I haven’t written much on the basic rules of golf lately. Thank you to all the amateur golfers who have been writing in. I have had a tough time keeping up with the questions. But I wanted to add another installment about golf rules since I have gotten good feedback from golfers who say these rules articles are helpful. Thanks again for the all of the comments and questions.

Here are some basic guidelines for those of you who haven’t studied the rules of golf very much. Pay attention to these and you'll most likely avoid a rules violation. I won’t promise that some golfer in your foursome won’t call you on one of the more obscure rules, but you should basically stay out of trouble.

Always hit a provision ball if you think your golf ball might be lost or out-of-bounds. Be sure tell the other golfers in your group what you're doing. This may not only save a rules violation but can save significant time on your golf round.

If you have to take a drop allowed under the rules of golf, remember that a dropped golf ball can't end up closer to the hole than it was before the drop. If you drop twice and the ball ends up nearer the hole after coming to rest, you can place the ball where it last landed.

If a man made object interferes with you stance or swing you are allowed relief. But if it is just in the line of your shot, you are out of luck. Grab a different golf club and chip out of trouble.

More to come. If any of you other golf nuts out there have additions to this list of the basics to watch, write to us!