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If you are a beginner, you need to know every detailed information about golf such as golf ball, golf course, golf club, golf swing, golf equipment, etc. While learning about golf equipment, it will be obvious for you to know how many clubs you are able to carry in your golf bag.
Even if you are a professional, it is equally important for you to know how many clubs are allowed for you to gather in a golf bag while carrying.
So whether you have just started your game or you are an experienced golfer, it’s required for every golfer to know the exact number of golf clubs they are allowed to carry to a tournament or in a competition.
How Many Clubs Are Allowed in a Golf Bag?
To be exact, you can gather 14 clubs in your golf bag as it has been said by USGA (United States Golf Association) that a golfer is not allowed to carry more than 14 clubs in his/her bag.
You may carry a putter, three kinds of woods (driver, 3-wood and 5-wood) and eight irons, (3-9 iron and pitching wedge) in your bag.
These are the major clubs you will find in a golfers bag. If you reach these 14 clubs, you can pick another 2 clubs for your bag according to your choice.
Some golfers cannot take the fact that they are allowed only 14 clubs to carry. The reason behind this, in the early 20th century, 20-25 clubs were carried by the experienced golfers. It became possible only for the structure of the shafts. As it has been changed now, the choices of the golfers have also been changed. And now, the regulations of golf equipment are different from before.
Why Is It Said by Rules That You Can Carry 14 Clubs Only?
It is found in history that once the pro golfers played tournaments carrying 20-25 clubs in their bags. But now the regulation has been changed. Because
- Like hickory-shafted clubs, steel-shafted clubs could not allow the same number of shot-making possibilities.
- Then the golfers took extra clubs, as extra steel-shafted clubs offered more shot-making alternatives.
After that, the governing bodies agreed on a limit that can keep more clubs from showing up in bags. Finally, the 14-club rule was imposed by the USGA in 1938 and adopted by the R&A in 1939.
What’s the Penalty for Carrying More than 14 Clubs?
If you exceed 14 clubs, there is a regulation of penalty. Never forget to count your clubs before getting prepared for a competition or a tournament. Because if you somehow notice the 15th club in your bag, there is a penalty.
Generally, the penalty for exceeding too many clubs depends on some factors such as the type of your game. Let’s know it below.
Match play: The penalty for carrying more than 14-clubs in a match play is that one hole from your score will be deducted for the hole if you use the 15th club on this hole. In this way, up to a maximum of two holes will be deducted.
Stroke play: In stroke play, the penalty is two strokes for each hole where you violate the rule. To be more specific, if you have 15 clubs in your bag but don’t notice and start playing the second hole, you will get a four-stroke penalty. One more thing that here, in stroke play, the utmost penalty is four strokes, so there is no possibility to be more than that.
How Can You Take the Clubs out of Play?
The method of reducing an additional club from play is simple. If you understand that you have made a violation, you should instantly take an action that certainly reflects each club that you are taking out of play.
At this stage, you can accomplish this method in two ways:
- By informing another player to the breaking
- By rolling the extra club upside down in your golf bag.
Is There Any Way to Use Your Partner’s Golf Club While Playing?
If you want to use your playing partner’s golf club during your round, you can’t do it because
- According to the rules, a golfer isn’t allowed to do so for making a stroke that counts his score.
- It can be done only before or after the golf course
So if you really want to use the club of your partner, you can use it on the range before or after playing the golf course.
There are some more rules here that might be interesting to you such as
- You and your partner can carry your clubs within a single bag
- Though you can carry both of your golf clubs in the same bag, you aren’t allowed to use each other’s club
- You must identify which clubs are yours and which are of your partner.
- Nobody is permitted to carry an extra club for you in his bag but he can carry 14 clubs in another golf bag
Can You Carry Less Than 14 Clubs?
Yes, you are allowed to carry less than 14clubs as there is no minimum number here, only maximum. So you can use any number of clubs such as 5 or 6 or 10, only you need to remember the limit of 14. Even if you want, you can complete your whole round with a putter only.
Can You Take More Clubs to Your Bag During a Round?
Yes, you can add more clubs to your bag during a round only when you have less than 14 clubs. To explain, if you start a round with 10 clubs, you can add 4 more clubs without penalty. You can do this at any point in your round. But remember that you cannot violate any rule to get this opportunity.
Does It Matter What Type of Golf Clubs You Are Carrying?
If you maintain the rules of golf equipment during your round, it doesn’t matter what type of clubs are in your bag. You can carry any type of clubs according to your choice whether it is a putter, a driver or a wedge or more than one of these, it won’t be a violation of any governing rule.
Penalty in History
In the history of golf, the most notable penalty occurred at the 2001 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. At the entrance hole, Ian Woosnam created a birdie to wrap for the lead with 17 holes.
But when he appeared to the 2nd tee, Woosnam understood that he carried more than 14clubs and the additional one was a wood. After tossing the offending club across the tee, Woosnam was imposed the two-stroke penalty and knocked down a tie for 6th. He ultimately completed T3.
Conclusion
Golf bags and clubs are equally essential for a golfer to get prepared for a tournament. But to know about golf equipment isn’t less important than this. And if you get the proper idea of golf equipment rules & regulations, you will be clear about the rule of how many clubs you are allowed to carry in your bag. It won’t cause you any penalty. This article just revealed the information you require to avoid penalty for exceeding too many clubs.