemed to be on the 1st tee.
Are Open rules different from normal golf rules?
No. Local Rules and Terms of Competition can modify Rules of Golf but they can’t break the spirit of them. They can’t impose different penalties to those set out in the Rule Book.
Now have your say: How would you cope with The Open rules?
What do you make of The Open rules? Let me know by sending me an email at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com or by leaving us a comment on X.
