Normal order
Honour applies on the tee; distance applies after it
Rule 6.4 uses two tests. At a teeing area, the player entitled to play first has the “honour.” Once everyone has started the hole, the ball farthest from the hole is normally played first.
If balls are the same distance from the hole, or their relative distances are not known, the players should decide who goes first by agreement or a random method. No special priority belongs to the ball in the rough, bunker, penalty area, or on the putting green simply because of that location.
First tee
The draw sets the opening honour
On the first hole, the Committee's draw sets the order. If there is no draw, the players may agree on an order or use a random method such as tossing a coin.
Handicap, reputation, arrival at the tee, and the informal phrase “winner of the previous round” do not override a competition draw. A casual group without a draw can use any agreed or random method.
Stroke-play tees
Gross score sets the honour on later holes
In stroke play, the player with the lowest gross score on a hole should play first from the next teeing area, followed by the next-lowest gross score, and so on. Gross means before handicap strokes are applied, even in a handicap competition.
Players tied on the hole keep the same relative order they should have had at the previous tee. Playing ready golf out of sequence does not rewrite that underlying order. For example, if Priya had the honour, let Sam tee off first to save time, and they then made the same score, Priya still has the honour at the next hole.
Match-play tees
Winning the hole earns the next honour
In match play, the player who wins a hole has the honour at the next teeing area. After a tied hole, the player who had the previous honour keeps it.
If a timely ruling request remains undecided and could change the next honour, the players decide the temporary order by agreement or a random method. The Committee's eventual ruling still decides the match score.
Ready golf
Stroke-play groups may play when ready
Rule 6.4b allows and encourages players in stroke play to play out of turn in a safe and responsible way. This is “ready golf.” The out-of-turn stroke counts, the ball remains in play, and there is normally no penalty.
- A ready player may play while the player farther away is still preparing, provided nobody is endangered, distracted, or interfered with.
- A player close to the hole may finish rather than mark and wait.
- Players may agree on a convenient order to save time, including on the tee.
- A player may prepare measurements, club selection, and the next stroke while others play, without creating a distraction.
If the player whose normal turn it is is ready and indicates that they want to play first, the others should generally wait.
Safety limit
Ready does not mean entitled to swing
Ready golf never gives permission to play through another person's safe area, distract a player making a stroke, or hit while players ahead are within range. “Safe and responsible” is part of the Rule's description, not optional etiquette.
A player also should not rush someone who is entitled and ready to play. The practical aim is to use otherwise idle time, not to create competing swings or pressure another player into an unsafe decision.
Match play
An opponent may cancel an out-of-turn stroke
If a player plays when the opponent should have played, there is no penalty. The opponent may cancel the stroke, but must do so promptly and before either player makes another stroke. A cancellation cannot be withdrawn.
The cancelled stroke and its result do not count. When it is the player's turn, the player must play from where the cancelled stroke was made under Rule 14.6. If the opponent does not cancel in time, the stroke counts and the ball must be played as it lies.
Match-play agreement
Players can agree to change order to save time
A player may invite an opponent to play out of turn, and the opponent may accept, when the purpose is to save time. Once the opponent plays after that invitation or agreement, the other player has given up the right to cancel the stroke.
This is the match-play version of faster play, but it is narrower than ordinary stroke-play ready golf because order can reveal tactics. A player should obtain the opponent's agreement rather than simply assume that an out-of-turn stroke will stand.
Improper advantage
Ready golf cannot be arranged to help a player
In stroke play, two or more players who agree to play out of turn specifically to give one of them an advantage each get the general penalty—two strokes—once one of them plays out of turn. Convenience and saving time are allowed; engineering a competitive benefit is not.
For example, players may let a short putt be finished to clear the green. They may not agree that one player will putt first so another can learn the break. A player acting alone also should not play out of turn to gain an advantage.
Provisional balls
The next ball is not always played immediately
When a player will play a provisional ball or another ball from the teeing area, all other players in the group normally make their first strokes on the hole first. If several players will play another ball, they then do so in their original order.
A provisional played from anywhere other than the teeing area normally comes immediately after the previous stroke and before anyone else plays. If the player waits before deciding to play it, order is instead based on the spot of the previous stroke. Match-play cancellation and the stroke-play ready-golf principles still govern an out-of-turn stroke.
Relief
Use the relevant spot to determine whose turn it is
If a player is required to take stroke-and-distance relief, their order is based on where the previous stroke was made. When the player may either play the original ball as it lies or take relief elsewhere, order is based on the original ball's spot, estimated if necessary.
This prevents the intended dropping place from changing priority before relief is completed. It applies even after the player has decided to use stroke and distance or take relief from a penalty area or an unplayable ball.
Pace of play
Ready golf supports pace, but it is not the pace penalty
Rule 5.6 recommends preparing in advance, moving promptly between strokes and holes, and making a stroke within no more than 40 seconds after a player is able to play without interference or distraction—usually more quickly. The 40 seconds is a general recommendation unless an adopted pace policy makes a time limit enforceable.
Unreasonably delaying play under Rule 5.6a is a separate breach: the first breach is one penalty stroke, the second is the general penalty, and the third is disqualification. A Committee may also adopt a Pace of Play Policy setting maximum times for a stroke, hole, group of holes, or round and specifying its own penalty structure.
Officials
Enforcement depends on format and the event policy
In match play, an opponent normally decides whether to exercise the Rule 6.4a cancellation right. A referee resolves disputes about the correct order and whether cancellation was prompt, but does not turn an out-of-turn stroke into an automatic penalty.
In stroke play, a referee or Committee checks whether an agreement was made to give an advantage and applies any adopted pace policy. Timing procedures, when a group is “out of position,” warnings, and penalties vary by policy, so players should check the competition's Local Rules and Terms rather than import a professional tour procedure.
Partner formats
Four-Ball is flexible; Foursomes is not
- Four-Ball: under Rule 23.6, partners may play in the order their side considers best. When either partner's turn arises under Rule 6.4, the side may choose which partner plays next.
- Foursomes or Alternate Shot: Rule 22.3 requires partners to alternate strokes and to alternate which partner starts each hole. “Ready golf” cannot override that sequence. Playing in the wrong partner order brings the general penalty; in stroke play the mistake must also be corrected in time or the side is disqualified.
- Other formats: Terms of the Competition and Rules 21–24 may modify ordinary individual play. Confirm the announced format before applying a partner-order shortcut.
Worked examples
The same early shot has different consequences
Stroke play: Lee is farthest from the hole but is waiting for a course worker to move. Morgan is safely clear on the opposite side and plays first. The stroke counts without penalty as responsible ready golf.
Match play: Lee is farthest away, but Morgan plays and holes a putt. Lee may promptly cancel before either player makes another stroke. Morgan must replay when it is Morgan's turn. If Lee instead makes the next stroke, the cancellation window has closed and Morgan's holed putt counts.
Common mix-ups
Order mistakes do not all mean the same thing
- “Farthest away always has to play first”: that is the normal order, but responsible ready golf allows a different order in stroke play.
- “Playing out of turn loses the hole”: not under Rule 6.4a; the opponent's remedy is prompt cancellation, not an automatic loss-of-hole penalty.
- “Net birdie earns the honour”: stroke-play honour is based on the hole's gross score, even in a handicap competition.
- “Forty seconds always starts as soon as I reach my ball”: the Rules phrase it from when the player is, or should be, able to play without interference or distraction; a competition policy may define its own timing procedure.
- “Ready golf overrides every format”: it does not remove the mandatory alternating order in Foursomes.
Official references
Source material