This page summarises Rule 9 of the 2023 Rules of Golf, in effect from 1 January 2023. The R&A says the next edition is due on 1 January 2028.
The starting point
Rule 9.1a restates golf's basic principle: a ball at rest is played as it lies, unless a Rule requires or allows you to play from somewhere else, or to lift the ball and put it back.
One timing point comes first. Under Rule 9.1b, if the ball starts to move after you have begun your stroke or backswing, and you go on to complete the stroke, you play the ball from wherever it ends up. It does not matter what made it move.
Did it actually move?
Rule 9.2a says a ball counts as having moved only if that is known or virtually certain. If it only might have moved, it is treated as not having moved. The 2019 modernisation applied the same standard to deciding whether the player caused a ball to move, and the USGA's summary of the 2019 changes glosses "virtually certain" as at least 95 percent likely.
The four causes
Rule 9.2b recognises only four things that can move a ball at rest: natural forces, the player (which includes the caddie), the opponent in match play, and an outside influence (which includes any other player in stroke play). If it is not known or virtually certain that one of the other three caused it, natural forces are treated as the cause.
| What moved the ball | Where the ball is played from | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Natural forces such as wind or water (Rule 9.3) | Its new spot (see the two exceptions below) | None |
| The player or caddie lifting or moving it (Rule 9.4) | Replaced on its original spot | One stroke, unless an exception applies |
| The opponent in match play (Rule 9.5) | Replaced | One stroke to the opponent, with exceptions such as conceding a stroke or lifting at the player's request |
| An outside influence, including another player in stroke play or another ball (Rule 9.6) | Replaced | None |
Natural forces: two exceptions
Normally, if the wind blows your ball to a new spot, you play it from there with no penalty. Rule 9.3 has two exceptions where the ball goes back:
- On the putting green: a ball that you had already lifted and replaced is put back on its original spot, whatever moved it.
- After a drop, placement or replacement: if natural forces move the ball into another area of the course, or out of bounds, it is replaced. This exception was new in the 2023 edition.
When you move your own ball
Rule 9.4 says that if you lift or move your own ball, you must replace it and take one penalty stroke. Rule 9.4b then lists the situations where there is no penalty:
- when a Rule allows you to lift the ball;
- when you move it accidentally while searching for it or identifying it;
- when you move it accidentally on the putting green (see the putting green, Rule 13.1d);
- when you move it accidentally while marking, lifting or replacing it, removing a movable obstruction, taking relief or measuring.
The search and putting green exceptions both appear in the USGA's summary of the main 2019 changes.
Ball-markers
Rule 9.7 applies the same logic to the marker you use when your ball is lifted. If you, or your opponent in match play, lift or move the ball-marker, the penalty is one stroke, subject to the same exceptions.
Getting it wrong
If you breach Rules 9.1 to 9.7 and then play from the wrong place, for example by playing a ball you should have replaced, Rule 14.7a applies the general penalty: loss of hole in match play, or two strokes in stroke play.
Model Local Rule E-14 (from 2026)
A new Model Local Rule, E-14, was made available from 1 January 2026, the R&A says. It applies only when the Committee adopts it, and is intended for events with live television coverage. Under it, a player who was completely unaware of having caused the ball to move, and so did not replace it, is not treated as having played from a wrong place. The player gets only the one-stroke penalty under Rule 9.4b rather than the general penalty. See the Model Local Rules page for the other 2026 options.