Fed up of the hearing about the rules yet? You might want to make sure you’re up to date with the changes to the Rules of Golf.
You’ve had flagsticks, drops and penalty areas rammed down your throats for the past six weeks – and the furore surrounding Haotong Li and Denny McCarthy means it’s showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
In the run up to their introduction on January 1, the R&A and USGA issued a checklist of the 20 most important changes that all golfers needed to know to get round the course intact.
But they weren’t the only alterations that came out of the near seven-year process to bring the Rules of Golf up to date.
There are a number of more, shall we say, obscure refinements that might have passed you by.
So, thanks to the help of England Golf championship panel referee Paul Jordan-Worrall, here are six examples of some of the more concealed changes to the Rules of Golf that you might one day need to know.
Changes to the Rules of Golf
1. In foursomes, who can drop – you or your partner?
If you asked this question before January 1 you would have received the following answer – only the player whose turn it was to play could drop and place balls for the pair.
Now, thanks to Rule 22.2, either partner can take this action.
And, in fourballs, Rule 23.5 reveals a “player may take any action concerning the partner’s ball that the partner is allowed to take before making a stroke”.
That means marking the spot and lifting, replacing, dropping or placing the ball. Before, in most instances, each player had to deal with their own ball.
2. Did you drop a club onto your ball when taking relief? Don’t worry
You drop a ball when taking relief and reach down to lift the tee that was marking the relief area. When standing up, you accidentally drop a club you were holding which falls, hits and moves the ball in play.
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This was a penalty last year. But, under interpretation 4 of rule 9.4b, it isn’t any more. The rule states that even though you’ve already dropped a ball to take relief, the ball is classed to have moved “while” you were taking relief.
In fact, this accidental movement also applies, when off the green, to marking the spot, lifting or replacing a ball and removing a movable obstruction.
3. You can leave a non-conforming club in your bag. But please don’t use it
Remember that club you damaged during your last round and is now non-conforming?
If you forget to take it out of your bag you will no longer receive the two or four stroke penalty you would have suffered last year.
It still counts as one of your 14 clubs, but you won’t get penalised unless you make a stroke with it.
It’s bad news if you do, though. Under Rule 4.1a, disqualification awaits.
Head to the next page for more changes to the Rules of Golf you may have missed, including what you can and can’t use to measure wind, and a pretty significant rewrite on how we see bunkers…
4. Be careful what you use to check the wind
Who of us hasn’t pulled up a handful of grass and chucked it up into the air to see where the wind is going? That’s still fine but make sure you’re not caught out using anything else that could be deemed an “artificial object”.
Substituting the grass for powder, for instance, would be a no no – as are other objects for the “sole purpose of getting wind related information”.
Among the interpretations for Rule 4.3a (2) is a very specific example involving a handkerchief.
So if you “take a handkerchief out for the sole purpose of holding it in the air to see which direction the wind is going, the player’s action is a breach of Rule 4.3.”
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That comes with a price. It’s a two-stroke penalty for the first time. Do it again and it’s disqualification.
5. You can stop a ball before it comes to rest in this specific instance
In fact it’s not just you. Anyone else can also deliberately stop your ball – either within or outside a relief area – before it comes to rest if there is no reasonable chance it will come to rest in the area.
You can find this in an exception to Rule 14.3d. Last year, if the ball was stopped before it rolled out of the permitted area (and that included the two club lengths allowed to roll) you would have picked up a general penalty.
So what does it mean in practice? If you are taking lateral relief from a red penalty area, for example, you can now stop it rolling down that steep slope and into the water before it gets to the margin line.
6. Just hit the face of a bunker? Keep calm and carry on
The definition of the bunker has changed and now only includes the area covered – or normally covered – by sand. That means you no longer receive a penalty for hitting the wall or face of the bunker with your backswing.
Why was Fowler penalised at the Phoenix Open?
The seven Rules of Golf you may not know exist
Get your head around the new Rules of Golf terms
For more information on the changes to the Rules of Golf visit the R&A or USGA websites.
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