What’s your pleasure? Do you like to only hear the birds singing and gentle conversation during your round? Or are you hitting that Bluetooth speaker and making 18 holes sound like a rock concert? What about using your phone?
You might think it’s all about personal preference but there are some strict rules covering how and when you can turn up the volume.
So when can you make a racket, and when should we be grateful for the sound of silence? Let’s have a look at some of the regulations about noise and golf…
Golf music: What kind of racket can you make on the golf course?
Can you play music on the golf course?
Yes, you can. There is nothing to stop you listening to audio or even watching video when you’re playing. The rules specifically allow it under Rule 4.3a (4).
There are some caveats. It can’t be related to the competition being played and it can’t be used to eliminate distractions or help with swing tempo.
That doesn’t mean you can just haul round a ghetto blaster in your golf buggy. If you’re listening to music “consideration should be shown to others”.
Rule 1.2 covers some of this and asks golfers not to do anything that is “distracting the play of another player”.
There’s no penalty for breaking this rule, except a competition committee can disqualify a player for “acting contrary to the spirit of the game if it finds that the player has committed serious misconduct”.
That is said to be behaviour that is “so far removed from what is expected in golf that the most severe sanction” of disqualification is justified.
Is belting out the guitar riff from Thunderstruck at max volume severe misconduct? A clarification to this rule says “deliberately distracting players while they are making strokes” would be an example.
Even so, that same clarification does allow a committee to warn a player that any repeat of the action will bring about a DQ – rather than having to hand it out straight away.
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What if you wore headphones? Well, if you were able to prove they weren’t helping you with your tempo or eliminating distractions then the rules don’t seem to stop you. But I reckon if you’re challenged, proving it might be a little more difficult.
Can my committee do anything to stop me playing music?
Yes, they can. They can bring in a Local Rule forbidding the use of audio and video devices during a round. The penalties for transgressing are severe. It’s two shots for the first time you breach it. Do it again and disqualification follows.
What about making a phone call on the course?
Ooh, déjà vu. The rules don’t care if you make a call while playing golf, save for much of what we’ve already gone through above.
So if having a chat was deliberately distracting your partners during their shots you could end up in a bit of trouble. But it’s a bit hard to prove, isn’t it? And is it serious misconduct?
It’s not great etiquette, though. And your club can make provisions to outlaw the practice in a Code of Conduct. If that states phones can’t be used on the course then there can be a scale of punishments – from a quick warning to penalty strokes being added – for those who fail to get into line.
I’m not sure clubs would necessarily want to go that far, and you’d always need to allow for emergencies, but if your course is starting to resemble a telephone exchange there are measures a club can take.
What if people won’t shout ‘fore’
This is another etiquette fail rather than a big rules drama. Let’s get this straight. You should always shout fore if you think anyone’s in danger and if that distracts another player taking a shot then so be it.
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The rules do say you should give a caution – “such as the traditional warning of fore” – if you play in a direction where you might hit someone. This is once again covered in Rule 1.2a.
But as you will have gathered from our last encounter with this rule, there isn’t a penalty for “failing to act in this way”. And in the examples of what is classed as serious misconduct, there’s nothing about giving people a yell.
About as near as it gets comes in this action: “Endangering the safety of others, such as by throwing a club at another player or spectator”.
It’s close, but no cigar.
What about chatting?
Talking a bit too loud? Can’t keep quiet when someone is taking a shot? Again we’re turning to Rule 1.2a. If it’s accidental, just give them a stare and ask them to show a bit of decorum.
If it’s persistent, deliberate, and distracting while you’re making a stroke, then your club committee could decide it was serious misconduct. The same would apply to coughing, key jangling – any of the many ways some rogue players can seek to gain an advantage.
Have you ever seen it get this far? I haven’t. But in those proven cases of serious misconduct, as we’ve already shown disqualification can result.
Now have your say on these golf music rules
What do you think about these golf music rules and golf noise rules? Let me know by leaving a comment on X.
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