Golf Compendium

Do the USGA and R&A, the two governing bodies that set the rules of golf, impose a minimum and maximum size for golf balls? Yes and no. There is a minimum size, but there is no maximum size.

A funny thing happened on the PGA Tour in 2010: A loophole in the rules was discovered — remembered, actually — and a handful of golfers began using 25-year-old wedges in order to exploit it.

Do you know what stroke play is? Then you also know what "medal play" is. Because stroke play and medal play mean the exact same thing — they are synonyms for determing the outcome of a golf competition based on the total number of strokes used over a round or series of rounds.

A "double hit" is an embarrassing thing that rarely happens at the top levels of the game, and isn't all that common for recreational golfers either. But it happens. And when a double hit does happen, what, exactly, is taking place? And is there a penalty?

You reach the putting green and discover your approach shot has left a nice, deep pitch mark on the soft surface. You reach into your pocket for your trusty, two-pronged divot tool (a k a pitch tool, ball mark tool) only to discover you don't have it. But you do have a golf tee. Can you use the tee to fix that pitch mark?

On the second hole through the last hole of a round of golf, golfers traditionally tee off based on "honors" — the golfer with the best score on the preceding hole goes first, and golfers follow in the order of their finish on the preceding hole(s). But what about on the first hole — how is the order of play on the first hole determined? Who tees off first, second and so on?

There must have been generally accepted practices known to and followed by golfers dating back close to the origins of the game. Otherwise, how could players have met in competition? But those very first glimmers of a golf rule book are lost to history — at least until the mid-18th century.

In golf, the honor, or "having the honor," refers to who tees off first on a hole. If you are the golfer in a match, in a competition or just among your group of buddies who, on a given hole, gets to hit the first drive, you "have the honor" or "have the honors" on that hole.

The 2013 Masters will always be about Adam Scott's victory, but also a little bit about the controversial Tiger Woods ruling . Woods took a bad drop and then, the following day, was docked two strokes for playing from the wrong place. He could have been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard, but wasn't, thanks to a ruling by the Masters' rules committee, chaired by Fred Ridley. Ridley was all over TV on the Saturday of the tournament explaining and defending the ruling. Return with me now to the 1981 Masters to consider another Augusta National ruling on a bad drop.

What is a concession in golf? In match play (not stroke play) the option exists under the Rules of Golf for one golfer or one side to concede a putt, a hole or even a match to another golfer.

Once upon a time, a PGA Tour golfer waited so long to see if his ball would fall into the cup that the USGA and R&A created the 10-second rule. How long did that golfer wait, watching as his ball sat on the lip, hoping it would fall into the hole? Seven minutes.

Once upon a time, the USGA and the R&A, the two governing bodies of golf, had different rules concerning the sizes of golf balls. The USGA's mandated minimum size was ever-so-slightly larger than the R&A's mandated minimum size. So the USGA's ball was sometimes called the big ball, and the R&A's the small ball. More often, they were simply referred to as the American ball and the British ball.

Back in 1957, four PGA Tour golfers were peeved they hadn't gotten their way, and to punish, well, somebody, they deliberately posted high scores. The tour's reaction? Suspensions and fines.

There is a limit on the number of golf clubs a golfer can carry in his or her bag during play. According to the Rules of Golf, that limit is 14. If you are playing a tournament round, a handicap round, or any other round during which you are following the rules, you cannot carry more than 14 golf clubs. But why?

Gimme putts are often seen in recreational rounds of golf between friends. But when, exactly, are you allowed to ask for a gimme? Or declare, "I'm taking a gimme"? The short answer is:

"Through the green" is — make that was — a term used in The Official Rules of Golf that applied to all parts of the golf course once you subtracted tees, greens and hazards. The term was dropped from the rule book beginning in 2019, but because it was used by golfers and rules officials for decades, "through the green" will likely live on in the golf lexicon for years to come.

Some things never change. For example, complaining about the pernicious effects of new equipment on golf and, specifically, golf courses. Even Bobby Jones complained. The sainted Jones once proposed that the Haskell ball be rolled back and replaced with ... gutties!

When a group of golfers is playing a hole, "order of play" is ruled by the concept of "away": The golfer who is away — meaning her golf ball is farthest from the hole — plays first. For much of golf's history, this order of play was either enforced in the rules (for match play) or through the dictates of golf etiquette (stroke play). What about today? Is it a penalty to play out of order — for a golfer to play out of turn — when playing a hole?

You might know a golfer — you might even be a golfer — who uses a putter that has a suction cup or other golf ball retrieval device affixed to the top of the grip. Maybe you've wondered whether the rules of golf allow such putters: When a golfer adds that ball retrieval gadget, such as a suction cup, is the putter still conforming according to the rules?

Did Colin Montgomerie cheat at the 2005 Indonesian Open? Some say yes. The European Tour and Monty say no — although Monty did admit to making a mistake, and apologized for it. That wasn't enough for some of his peers, however. Some — most notably, Sandy Lyle — in later years outright called Montgomerie a cheater because of the incident. In the wake of Montgomerie's election to the World Golf Hall of Fame (announced on Dec. 18, 2012), the irascible Scottish golf journalist John Huggan made his thoughts about Monty perfectly clear on Twitter: