Are The New Rule Changes in Golf Affecting Your Golf Game?
Golf has many rules and I am certainly no expert but there has been some major changes . in the rules in November 2018 which has affected golfers world wide. Some changes are more than welcome. Golf rules are very strict but some of them are too strict. There have been some high profile cases in majors especially in the final round of the PGA tour when Dustin Johnsons ball moved.
The USGA wanted to give him a 1 stroke penalty for this and he went the whole round not knowing whether he lost a stroke or not which was a disgrace in my opinion.Here is what happened
So a committee got together cut 34 rules down to 24 and they have simplified some of them. We will go into the main ones now.
Ball Moving
In order to get more players to play the game and to make rounds a bit faster for players they did simplify the rules to make them more practical to allow for accidental mistakes.
The first rule change is about the above. If you accidentally hit the ball but cause no advantage to yourself then you can just pick the ball up and put it down where you had hit it accidentally. Makes sense right. There are alot of times where my ball just fell off the tee in a practice swing. It also happened to Zach Johnson at the masters but with the new rules he was able to just put it back and carry on without a penalty. A double hit is included also.
Opinion: Welcomed Change
Spike Marks
img
We were allowed to find a divot on a green but not a spike mark . This used to cause aggro for no reason. You can fix anything now.
Opinion: Welcomed Change
The Flag Stick
img
This is an interesting one. It is meant to improve slow play and move fourballs along faster. The rule was that the flagstick had to be out of the hole when the ball entered the hole. This rule has none been eliminated and the flagstick can now remain in the hole. Now this has affected the way us amateurs play the game. In my opinion the jury is still out on this one and I will explain my reasoning in a minute. But some pro golfers are now aiming for the pin instead of the hole. Hit the pin and it goes in more often that not. My little problem is that some golfers hate rule changes so around the green now is becoming a matter of preference. This was a conversation i had with 3 other players last week going around.
Furthest player away . Take flag out please
2nd player Put flag back in please
3rd player Take flag out
Me: *It's fine out thanks *
3rd player Are you sure we can put it back in
Me: No its fine honestly
What was meant to speed up the game may have actually slowed it down with different players with their own preferences.
Opinion: Jury Still Out On This One
The Out Of Bound Walk Of Shame
It was the captains prize last year. I took a tee shot. It went right as usual. Is it lost? Will I find it. I'l take a provisional. Water. I'm in big trouble. I don't care if I lost the ball but I will have to walk back up to the tee box if I cannot find the first ball and take the tee shot again. There will be a four ball on the tee at that stage waiting for me. I will have to go up and apologies and take another shot again. What if that goes wrong? The embarrassment. Why am I playing this game. It is the only sport where I am more miserable playing than happy. I walk up to the tee-box. Now there are two fourballs waiting for me. One guy I went to school with and I don't like him. Big smirk on his face. I stand up. My nerves have gone and I hit the ball into the bush in front of me. I grab my clubs and I walk off the golf course never to play golf again.
The above happened to a friend of mine. I can understand him too. The new rules cuts going back to the tee box to take the shot again. You can take a drop where the ball went into the trees or the best guess.
Opinion : Very Welcome especially for the hackers of the world
Lost Balls.
You now have 3 minutes instead of 5 minutes to look for a lost cause.
Opinion : Very Welcome as finding more balls on the golf course
Ball is to be dropped at knee height as opposed to shoulder heights
This is meant to improve accuracy of the drop as in within two club lengths of the drop. It will also speed up the game. Once you don't start taking strokes for a drop at shoulder high! Yes it has happened.
Opinion : Feels weird. I forget to do it.
It has been 60 years since the golf rules have changed but these rule changes are very welcome. It just takes a while to get used to. What do you think about the rule changes? Have you any experience of anything that came up during your round of golf. I would be keen to hear your comments.