Modernization of the Golf Rules

darpar

Are the USGA/R&A actually going to be a little more lenient on the rules of golf and up to date?
Maybe even making some of the rules make some common sense.....SHOCKER!!!
Here's a list of some 30 odd proposed rules changes.
http://www.usga.org/rules-hub/rules-modernization/text/major-proposed-changes.html

FauxAmish

I like the idea of changing the ball dropping procedure and also about no penalty for an unattended flagstick in the hole while on the green.👏

rsvman

Interesting stuff. I'm going to have to take more time to go through them one by one before I comment. The no penalty for hitting the flag from the putting green surprised me the most.

Dropping the ball from any height is definitely an improvement. Remember when we had to drop the ball over the shoulder behind our backs?

Release

Keep the traditional rules and have a second set of rules for the amateur and those who won't be in a tournament.
Or simply as golfers do these days. They play whatever adopted ruled they please.

Don't be the one wanting to play by the rules but not really.
There is no way to please everyone so if not playing in tournaments. Play the way that pleased you. Why force the chance of rules ?

mikeintopeka

I like the rule change to encourage courses to mark more hazards as 'laterals'. In my opinion, that will result in speeding up play too along with reducing the time to look for lost balls from 5 minutes to 3 minutes. Tamping down spike marks will add a few seconds to the process of the pre-putt routine but is fair, especially when your group follows a foursome with some guy that has a lazy leg and drags his foot over the green.

Thumbs up to the R&A and USGA for interjecting some common sense into the rules. AND, the proposed changes actually reduce the number of rules in the book.

mulegolf

I'm not sure that I like the ball dropping rule. If you can drop from as close as 1" above the ground, you may just as well be allowed to place it without dropping it. In most cases the result will be nearly the same. If a ball ends up in to good of a position during league play or a tournament, I can see arguments that the person who dropped the ball was actually only 3/4" from the ground, not the mandatory 1".

Sneakylong

I'd like to see them simplify the rules so they would fit on one piece of paper. No other sport has so many rules.

rsvman

Sneakylong They could fit, but you'd have to print REALLY small.

Here's your one sheet of paper rules.

1) Play the ball from the teeing ground, within 2 club lengths of the markers
2) Play the ball where it lies
3) If you go into the water, drop a ball no closer to the hole, within 2 club lengths of where it went in, take a one-stroke penalty, and play on
4) If your ball might be out of bounds, lost, or out of play, drop another ball and play a provisional. If you find the first ball, play it preferentially and pick up the provisional. Otherwise, play the provisional and add one stroke
5) Don't ground your club in a hazard; if you do, add two strokes
6) Don't ask for advise or help from a fellow competitor
7) Play the ball you teed off with all the way until its in the hole, unless it is lost or hit out of play

Done? That's about as simple as I can make it.

ZWExton

I read many of the propositions and have issues with zero of them. Can't imagine any of this will have an impact on pace of play at local public courses, though.

Sneakylong

rsvman

Since our course doesn't over seed the fairways in the winter I'll add another. If your ball lands in a divot in the fairway it is considered ground under repair and you have a choice of taking a drop or playing it as it lies just as any other ground under repair area.

Typhoon

About time they make updates and changes.

sdandrea1

Please use the tee box commensurate with your ability.

professor

I think I like 'em all (save for a couple). When I first read the "Rules of Golf" I became nauseous - sorta like when I read the 'legalize' of my wife's divorce attorney. Some of the rules are, quite honestly damn dumb.

Now, under: "Areas of the Course" The second and third rules/changes - In the second rule-change you're allowed to repair damage on the putting green. (For which I agree.)
But, in the third, "No penalty for touching your line of play on the putting green so long as doing so does not improve the conditions for your stroke." WTF? Isn't that what you just did in adhering to the rule above? Break the rule below?!

That's the 'same old same old' of the "Rules of Golf". No change. LOL

ode

Usga is permanently on ignore

darpar

I like most of the proposed changes!
If they can cut the rules down to some 30 or so basic rules and WITHOUT a bunch of subdivisions/decisions,
and not have any gray areas....I'm all for it.
ABOUT TIME!!! 😉

letthebigdogshunt

I see some of the guys on the PGA Tour are saying that it is time they had a book for professionals and another for amateurs. The problem with that thought is growing up playing as an amateur then going to a pro Tour and having new rules to learn.

ZWExton

letthebigdogshunt

What percentage of the golfing population would this affect, you think? 0.00001%?

That being said, I don't see a major reason for a separate rule book. They play longer courses with tougher conditions - that should be the differential.

No one should have to play out of a divot, IMO. That's the one obvious absence in the changes. Big fan of everything else.

letthebigdogshunt

The problem the pros may see is the small percentage of pros play for millions of $$$$ and the other 99.9% play for a few bucks or for nothing. I could not care less about this just showing that the pros, at least some of them, want their own rules. I think most of us hate the fact that we can not get relief from a divot in the fairway. Quite a few years ago I was -4 going into the 17th hole at our club and hit a perfect drive on 17 but when I got to the ball I was in a divot. My next shot was a less than perfect shot and ended up in the hazard in front of the green. Ended up making double bogey and just had a bad taste in my mouth leaving the course that day. Should have been a very happy feeling but for the bad luck on my drive. Shot -2 for the day.

rsvman

letthebigdogshunt Nice round, anyway, though. I'd love to someday have a bad taste in my mouth walking off 18 after shooting two under. That'd be nice.

But I hear you about playing out of a divot. Maybe it would be worth it to practice playing out of divots, to take away the dread factor a bit?

The reason they didn't change that rule is that they don't want to be involved in a whole bunch of disputes about what's a divot and what's not a divot, IMO.

FauxAmish

letthebigdogshunt

Nice round. Anyway, though. I'd love to someday have a bad taste in my mouth walking off 18 after shooting two under. That'd be nice.

Been under 3 times in my life ... thanks for reminding that the Game is Still the Game ...
We, who remember how we used to play are just the Children of the Game ... It is our Duty to Pay It Forward ...

And Let All Students Know ...

It Is The Game...

Play it ... Cherish It ...