THE R&A AND THE USGA ANNOUNCE PROPOSED CHANGES TO MODERNISE RULES OF GOLF

1 March 2017, St Andrews, Scotland and Far Hills, N.J., USA: The R&A and the USGA have unveiled a preview of the proposed new Rules of Golf, as part of a joint initiative to modernise the Rules and make them easier to understand and apply.

The online release of this preview begins a six-month feedback and evaluation period during which all golfers worldwide can learn about the proposed changes and provide input before they are finalised in 2018 and take effect on 1 January 2019.

The announcement follows a comprehensive review process that began in 2012 with a working group of key R&A and USGA Rules administrators, professional tour officials and other Rules experts. While the Rules are revised every four years, this is the first fundamental review since 1984, and was established to ensure the Rules fit the needs of today's game and the way it is played around the world. 

David Rickman, Executive Director – Governance at The R&A, said, "Our aim is to make the Rules easier to understand and to apply for all golfers. We have looked at every Rule to try to find ways to make them more intuitive and straightforward and we believe we have identified many significant improvements. It is important that the Rules continue to evolve and remain in tune with the way the modern game is played but we have been careful not to change the game's longstanding principles."

"We are excited and encouraged by the potential this work brings, both through the proposed new Rules and the opportunities to use technology to deliver them," said Thomas Pagel, Senior Director of Rules & Amateur Status for the USGA. "We look forward to an ongoing conversation with golfers during the feedback period in the months ahead."

The proposed 24 new Rules, reduced from the current 34, have been written in a user-friendly style with shorter sentences, commonly used phrases, bulleted lists and explanatory headings. The initiative also focuses on assessing the overall consistency, simplicity and fairness of the Rules for play.

The Rules are currently delivered in more than 30 languages, and the proposed wording will support easier translation worldwide. When adopted, the Rules will be supported by technology that allows the use of images, videos and graphics.

Highlights of the proposed Rule changes include:

• Elimination or reduction of "ball moved" penalties: There will be no penalty for accidentally moving a ball on the putting green or in searching for a ball; and a player is not responsible for causing a ball to move unless it is "virtually certain" that he or she did so.

• Relaxed putting green rules: There will be no penalty if a ball played from the putting green hits an unattended flagstick in the hole; players may putt without having the flagstick attended or removed. Players may repair spike marks and other damage made by shoes, animal damage and other damage on the putting green and there is no penalty for merely touching the line of putt.

• Relaxed rules for "penalty areas" (currently called "water hazards"): Red and yellow-marked penalty areas may cover areas of desert, jungle, lava rock, etc., in addition to areas of water; expanded use of red penalty areas where lateral relief is allowed; and there will be no penalty for moving loose impediments or touching the ground or water in a penalty area.

• Relaxed bunker rules: There will be no penalty for moving loose impediments in a bunker or for generally touching the sand with a hand or club. A limited set of restrictions (such as not grounding the club right next to the ball) is kept to preserve the challenge of playing from the sand; however, an extra relief option is added for an unplayable ball in a bunker, allowing the ball to be played from outside the bunker with a two-stroke penalty.

• Relying on player integrity: A player's "reasonable judgment" when estimating or measuring a spot, point, line, area or distance will be upheld, even if video evidence later shows it to be wrong; and elimination of announcement procedures when lifting a ball to identify it or to see if it is damaged.

• Pace-of-play support: Reduced time for searching for a lost ball (from five minutes to three); affirmative encouragement of "ready golf" in stroke play; recommending that players take no more than 40 seconds to play a stroke and other changes intended to help with pace of play.

• Simplified way of taking relief: A new procedure for taking relief by dropping a ball in and playing it from a specific relief area; relaxed procedures for dropping a ball, allowing the ball to be dropped from just above the ground or any growing thing or other object on the ground.

A series of materials have also been prepared to explain the proposed Rule changes and provide background on the initiative. Found on randa.org and usga.org/rules, they include:

•  Overview of the Rules Modernisation Initiative: goals, proposed changes and process for implementation in 2019

• Draft New Rules of Golf for 2019: the full text of proposed Rules 1-24 and Definitions

• Draft Player's Edition of the New Rules of Golf for 2019: Written from the perspective of "you" the golfer, this shorter version covers the most commonly used Rules and is meant to be the rule book golfers will use when finalised and adopted in 2019

• Explanation for Each Major Proposed Change in the New Rules of Golf for 2019: Short summaries of each major proposed change

• Summary chart of major changes

• Videos and Infographics: Visual explanations of the proposed Rules.

