What You Need To Know About The New Rules Of Golf

If you are an avid golf fan there is a good chance that you know about the new rules change. The change took place this year in 2019, but the announcement for the change was made back in 2018. These rules were put together by the USGA and R&A and they still didn’t bring much clarity to some individuals. There is no denying that the rules surrounding golf have always been somewhat hard to decipher. Not to worry, because this article will explain everything that you need to know about the new rule changes that took place earlier this year.

What Happened To The Number Of Rules?

The first that you will notice is that there are no longer 34 rules. The new rules surrounding the PGA have been knocked down to 24 rules. This has to be a good thing right? The reason the rules board and administrators did this is that they really wanted to streamline and simplify the sport’s regulation.

For The Recreational Golfer

Back in 2017, the golf community submitted feedback to the bodies that govern the golf rules. As a member of the gold community, you might be surprised to learn that your comments were actually heard and some of what you said was considered when designing the new rules list. For the recreational golfer, certain changes were made to the out of bound or lost balls. Instead of factoring in stroke and distance, a new rule will allow the golfer to drop the lost or out of bounds ball in the vicinity of where the original was lost or went out of bounds. This means that players can deposit their balls on the nearest fairways, but it also means that it will cost you a two-stroke penalty.

This pretty much means that if you knock your first drive into the woods, you will no longer have to hit your third from the tee box. On the fourth stroke, you can play from the fairway. This was a rule that was implemented to help with the pace of the game.

The Height Of The Drop

Major adjustments have been made to the height of the drop. The initial proposal stated that the player would take the drop from any length above two inches from the ground. However, this was not agreed on and the commission decided to go with taking the drop from knee height. This is still a huge change from the current shoulder level.

Double-Chip Is Gone

T.C. Chen fans and followers will be glad to know that the double-chip penalty is now gone. That’s right the stroke will just now count as one stroke.

Club Length Is The Measurement For Relief

Back in March 2017, the proposal called for the player to either play with a 20-inch or 80-inch standard. However, most golfers responded by saying, “How are we going to actually measure that?” This is why the governing bodies of the rules decided to go back to measure club lengths instead.

Moving The Ball On The Green

This will be an extremely important rule for those gamblers that are taking advantage of the best first deposit bonuses for Australians. This rule specifically revolves around the accidental movement of the ball on the green. The player will no longer be penalized for accidentally moving the ball on the green. However, there is an exception to this rule. If it is virtually certain that the player caused the ball to move on purpose then they will be penalized.

Putting With The Flagstick In

There was also a major change to the penalty for putting to an unattended flag. This penalty has been eliminated altogether and so was the penalty for putting with a flagstick in. Players can now opt to put with the flagstick still in place.

Removing Impediments In Bunkers And Water Hazards

You might also be surprised to learn that there is now no penalty for touching the ground or water in a penalty area. There is an exception to this rule in the sand. This rule states that you cannot ground the club right next to the ball. This will certainly make a major difference in some situations. Golfers and gamblers from all the world need to keep an eye on these rules, as they will make a major impact on the way you play and bet on the game.