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Welcome to the Historical Rules of Golf Pages

These pages, I hope, will be of use to students of the Rules of Golf and anyone interested in the history of the game.   You can find the full Rules that were in force for a particular year, or follow a Rule�s development and change over the years by selecting a topic.

All the Rules issued since the formation of the first R&A Rules of Golf Committee in 1897 are here, as issued by the R&A. When opportunity permits, USGA versions will be added.

Also included are copies of some notable Rules prior to 1897 as issued by prominent Golf Clubs of the era, to help show how a universal code of play developed.

The current Rules of Golf, available to view on the websites of the R&A and the USGA, are not included.


Update:
New Addition: The interesting Royal Isle of Wight Rules 1886 on line, and topics updated.

Choose a period:

Or choose a topic:

Some browsers may not be able to handle the above selectors, in which case you can use this link for the contents page:

Go to Contents Page


It is my intention to be as accurate as possible in building up these rules references and topic pages, but there are some amendments that I do not yet have.  If you have any reliable information, documents or anything of interest that can help make this site more accurate and enjoyable, please let me know.  I will give acknowledgment to your contribution.

For now, the site concentrates on the R&A version of the Rules.  There has been some differences from the USGA version, gradually growing through the century until the late 1940s.  From 1952 the R&A and the USGA produced the Rules jointly, with variations being only in the appendices and local rules.

If any American friends can provide copies of old rules books or other information for a build up of USGA variations, please get in touch.

Acknowledgments
This site gratefully acknowledges the contribution to the content and accuracy of these pages by:
Ken Chapman, Finland
Richard Groff, USA
Nick Hocking, Australia
Janet Homer, England
Alan Horne, Australia
Aleid Kemper, Holland
Nancy Stulack, USGA
Malcolm Wadsworth, England


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"A man must love a thing very much if he not only practises it without any hope of fame and money,
but even practises it without any hope of doing it well." - G. K. Chesterton



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Copyright � 2000-2005 John Hutchinson. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce parts of my work on this site is freely granted for non-commercial purposes, as long as you credit ruleshistory.com and don't pass it off as your own.
Other uses require my written agreement. To reproduce the copyrighted material of others used on these pages, you must seek permission from the respective owners.