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Rule 1.3c

General penalty

Also searched as: two-stroke penalty, two penalty strokes, loss of hole, penalty

The standard penalty in the Rules of Golf: two penalty strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in match play.

The Rules have three levels of penalty:

  • One penalty stroke for minor breaches and for many relief options, such as relief from a penalty area or for an unplayable ball.
  • The general penalty for most breaches, for example playing a wrong ball or touching the sand in a bunker.
  • Disqualification for serious breaches, for example returning a scorecard with a score that is too low.

If you breach several Rules before your next stroke, you usually get only one penalty, the highest one.