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If you have ever played in a VSGA championship, you’ ve encountered a starter at the first or 10th tee— one who gives a series of instructions before you begin your round. The starter will inform you of the order of play for the group, ask players to clearly mark and identify their golf balls, and most importantly, ensure that there are no more than 14 clubs in your bag. The starter won’ t count the golf clubs in every player’ s bag— that’ s the player’ s responsibility. Maybe you’ re experimenting with a new wedge or trying to decide between a long iron and a hybrid. You’ ve been grinding at the range and have finally found the right mix of clubs for your competitive round. But somehow, you forgot to tidy up your bag before heading to the tee for your starting time.
That lack of attention to detail can be costly. Just ask PGA Tour veteran Joel Dahmen, who paid the price last October at the Shriners Children’ s Open in Las Vegas. Four holes into his opening round, he looked in his bag and realized he was carrying two 4-irons. At that point, he counted the clubs in his bag and found he was carrying 15.
Rule 4.1b covers this, stating a player must not start a round with more than 14 clubs, or have more than 14 clubs during the round.
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Dahman’ s folly cost him four penalty strokes. A player is penalized two strokes for each hole played with more than 14 clubs in the bag, with a limit of four penalty strokes. Since he became aware of the penalty after the third hole, the maximum penalty was applied.
“ Never happened to me before,” he told Golf Digest.“ I travel with 15, 16 clubs. Most people out here do. I’ d like to blame Geno( his caddie). That would be the easy thing to do. It’ s not his fault either. I don’ t know how it got there; it sucks.”
Once the extra club is discovered, Rule 4.1c( 1) notes that the player must take an action that clearly indicates each club that is out of play before making the next stroke. This may be done by declaring it to the opponent in match play, to the marker or another player in stroke play, or by taking another clear action( such as turning the club upside down in the bag, placing it on the floor of the golf cart or giving the club to another person).
If the player starts a round with fewer than 14 clubs, they may add clubs during the round up to the 14-club limit, with some restrictions, which are covered in 4.1b( 4). A club is considered added when the player makes their next stroke with any club while the added club is in the player’ s possession.
So before you leave the practice area and head to your starting tee, take a
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It ' s the responsibility of the player to keep track of how many clubs they carry to the first tee for a competition.
moment to count your clubs— every single one. It’ s a simple habit that could spare you penalty strokes, preserve your scorecard and save you from an avoidable mistake that even seasoned pros have made.
Rules Questions— Answered
In the March – April 2025 issue of Virginia Golfer, we presented an 18-question quiz to test your knowledge of the Rules of Golf. Nearly 200 readers submitted responses, but only one person answered all 18 questions correctly: Charles Rolen of Springfield Golf & Country Club.
Scan the QR code to view the answers and explanations for all 18 questions.
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