The 5 new rules you need to know ahead of the golf season
Playing in the first competition of the year? Here is a quintet of the updates from the 2023 Rules of Golf that could have an impact on your game
Can you believe we’re already a quarter of the way through the year? January 1 seems a long time ago now, and you may well have forgotten about some of the major Rules of Golf changes that came into effect on this date.
Maybe your clubs are only just coming out of hibernation after the winter, or maybe you’ve just not paid too much attention during your social games over the last few months, but if you’re teeing it up in a competition this weekend, as our traditional season gets under way once again, there are a number of adjustments to the rules you really need to know as you start signing scorecards for real.
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Five 2023 Rules of Golf you need to know
I’ve picked out a quintet I reckon you’d be wise to brush up on as we look forward to a great spring and summer out on the course…
Your ball can go forward when taking back-on-the-line relief
When you take back-on-the-line relief, usually when your ball has gone in a penalty area or you decide it is unplayable, there is something new to consider this year.
Now, the procedure has been amended to provide that a player is required to drop on the line. Once you drop, the spot on the line where the ball first touches the ground now “creates a relief area that is one club-length in any direction from that point”.
Yes, that can be forward.
Are you responsible for putting your handicap on your scorecard?
A change to Rule 3.3b (4) means you are no longer required to show your handicap on your scorecard. Competition committees now have the responsibility of calculating a player’s handicap strokes and that has taken disqualification off the table.
But clubs can bring in a Local Rule that shifts the onus back onto you and I’ve anecdotally heard of some which have decided to implement this – even though handicap chiefs at CONGU have advised otherwise.
So ask your competition chiefs, or check out the notice board, to make sure you know what your club is doing.
Have you forgotten to sign your scorecard?
Speaking of Local Rules, here’s another one that will make a big difference if your club have brought it in. For situations where a committee feels it to be “more appropriate”, they can rescind the disqualification penalty for not signing your scorecard, or your marker failing to do it, and hand you a two shot sanction instead. It would apply to the last hole of your round.
Even if your club doesn’t bring in this rule at this stage, it might be worth having it in the back of your mind. There’s a chance it could be written into the Rule Book permanently from 2027.
When your ball is moved by natural forces
This one’s revealed in a new exception to Rule 9.3 and applies if you’ve taken relief – whether that’s dropping, placing or replacing. If you do so, your ball is at rest and then it rolls into another area of the course or out of bounds because of natural causes (think water, wind, gravity), there is no penalty and you’ve got to replace it and play it from its original spot.
Think that’s rare? Imagine your ball is in a penalty area, you’ve dropped it on a slope, it’s come to rest and then – 20 seconds later – it rolls back into the penalty area. You’ll love this new rule now!
Don’t stand behind your partner when they’re taking a putt
It may seem the most natural thing to do in a betterball competition – to get a read when your partner is hitting a putt.
You can give each other advice, you can even take relief decisions for each other’s ball, but you can’t line up behind them as they’re making their stroke to gain information.
It may always have been implied in Rule 10.2b (4) that you couldn’t crowd your partner’s line to form a view on where your next putt or shot might go, but it is now explicitly written into the rules on foursomes (Rule 22.6) and fourball (Rule 23.8).
Restriction on Player Standing Behind Partner when Stroke Made reveals that in addition to the limitations in Rule 10, a player “must not stand on or close to an extension of the line of play behind the ball while their partner is making a stroke to gain information for their (the player’s) next stroke”.
If you’re caught doing this, you’ll get hit with the general penalty, which is two shots in stroke play or loss of hole in match play. In foursomes, that penalty applies to the side. In fourball, there are even examples where it could apply to both players.
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Have you got a handle on the 2023 Rules of Golf update going into the new season? What is going to be the biggest change? Tweet me and let me know!
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
