I am confused you can drop anywhere in between the dotted lines of A and B (also factoring in 2 clublengths), no closer to the hole?

    Weirfan I hear you. My first thought was that people who aren't very good at math (and maybe even those that are good at math) will have a really hard time trying to figure out what point in the fairway is no closer to the hole.

    You have to imagine a long length of twine that stretches from the hole to the spot where your ball went out of bounds. If you had such a piece of twine, you could hold onto it tightly and then walk over to the fairway. You will have walked in an ARC. You are going to essentially walk a portion of a large circle that has a radius of the distance from the hole to where your ball went out of bounds.

    I'd guess that most people not only would not be able to do that accurately if they understood that that's what they were supposed to do, but further that most people won't even understand the simple geometry I just outlined. You certainly can't just go laterally straight over to the fairway, because that would definitely be closer. You needn't (but can) go at an angle slightly towards the tee but walk in a straight line, which would make it so that you are farther away than you were.

    So yes, in general, I agree with you that although the rule is simple, the physical execution of the rule is likely to be a lot more complex than they think it will be.

    • ode replied to this.
    • ode likes this.

        Weirfan Never knew you could estimate, that must be a new rule as well.

        1.3b(2) Accepting Player’s “Reasonable Judgment” in Determining a Location When Applying the Rules.
        • Many Rules require a player to determine a spot, point, line, area or other location under the Rules, such as:
         Estimating where a ball last crossed the edge of a penalty area,
         Estimating or measuring when dropping or placing a ball in taking relief, or
         Replacing a ball on its original spot (whether the spot is known or estimated).
        • Such determinations about location need to be made promptly and with care but often cannot be precise.
        • So long as the player does what can be reasonably expected under the circumstances to make an accurate determination, the player’s reasonable judgment will be accepted even if, after the stroke is made, the determination is shown to be wrong by video evidence or other information.
        • If a player becomes aware of a wrong determination before the stroke is made, it must be corrected (see Rule 14.5).

          rsvman

          I grasp it now thx.....interesting as it opens up a lot of drop options, including getting to a certain yardage, potentially a better angle to the green/pin, etc.....seems like dropping in the fwy would be a no brainier, but may not always be best, especially now that you don't have to drop shoulder height. Also interesting that on a lost ball you can take the two club lengths on both sides, where the ball was lost and edge of fwy. My brain is giving.push back on this, but once the avg. Player grasps the concept it will absolutely speed up play....it certainly would for me. I like it!

            Rember this though. 99% of recreational players don't use and really don't care about most of the rules and don't know most of them anyway.

            a month later

            note the definition of stroke is not based on hitting the ball but in trying to. so if to hit it ten times with the same stroke you only moved the club forward once. "A "stroke" is the forward movement of the club made with the intention of striking at and moving the ball, "

            2 months later

            Being able to remove loose impediments in bunkers is a good move.
            We have lots of small rocks in most of the traps in this area.

              darpar

              I'm not sure how that is relevant to this thread. The Local Rule providing this facility has been available since Adam was a lad

                  fnufan
                  It's not always a local rule,but now it'll be a USGA rule.
                  Very relevant!

                    24 days later

                    Weirfan
                    It will not take more time than hitting TWO provisional balls (or more)... and you should remember that you lose the drop-and-two-stroke-penalty option if you choose to hit a provisional ball.

                    In most situations it would be to your advantage to use the new rule. The only exceptions I can think of is if you snap hook or shank one off the tee and lose it, or go OB or lose it before you make the corner on a dogleg and trees prohibit you from cutting the corner even if you can drop it on the fairway.

                      a month later
                      4 months later
                      6 days later

                      Go to this site and watch each rule played out. If you don't get it after viewing and maybe reading each individual ruling following the video, try another sport. 😜
                      http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/major-changes.html

                      B-Man

                      OOPS, sorry but this same link was mentioned at the beginning of this conversation. Still, its a great place to visit and learn the rules.

                      I don't need no stinkin rules!😉