Often well meaning comments made by another player in your group, but you can also inadvertently ask for advice without thinking. A player may not give or seek advice to or from anyone except their caddie, partner or partner’s caddie (or a nominated “advice giver”, if allowed, in a team competition).
Interestingly, the Advice Giver incurs the general penalty immediately. If the advice is unsolicited the Advice Receiver will not get a penalty in the first instance, but must act to stop the advice being given or they will be treated as asking for subsequent advice.
Advice is defined as “Any verbal comment or action (such as showing what club was just used to make a stroke) that is intended to influence a player in:
- Choosing a club,
- Making a stroke, or
- Deciding how to play during a hole or round“
As well as the example in the video, common phrases you might hear include:
“I think it’s a 2 club wind today”
“Great shot, what club did you hit there” (asked before you hit your shot)
“Gosh, I though I would be able to easily reach the green with a 5 iron”
“If you hit your tee shot down the right its a much easier approach to this pin position”
Actions that constitute advice include:
– Placing a towel, or other object, to show line of play (e.g. for a blind shot) and not removing it before the stroke is made. (NB you can’t place any object down on the course to indicate line of play for a putt)
– Touching someone else’s clubs to see which one they are using. (You can look – but don’t touch!)
Also note that Information is not Advice, so it is OK to ask for, or to give:
– distances, e.g. to the hole or to carry a penalty area
– locations, e.g. the position of the hole on the green
– options allowed under the rules (but make sure all options are cited, not just a recommended option)
– a weather forecast (e.g. expecting a 15mph wind from the south west)
Golf Rules Guru 
Under advice rule, can a husband, who is not in a female competition where his wife is playing, offer advice, even though the husband is playing in a different competition but playing together (in a cart)?
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Unless there is a term of competition banning this, then I believe the husband would be treated as the wife’s caddy.
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Under the advice rule, if my opponent in a match, who is unfamiliar with the Rules, hits his ball into a very difficult lie, am I in breach of teh Rules on giving advice if I volunteer (without being asked) that hen may declare his ball unplayable and then go on to give the other player all his options if he does so? I am not telling him he should declare it unplayavble, just that he can and what his options would be if he did. Thanks.
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This could be interpreted as giving advice and so I would do it with care.
As referees we tend to modify our comments and how we intervene depending on the type of golfer involved.
– Elite players, we generally wait to be asked – often “what are my options?” – before giving all possibilities and options. This level of players should know about unplayable lies.
– Juniors / Beginners. We would use this as an educational opportunity, volunteer the unplayable possibility and give them all options. If high handicap / inexperienced then we might even direct them to an option.
In summary if you are playing in the final of your club’s knock out trophy I would suggest not doing so. If it is an inter club friendly then use the opportunity to educate – many golfers attempt too much from a poor lie when they could move the ball to somewhere much nicer with the 1 penalty stroke.
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Many thnaks for the quick response! A follow-up question, if I may: if my opponent asks me ‘what are my options?’ (and not: ‘what are my options if I declare it unplayable?’) when he sees how his ball is lying, is he in breach because the answer includes the fact that he can declare the ball unplayable? Is he only allowed to ask what his options are IF he declares the ball unplayable? Thanks again.
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If the question is really “what are my options within the rules?” then no advice is being asked for – just information.
If the question is “what option should I take within the rules?” then advice is being sought.
If the question is “what are my options on how to play the ball – e.g. should I go back to my own fairway, play down an adjacent fairway, play it left handed… etc then your opponent is asking for advice.
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Many thanks again. One last question: on the last example, I understand the player is asking the other player to tell him which of the options out of the ones he refers to he should take, correct? And that how it is different from the first example, where he is just asking about his options under the Rules?
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The difference is similar to asking for a distance to the flag (information) as opposed to asking which club to hit (advice).
Valid options available within the rules – information. Which option to take – advice.
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In competition, would it be considered ‘advice’ to encourage your playing partner by, for example, saying ‘great shot’ or ‘well played’? It happens all the time but a handicap secretary I know reckons it’s technically not allowed. If you can point to any ruling or clarification one way or another that would be great!
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Could these comments influence the way the player approaches a future shot? I think not. These encouragements are not advice.
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