Proposed rule changes are hoped to speed up and simplify game

THE R&A and the USGA, golf’s two main governing bodies, have joined forces to announce proposals to changes the rules of golf that will come into force on January 19, 2019.

These changes aim to simplify the game by cutting the number of main rules and definitions and include the elimination of penalties for ball movement on the green, speeding up the general pace of play, and putting the onus on player integrity.

If, like me, you are the impatient type and one of these people who can’t be bothered to read instructions after buying something, then you won’t be interested in reading all the waffle and small print that goes with these rule changes, so here is the main gist of it.

(a) Players will be encouraged to take no longer than 40 seconds per shot, along with the time being cut for finding lost balls from five minutes to three.

(b) Penalty shots no longer need to be dropped from shoulder height.

(c) There will be no penalty for accidentally moving a ball on the putting green or in searching for the ball, and a player is not responsible for causing a ball to move unless it is virtually certain that he or she did so.

(d) 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.

(e) There will be no penalty for moving loose impediments in a bunker or for generally touching the sand with a hand or club.

(f) A player’s reasonable judgement in terms of measuring or estimating a spot, line, area, or distance will be upheld, even if video evidence proves it to be wrong and an elimination of announcement procedures when lifting a ball to see whether identify or see whether it has been damaged.