If there were ever a moment that perfectly captured golf’s ability to take itself both far too seriously and not seriously at all, it would be Bryson DeChambeau in 2020 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Crouched over his ball in an unfavorable lie, he politely informed a Rules official that he believed he was entitled to relief because of “burrowing animals.”
The hazardous wildlife in question? A few ants.
The official, admirably composed, ruled that the ants posed neither danger nor interference. No relief. Play it as it lies.
The internet, of course, lost its collective mind.
But the rule Bryson invoked exists for a good reason, because the great outdoors is full of creatures that can actually harm you. So, the spirit of the rule is simple: don’t die trying to save par. The interpretation of the rule? That’s where things get delightfully ridiculous.
Golf’s weirdest rules often sound absurd, but each one is born from an earnest attempt to keep the game fair, the players safe, and the local wildlife blissfully undisturbed. And Bryson’s ant saga is hardly the only example.
So, let’s get into it: the weirdest, wildest, most surprisingly sensible rules in golf—and some bizarre moments that give them life.
1. Don’t Lose Your Head
Under the Rules of Golf, whether a stroke counts occasionally has less to do with what happened and more to do with what you intended to do.
If you start a swing intending to strike the ball and the clubhead snaps off during the downswing, tough luck. The stroke still counts, even if you finish the motion holding nothing but the shaft.
There is, however, a narrow escape clause. If the clubhead goes rogue during the backswing and you manage to stop before the downswing begins, no stroke has occurred. No motion toward the ball, no penalty. A small mercy from the “golf gods” indeed.
2. Spit Happens (But Not Here)
Long before launch monitors and slow-motion replays, hustlers like the legendary Titanic Thompson discovered that a little lubrication on the clubface could dramatically change how the ball behaved.
Today, the Rules of Golf are far less forgiving. You’re not allowed to apply any substance to your clubface if it could influence the ball flight, including sunscreen, lip balm, Vaseline, and yes, spit.
Naturally occurring moisture like rain, morning dew, tears from a triple-bogey—all fine. But deliberate dampening? That’s cheating, plain and simple.
3. A Birdie of a Different Kind
At the 1998 Players Championship, Brad Fabel hit his tee shot safely onto the 17th-hole island green at TPC Sawgrass. A victory, if only briefly.
Moments later, a seagull flew off with his golf ball and dunked it in the water.
Ridiculous? Absolutely. Unprecedented? Not even close. The Rules of Golf are well prepared for avian crime. When an animal moves your ball, it’s considered outside interference. So, there’s no penalty. You simply replace the ball where you reasonably believe it was before your feathered adversary decided to get involved.
4. Moving Targets
There are moments on the golf course that make you think, “Surely that’s never happened to anyone.” The Rules of Golf would politely disagree. Take, for example, your ball landing on a moving golf cart.
If this happens, the procedure is mercifully straightforward. First, yell “Fore!” (hopefully you did). Then determine the spot directly beneath where the ball came to rest (or would have) and drop within one club length, no closer to the hole.
No penalty strokes apply. The Rules assume you’ve already endured enough chaos.
5. High Stakes
As we know, golf courses use colored stakes to define different areas of play. But they don’t all follow the same rules.
White stakes mark out of bounds. And because they define the edge of the course itself, they are considered boundary objects. They are immovable and must not be repositioned, even if they interfere with your swing.
Red and yellow stakes, on the other hand, mark penalty areas. These are treated more flexibly. If they interfere with your stance, swing, or the process of taking relief, you’re allowed to move them, provided you don’t improve your lie or conditions affecting the stroke.
If a white stake is accidentally moved, there’s still a way out. Simply replace it in its original position before your shot, and no penalty applies.
6. Golf Rocks!
The Rules of Golf include a category known as “loose impediments”—natural objects that aren’t fixed or growing, such as twigs, leaves, or stones. A player is allowed to remove loose impediments anywhere on the course, even in a penalty area, as long as the ball doesn’t move in the process.
Which raises an obvious question: How loose is loose?
Flashback to the 1999 Phoenix Open when Tiger Woods’s ball landed behind a massive rock on the par‑five 13th at TPC Scottsdale. According to the letter of the law, that boulder was technically a “loose impediment.” The Rules allowed it to be moved.
And so it was. A dozen spectators became an impromptu construction crew, heaving the one-ton rock out of Tiger’s line.
Naturally, he went on to birdie the hole.
7. A Prickly Situation
Golfers in desert regions occasionally find their balls nestled against, or lodged inside, a cactus. At that moment, confidence fades, hands go to hips, and one question matters more than all others: “Do I actually have to hit this?”
Under the standard Rules of Golf, a cactus is just part of the course. Which means, strictly speaking, you are expected to play the ball as it lies.
However, many courses adopt a Local Rule that treats cacti, and other dangerous plants, as immovable obstructions or no-play zones, granting free relief. If no Local Rule exists, you still have options. You can declare the ball unplayable, take a one-stroke penalty, and drop at a safer spot.
Or, if you insist on facing the prickly beast head-on, the Rules of Golf allow you to take reasonable measures to protect yourself, like wrapping a towel or jacket around your arm or leg.
Common sense is encouraged.
For all the eyerolling they inspire, these weird rules are exactly what make golf… golf. A sport with old-school manners and modern-day memes, governed by pages of regulations and even more exceptions.
Many exist because someone, somewhere, once did something utterly absurd. And when it inevitably happens again, the rulebook, thankfully, already has the answer.
If you want another weird golf rule — better word, would be stupid — just look up Rule #12, the bunker rule. Most of us real golfers cannot believe what’s there.
Rules? What rules? The only rules are, there are no rules! A saloon brawl.