Golfers are encouraged to review the proposed changes and submit feedback online via worldwide survey technology that can be accessed at randa.org or usga.org/rules from now until 31 August 2017.

The feedback will be reviewed by The R&A and the USGA in establishing the approved final version of golf's new Rules. These are due to be released in mid-2018 ahead of a 1 January 2019 implementation. Social media users can also follow the discussion using #GolfRules2019.

Players are reminded that the current 2016 Edition of the Rules of Golf remain in force when playing, posting scores or competing, until the new Rules are officially adopted by The R&A and the USGA in 2019. The Rules of Amateur Status and the Rules of Equipment Standards were not part of this review process.  

New local rule eliminates penalty for a player who accidentally causes a ball to move on the putting green

8 December 2016, St Andrews, Scotland:

The R&A and the USGA today announced the introduction of a new Local Rule that eliminates the penalty when a ball is accidentally moved on the putting green.

The Local Rule will be available for any committee in charge of a competition to use starting 1 January 2017. It will be adopted by The R&A and the USGA in all of their championships, qualifying competitions and international matches.

David Rickman, Executive Director - Governance at The R&A, said, “For the past several years, as part of The R&A and USGA’s Rules Modernisation initiative, we have considered the penalty for a ball that is accidentally moved on the putting green. Both Rules Committees agreed that it needed to be changed and decided that in this particular case it was important to act now, through a Local Rule, rather than wait for the next overall set of revisions to the Rules of Golf.”

Thomas Pagel, Senior Director, Rules of Golf and Amateur Status at the USGA, said, “Eliminating this penalty responds to the concerns we have heard from both golfers and committees about the difficulties in applying the current Rules when a player accidentally causes a ball to move on the putting green. This change is a good example of the type of Rules Modernisation changes we hope to implement after completing our fundamental review of all of the Rules. We are looking for ways to improve the Rules by making them easier to understand and apply.”

The Local Rule has been welcomed by all of the major Tours worldwide, and the PGA TOUR, European Tour, LPGA, PGA of America and the Masters Tournament are among the golf organisations that will implement the Local Rule for all future events, beginning 1 January 2017.
If a Committee wishes to introduce this Local Rule, the following wording is recommended:
“Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1 are modified as follows:
When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his partner, his opponent, or any of their caddies or equipment.
The moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced as provided in Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1.
This Local Rule applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green and any movement is accidental.
Note: If it is determined that a player’s ball on the putting green was moved as a result of wind, water or some other natural cause such as the effects of gravity, the ball must be played as it lies from its new location. A ball-marker moved in such circumstances is replaced.”
For more information about the new Local Rule, including explanatory diagrams, videos and a detailed question-and-answer document, please visit www.RandA.org.

R&A RULES ACADEMY

During the Open Championship last year the R&A launched a new free online course to help golfers and administrators improve their knowledge of the Rules of Golf.
The Rules Academy is available at www.RandA.org/RulesAcademy and is based on the Etiquette Section and the Quick Guide to the Rules of Golf (a short summary of the most commonly occurring Rules).  Users are guided by either Padraig Harrington or Suzann Pettersen, who are both R&A Working for Golf Ambassadors.
The course features video, images and diagrams of Rules situations and includes revision questions after each section. It covers the essentials that all golfers should know such as sportsmanship, integrity and respect. It adopts a tee to green approach and tells you what you need to know at each point; from where to tee your ball, to taking relief from various conditions, to holing out and returning the score card.
At the end of the course, people can take a Level 1 Rules Exam and receive a certificate signed by their guiding player.
Two-time Open Champion Padraig Harrington said, “The Rules Academy is a great idea for helping golfers to improve their knowledge of the Rules of Golf in a quick and easy way. A short online course will make the Rules and how they are applied much less daunting and the game more enjoyable as a result.” 
Suzann Pettersen, a former LPGA champion, said, “It’s easy to take the Rules for granted but in golf it is so important to understand the values of the game and show respect to your playing partners. Learning more about the Rules can help you get more out of the game so I would urge people to get online and take the course.”
The R&A operates a three-tier Rules Education Programme and the Rules Academy is based on the Level 1 Introductory Rules Schools that it conducts around the world in conjunction with its affiliated bodies.
David Rickman, The R&A’s Executive Director, Rules of Golf and Equipment Standards, said, “I’m delighted that we can now offer the online Rules Academy to those that want to master the basic Rules and Etiquette of this great game. The course will guide people as to how the game is meant to be played and the Rules that apply in particular situations which can happen to anyone out on the course. It may even save golfers the occasional precious stroke or two.”
The Academy is free to view and should take no more than two to three hours to go through. The Exam costs £10 to take with the proceeds going to The R&A’s Working for Golf programme. Each year The R&A invests £5 million in the programme which supports the development of the game around the world.
[I've added a link to the R&A Rules Academy in the left hand sidebar. It is important that everyone knows the Rules. GGK]

SHOULD PLAYING WRONG BALL COST YOU TWO SHOTS OF A PENALTY?

