If you've played golf long enough, you've been there when a golfer has teed up the ball in the tee box, put the club behind the ball and accidentally knocked the ball off the tee to the ground. Inevitably, someone says, "That's one," and everyone laughs awkwardly.
But, is that actually a stroke?
If a golfer accidentally knocks their ball off the tee, does it count as a stroke?
The short answer is no. If a golfer accidentally knocks their ball off the tee, it does not count as a stroke. The key part of that answer, though, is that it has to happen unintentionally.
The USGA explains, "If your ball falls off the tee before you play your stroke, there is no penalty and you may put your ball back on the tee." Of course, it has to be clear that an attempted stroke wasn't made, which would mean legitimately trying to hit the ball. Even then, what looks like a swing at the ball could be a legitimate practice swing. If a golfer takes their practice stroke too close to the teed up ball and makes contact with it, that may still not be a stroke.
Typically, though, a golfer knocks the ball off the tee with their club when they are placing the club behind the ball, and that doesn't count as an attempted stroke.
If a golfer's ball falls off the tee, does it count as a stroke?
There's also a situation where the ball could fall off the tee without a golfer or their club touching it. It may be too windy, or the tee may be slanted in the ground such that it can't support the ball, or the tee might be broken and unable to hold the ball. There's no stroke counted in any of those circumstances in which the golf ball can fall off the tee.
Not only can a golfer re-tee the ball without penalty, but they may also move their tee to another spot in the teeing area or change balls.
The Rules of Golf are much more flexible at the start of a hole, when no strokes have been taken, than once a hole starts.
