USGA and The R&A Announce Proposed Changes to Modernize Golf’s Rules
(USGA Photo)
(March 1, 2017) -- The USGA and The R&A have
unveiled a preview of proposed new Rules of
Golf, as
part of a joint initiative to modernize 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
finalized
in 2018 and take effect January 1, 2019.
The announcement follows a comprehensive
review process that began in 2012 with a
working
group of key USGA and R&A 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.
“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.”
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 and character.”
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.
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
August 31, 2017.
The feedback will be reviewed by the USGA
and The R&A in establishing the approved final
version of golf’s new Rules. These are due to be
released in mid-2018 ahead of a January 1,
2019 implementation. Social media fans 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 USGA
and The R&A in 2019. The Rules of Amateur
Status and the Rules of Equipment Standards
were not part of this review process.