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Two Scots, competing at vastly different levels, fell foul of the same golf rule on Sunday - playing the wrong ball - and it cost them a lot.
Stephen Gallacher was in fourth place when he mistakenly played the ball of one of his amateur partners at the 16th hole in the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship over the Old Course. 
The two-stroke penalty meant he ran up a quadruple bogey 8 at the hole and slipped back to a joint fifth place finish with seven other players.
In financial terms, the two-stroke penalty cost him about 40,000 Euros.

 On the same day, at the lat hole on the McDonald Ellon course in Aberdeenshire,
Kimberley Beveridge, pictured, 17-year-old Aboyne junior, played what she thought was her ball - it wasn't her partner Jess Meek's ball, so the mystery here is how it got to be there - and discovered to her horror when she got up to the green that it wasn't her ball at all.
The two-stroke penalty cost Kimberley victory and a voucher worth £60 in the North/North-east/Angus girls individual competition. She finished second, a shot behind Jess Meek.
Without the two-stroke penalty, Kimberley would have won by a shot.
It is not for me to question the Rules of Golf but a two-stroke penalty does seem a very severe punishment for what is after all a genuine mistake.
Why not just a one-stroke penalty?
Nobody would deliberately play a wrong ball, would they?. What would they gain by doing so?
I put the same question to rules expect Gillian Kirkwood. Here is what she had to say:
 .
"I've been looking up the history of the Rule (Kenneth Chapman, The Rules of the Green, Virgin Books 1997)

"Playing a wrong ball has had a loss of hole penalty in Match Play since as far back as 1812,  although in 1891 the St Andrews Rules changed it to a one-stroke penalty but rescinded  it in 1899.

"Every rule which has a penalty of loss of hole in Match Play, has a penalty of two strokes in Stroke Play."

Did YOU know that in America amateurs
can win cash as a hole-in-one prize?

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
When the US Duramed Futures Tour announced that a Norwegian AMATEUR, Benedikte Grovtvedt, had won $500 for a hole in one at their weekend tournament, I thought it had to be a mistake. I amended the Futures Tour Press Release published on Kirkwoodgolf.co.uk to read that she had received a $500 voucher.
At the same time I sent off an E-mail to the organisers of the Futures Tour, pointing out their "mistake."
When the Futures Tour Newsletter on Monday repeated the statement that the Norwegian amateur had received $500 in cash for her hole in one, I fired off another E-mail across the Atlantic to the Futures Tour people, pointing out that in no circumstances can amateurs be given money as a prize.
Back came the following E-mail message:

"Colin, Under the USGA rules, she was eligible to receive cash prizes up to $750 for a hole in one. Our director of tournament operations, Christy Barks looked it up before declaring her a winner of the money."

So, hastily eating a large slice of humble pie, I had to admit that I was not aware that the Rules of Amateur Status as far as hole in one prizes are concerned are different in the States.
I apologised to the Futures Tour for showing my ignorance of that fact.

Reader Alasdair J Malcom has come up with another answer to my original question:

Colin,
Reference your poser regarding the accepting of prize money by amateurs.
I think I am right in saying that an amateur can compete in an event where there are cash prizes for professionals as long as the amateur nominates, prior to taking part, a charity to which any prize money gained by him will go, and complying with this would not affect the player's amateur status.
Regards
Alasdair J. Malcolm

Rules expert Gillian Kirkwood confirms this:
Yes. It's Decision 3-1/6.

Can an amateur ever accept a cash prize?

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Here's a question to include in your next Club Rules of Golf Quiz:
"Can there ever be a situation where an amateur golfer may accept a cash prize in a tournament?"
Think about it. Like me, your instinctive answer is likely to be: "Certainly not!"
But, as I discovered, much to my embarrassment within the past 24 hours, the answer is "Yes" ... under certain circumstances.
If you know when and where these 'certain circumstances' apply, E-mail your answer to Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Otherwise, I will give you the definitive answer on Wednesday morning.