Golf Practice Rules Before, During and After a Round

The same chip can be legal on a practice area and prohibited elsewhere before a stroke-play round that day. Photograph or read the course’s practice-area designation if its boundary is unclear. Do not assume that an unused competition hole is a practice area.

Match play has a different default for practice before or between rounds. Model Local Rule I-1 can change the permission in either form of play, so the event notice is part of the pre-round check.

Cara rehearses a swing without intending to strike a ball. That is not the same as dropping a spare ball and hitting it during a hole. The Rules also distinguish courtesy returns of a ball and playing out a hole whose result is decided.

Avoid using the word “practice” as a conclusion. Describe whether a ball was struck, why, where, and at what point in the round. Those facts let the relevant provision answer the question.

Putting or chipping on or near the completed green, a practice green or the next teeing area can fall within the stated exception. It does not permit bunker practice, unreasonable delay or ignoring an adopted I-2 restriction. Suspensions have their own conditions; a weather stoppage is not automatically an unrestricted practice session.

Keep a warm-up within the official starting-time requirement. Devices used during play still need the equipment-use check.

Official provisions checked October 22, 2026. Read their full wording and current event conditions.

• The R&A: Playing the Round
• The R&A: The Player’s Equipment
• The R&A: Putting Greens