DIVOT L I E , PURE S T R I K E TOP 25

Despite rolling into a divot, you can still get a perfect connection with a few adjustments COACH

You can’t play a round of golf without encountering a few good and bad breaks. As frustrating as coming to rest in a divot may be, especially after a perfect drive, it needn’t create a huge obstacle.

So, firstly, put that misfortune to the back of your mind. If you’re still cursing your luck when you come to address the ball, you won’t be concentrating on the basics required to ensure you make a sweet connection.

The secret to making a good contact in this scenario is to hit down on the ball. With a few simple adjustments in the set-up, you can help promote a steeper backswing. By doing so, the downswing is also made steeper, which helps you to strike the ball first and then the ground. Fully commit to these tweaks and you’ll get that pure strike that sends the ball up and out towards your intended target.

The updated Rules of Golf came into play on January 1. With good weather in the UK, club golfers have had an early chance to assess the impact of the changes.

From our digital platforms, GM is aware of concerns being voiced, firstly from doom-mongers prophesying the “end of the game as we know it”, and secondly from those concerned club players don’t yet understand, or haven’t taken on board, the changes.

We conducted some research to find the consensus, posting a poll on Twitter and asking questions on Facebook and the GM Forum on whether people think the new rules are an improvement. Of over 1,000 respondents to the Twitter poll, a healthy 76% think they are. There will always be dissenting voices from those averse to change, but it’s clear the majority are in favour and those who have played by the new rules have generally enjoyed the modifications.

“All good for the game and delighted with them,” said Ger Ennis on Twitter, “Especially those that save time, such as putting with the flag in and the three-minute search.”

Feedback from the Golf Monthly forum has also been largely positive. “Simply magnificent. Shaving 20+ minutes off a round,” said Jacko_g.

If that’s indicative, then it will be mission accomplished for The R&A.

“Although it’s still very early days, and in some parts of the world, including the UK, the main golf season has still to get underway, we have been pleased with the positive reaction from golfers and the new rules have been widely welcomed,” said David Rickman, executive director – governance at The R&A. “Around four million copies of the new Player’s Edition have been distributed around the world and it has been translated into 30 languages. A major communication exercise has been carried out through our affiliated national associations to communicate the changes to golfers and we are continuing to work on this throughout 2019.”

As for players not fully grasping the rule changes yet, there is perhaps a little way to go.

On our Twitter poll, we asked if people felt club golfers know the new rules at this stage. A worrying 73% said no. Also, 45% said that they had seen golfers playing by the old rules since January 1.

One area of confusion seems to be with a ball lost or out of bounds. The new rules provide the option for a local rule as an alternative to a ball lost or out of bounds – to drop in the vicinity of where the ball is lost or out of bounds under a two-stroke penalty. But clubs may or may not adopt it, and the Council of National Golfing Unions (CONGU) is not permitting its use in

“Many clubs have been proactive in educating their members on the changes”

handicap-counting rounds. There is a feeling, though, that many people think this rule is universally in force.

“I think this will be the biggest problem as people believe it is applicable,” said Lord Tyrion on the Golf Monthly forum.

Having said that, many clubs have been proactive in educating their members on the changes.

“My club ran mandatory rules sessions before January 1,” said Stu W on Twitter. “You can’t play in competitions until they’ve been completed. I played on Saturday and there were no issues.”

There may also be some teething trouble with the three-minute search limit and the knee-height dropping procedure as people simply forget the changes have come into effect.

“The main goals of this process were to modernise the rules and bring them more into line with the way the sport is played, as well as to do what we could to help improve pace of play,” said Rickman. “Some of the changes will take time for golfers to adjust to and that’s perfectly understandable, but we believe that by cutting out some of the complexities and making them easier to understand, we have made the rules less intimidating for golfers at all levels.”

Although the media has picked up on a few negative comments, there’s been a generally positive reaction from the professionals, too.

Bryson Dechambeau has taken advantage of putting with the flagstick in and Adam Scott has also said he will be doing the same. Dechambeau and Jordan Spieth have both questioned dropping from knee height, though, querying why you shouldn’t be allowed to drop from above knee-height.

Elsewhere, Rory Mcilroy was fully behind the decision to make the changes and happy with the results. “I think they’re trying to simplify the rules, which I think is a great thing for the game,” he said. “I’m happy that they made the decision to try and simplify them, and just try and make everything a little bit easier to understand.”

Like anything new, the rules changes will take time to bed in. But when club golfers get used to putting with the flag in, playing ready golf, limiting their search time and so on, we will see great improvements in the simplicity and pace of the game. Change for the better? Certainly.