Changes to the rules of golf

[trifectarich]

The USGA and R&A have announced a list of proposed changes that would go into effect starting in 2019. Some are designed to quicken the pace of the game; some are supposed to make the rules easier to understand. There are some that will make us do a double take when we see them at the professional level.

* It'll be OK to putt and leave the flagstick in the hole.
* It'll be OK to remove loose impediments in bunkers.
* No more using caddies to help in player alignment.
* Three minutes to look for a lost ball, not five.
* Range finders are OK at any level of play.

There are many others, but for how 99.99 percent of us treat the game, they probably won't come into play. March 1 begins a six-month period of public comment.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Golf is one place where I'd be in favor of Trump's rule that two regulations must be eliminated for every one that's added.

 

[Starman]

I look at the rules of golf as merely suggestions anyway.

 

[poindexter]

Putting on the green and leaving the flagstick in hole is a no brainer to get rid of. I hate that rule at my duffer level. God forbid I put from the green with the stick in, and get a stroke penalty.

 

[justgladtobehere]

What is using a caddie for player alignment? Does that refer to putting?

 

[John]

Hate, hate, HATE the use of rangefinders -- at all levels. Part of the challenge of the game is processing info and figuring things out yourself.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The lost ball rule change won't effect me. When I lose 'em, they're lost on contact. Better chance of finding Hoffa.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Is picking up your ball, driving it to the green and dropping it in the hole still illegal?

 

[trifectarich]

What is using a caddie for player alignment? Does that refer to putting?

You see this all the time with the LPGA players and their caddies standing behind them to make sure the player is aiming where they're supposed to be aiming.

 

[CD Boogie]

The USGA and R&A have announced a list of proposed changes that would go into effect starting in 2019. Some are designed to quicken the pace of the game; some are supposed to make the rules easier to understand. There are some that will make us do a double take when we see them at the professional level.

* It'll be OK to putt and leave the flagstick in the hole.
* It'll be OK to remove loose impediments in bunkers.
* No more using caddies to help in player alignment.
* Three minutes to look for a lost ball, not five.
* Range finders are OK at any level of play.

There are many others, but for how 99.99 percent of us treat the game, they probably won't come into play. March 1 begins a six-month period of public comment.

allowing rangefinders is garbage. I'm for eliminating caddies altogether. then again, I don't wanna see Angel Cabrera have a coronary as he's humping his bag and sucking on a heart dart.

 

[Chef2]

Agreed on the rangefinders. That's still the one I want to see taken out.

 

[User 149557]

I'm hoping they change the rules on RFID's in the golf ball once the technology has become cheap enough to insert one in every ball. Not that I'm holding my breath. The golf ball industry is going to drag its feet on this technology because it has no incentive to keep you from losing a ball. But once it's feasible, being able to track where my ball is with my phone and eliminating those will-sapping searches will make the game so much more enjoyable.

 

[playthrough]

I'm rather blown away by all these. Can't believe this really came from the stuffed shirts in Far Hills. Or maybe it was more R&A-driven and the USGA went along? Just so many golfy things are going away, like the loose impediments in bunkers and fixing spike marks. In other words, a shocking amount of common sense is coming.

I don't care for rangefinders personally, but guys who can't break 100 don't really need to be pacing off yardage from the 200-yard marker so if the lasers speed them up, fine. And if you're like me, you've got a buddy who has the rangefinder and really likes using it for everyone else, so I'll never have to get one!

 

[zagoshe]

Why would putting with a flag stick in be a thing? Why would anyone do that if there are caddies who can easily walk up and pull it out

 

[poindexter]

Why would putting with a flag stick in be a thing? Why would anyone do that if there are caddies who can easily walk up and pull it out

I thought the reason its important is that it filters down to all levels.

If I am playing "ready golf" at the muni, but we have a couple of bucks riding on it, I can putt (and possibly make the putt) while my friend is still off the green. And we aren't putting in and taking back out the flag.

 

[Flip Wilson]

Anything to speed up the game already.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

That rangefinders at any level seems like an effort to get PGA Tour players some more endorsement money. I'm sure Bushnell or Nikon would love to have a player using one on 18 at The Masters on Sunday.

 

[hondo]

Don't forget that just because the USGA allows the use of rangefinders, Augusta National or the PGA Tour can have a local rule forbidding them.
I'm as much of a stickler for the rules as most people but I have no problem with rangefinders. Half the courses I play have them on the carts anyway.
I wish they had gotten rid of stroke-and-distance for OB.
I applaud forbidding caddies from lining up players. It's part of the game to know how to align yourself. This was a problem almost exclusive to the LPGA. Now, a caddie has to move away as soon as the player takes a stance.
Some other proposals haven't been mentioned:
- If a ball ricochets off the lip of a bunker or tree and hits you, it's no longer a penalty (just play it as it lies).
- You can ground your club in a hazard as long as you're not testing the surface or improving your lie.
- If you accidentally touch or move your ball anywhere, you can replace it as near as you can to the original spot, no closer to the hole. This includes the greens, a rule that bit Dustin Johnson in the ass at the U.S. Open.
- If video evidence shows your ball moved on the green, no harm, no foul, unless it can be proven you did it on purpose.
- You can play with a damaged club during the round.
- If you want to declare an unplayable lie in a bunker, you can take the ball out of the bunker and take a two-shot penalty.
- And the Rules will be reduced from 34 to 24. That decisions book got a whole lot thinner.

 

[UPChip]

I've always played "finders-keepers" golf. At my level, keeping the inventory as stocked as possible is important, so if I'm looking for my lost ball and find another ball that is abandoned but not mine, I say "Good enough!" and line it up. Finding more than you lose puts a silver lining on every round.

Also, I play most of my rounds solo and for exercise and almost never pull the pin unless someone is behind me and then, mostly to let them know when they have the all-clear.

 

[playthrough]

Me and my buddies smashed a few clubs in anger back in our younger days. Would have been great to have been able to needle the aggrieved further. "Joe, the rules say you can still use that!"

So Jeff Maggert at the 2003 Masters wouldn't have been penalized under these rules? I'm not sure about that one. Can't legislate all of the bum luck out of the game (still no relief from a perfect drive that lands in a divot), but in this case, if you fail to clear a bunker with a shot and it hits you, well, that's your fault and you should get dinged somehow. Maybe the answer is one shot, not two.