g’day im new to golf and loving it. Wen to a field for the first time last week and noticed on the card there is a column labeled index. I have no idea what that is. Also the grounds were really wet last week and from 90m out i managed to put the ball on the green. However the got embedded into the green. Am i allowed to pull the ball out of the divot or must i hit the ball as is? “I ended u hitting the ball as is…”
cheers

The stroke index is the order of difficulty of the holes, used in determining where golfers get handicap strokes in Stableford and Par competitions.

You can get relief without penalty from a ball embedded in its own pitchmark anywhere on a closely mown area of the course (Rule 25-2). On the fairway, drop your ball as near as possible to the spot where it was embedded, not nearer the hole. On the green, mark and lift your ball, repair the plug mark and replace your ball..

Is the difficulty in ascending or descending order?

Descending. 18 easiest, 1 hardest.

Cheers

This would have to be the most concisely and helpfully answered question I have even seen.

Thanks from all the new players.

then to confuse you all there is usually also a matchplay index on the card (somewhere) which has nothing to do with difficulty of each hole, but is used to allocate shots in handicap matchplay events. Based upon evenly spacing out the shots received.

Also in addition to the rule allowing a free drop for an embedded ball on closely mown areas, you will find that many clubs have a standing local rule which will allow a similar drop “thru the green”.

It will normally be printed on the local rules board. This covers you if you plug a ball anywhere on the course except in hazards.

After about 8 iches of rain around here this week, its a rule i will be using regularly in the near future I fear!!!

ahh cheers guys thanks for the info haha yeah that rule would have come in handy.