RULES OF GOLF
>> Estimating the position of a ball to be re-
placed is OK, no exact spot to be determined. >> Loose Impediment removal – no penalty in bunkers or penalty areas unless the ball moves. >> Reasonable judgment – as long as the player actions are reasonable in determining a spot, point, line or area, all is OK even if later an error is discovered. >> Penalty areas. While many courses have identified long grass and woods as lateral hazards, the new Rules allow “any other part of the course (in addition to water) the Committee defines as a penalty area” validates the practice. Now that can include desert areas.
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>> Repair any damage on the putting green but be careful of slow play. >> Leaving the flagstick in the hole without penalty. >> Substituting a ball during play is permitted any time in taking relief with or without penalty. >> Touching the line of play before a stroke is OK unless the area is improved. >> Carrying a non-conforming club is not a penalty unless it’s used. SIMPLIFICATION >> Code of Conduct is in the Rules with penalties (decided by the Committee) >> Dropping – There was considerable debate
DECEMBER 2021
on this issue. One group advocated always placing the ball; dropping at knee-height was the compromise. Those who felt there needed to be some risk in determining a lie were mollified, but redropping is almost never necessary any longer. >> Pace of Play – 40 seconds for a stroke is recommended, now dealing with the messy problem. >> Relief Area – Where the ball is dropped and where it comes to rest must be the same place. I really miss the seven times a ball must be redropped, but that’s just me. >> Stroke & Distance – The player can always do that. >> Temporary Water – Never understood
what made water “Casual” before. The moves toward leniency and simplification make the Rules easier to understand. The previous 34 are reduced to 24. The number of Definitions has increased to 70. There are no “exceptions” called Decisions any longer, but instead Clarifications included with the Rules in the Official Guide to the Rules of Golf. There are always unintended consequences, and we know of a few. How they will be addressed with the next changes in the Rules for 2023. TV announcers have made errors, using language like “hazard,” but they never were all that knowledgeable anyway. n
