New ‘player friendly’ rules

Have you ever taken the time to read through a golf rules book? I’m sure a few of you probably have, while a majority have not.

If you haven’t, I don’t blame you because you’ll likely just end up confusing yourself. There are way too many rules for each of us to actually understand.

However, there are a number of rules that are important. This includes a few new rules the USGA will be implementing beginning January 1, 2019.

One rule that stands out to me is the new relief option out of a bunker. For a penalty of two strokes, golfers will now be allowed to drop a ball outside of the bunker keeping the line between the original ball position and the hole.

In other words, if you are in a bunker that you feel you may not be able to hit the ball out of, you can now drop your ball outside of the bunker on a backward extension between your ball and the hole. For those of you who struggle with hitting your ball out of a bunker this may be a good option for you.

Another interesting rule change allows a player to now ground their club and take a practice swing inside of a hazard. Until now, you were not allowed to ground your club inside of a hazard.

This new rule should make hitting out of a hazard a bit easier.

The rule that seems to stand out the most, however, is the rule that allows you to keep the flagstick in the hole while you putt. I am interested to see how most golfers handle this change.

I would imagine that most players will still choose to remove the flagstick from the hole, but others may try to take advantage of having the flagstick in the hole. Personally, I would keep the flagstick in the hole on longer putts and take it out on shorter putts.

There are plenty of other rules changes coming in 2019.

My hope is that these changes help to simplify the rules of golf, not complicate them to a greater degree.

I know the goal of the USGA is to simplify the rules and make the game a bit more “player friendly.” I’m hoping that these changes can help add to that enjoyment. If nothing else, I feel certain that they will eventually contribute to a faster pace of play.