Even the best golfers fall victim to the rules of the game — just ask Greg Norman, Paul Azinger, Craig Stadler and Michelle Wie.

The Advertiser, with help from Ko Olina director of golf Greg Nichols, has begun a question-and-answer feature on the rules of golf. If you have a question regarding the rules of golf e-mail a question to cmurayama@honoluluadvertiser.com.

For additional rules information, ask your local Aloha Section PGA professional or go online to www.USGA.org.

There were 13 original written rules of golf that came about in 1754 when 22 Noblemen and Gentlemen from St. Andrews met to confirm the conditions governing the play for their silver trophy for that year. The first two rules of the original 13 concerned starting the hole or teeing off. Rule No. 1 stated, "You must tee your ball within a club-length of the hole." Rule No. 2 said that "Your tee must be on the ground."

Remember that the ubiquitous modern wooden tee was not invented until 1921, so for hundreds of years, early golfers simply scooped a handful of sand out of the hole they had just finished putting out at and then used their hands to create a small mound on the ground. Then they placed their ball upon this mound to drive.

One can only imagine how trampled down the putting green became around the hole as golfers holed out and then teed off from right next to the hole they had just finished. The hole itself grew wider and deeper as each successive group played the hole and scooped out sand from the hole to make their tee.

Thankfully, as the game's popularity grew, the rules evolved to allow for a designated teeing ground separate from the green and the early greens-keepers started keeping sand in a box next to the tee for golfers to use to fashion their tee. Finally, the invention of the wooden tee allowed players to tee off without having to clean the sand from their hands.

The modern-day definition states "the teeing ground is the starting place for the hole to be played and is a rectangular area two club-lengths in depth. The front and sides of which are defined by the outside limits of two tee-markers. A ball is outside the teeing ground when all of it lies outside the teeing ground."

A common rules question is, "Can a player stand outside the tee-markers?" The answer is yes, simply the ball must be within the defined area. The other common question is, "How far back can I go to tee off?" The answer, in stroke play competition, is the ball must be teed within two club-lengths of the tee-markers. Interestingly, in match play, a player can actually tee off outside the teeing ground limits, even closer to the hole. However, his opponent may immediately require him to cancel the stroke and play a ball from within the teeing ground, without penalty.

By the way, for the die-hard purists out there, the rules still allow you to make a "tee" out of a pile of sand and then tee off. Just keep your hands out of the hole unless it's to retrieve your ball.

I'm sure all dentists would be proud to know that the first tee was actually patented by a dentist, Dr. George F. Grant, in 1899, who also happened to be the first black graduate of Harvard. However, this particular tee was not really marketed and didn't catch on. The first commercially successful golf tee was then invented in 1921, by yet another dentist, Dr. William Lovell, which was called the Reddy Tee.