Change always brings with it the feeling of uneasiness and often the question of whether it was better the way things were before! The new rule amendments to the game of golf are no exception to this common and unsettling reaction to change. So, in this latest edition of the magazine, my goal is to help you settle into these changes with a fresh and positive perspective. Here are the advantages of the 10 most important changes to the rules of the game.
Leave it IN
The most major rule change in my opinion concerns the flag. Hitting the flag-stick is now without penalty – which means you can always leave the flag in the hole, even for short putts.
This rule is designed to speed up play; however, it requires some mental commitment and consistency in terms of your approach to putts on the greens.
What I mean by this is; be decisive about whether you will leave the flag in or out for putts within your makeable range. Deciding to leave the flag in or out, it is one of those additional steps that can subtly mess with your head, and you may find yourself second-guessing over the putt.
This mental dilemma was first presented to me while following some of the professional players during a practice round at the SMBC Singapore Open last month. During a casual chat with Daniel Chopra, he shared how in his first tournament of the year in Thailand, he watched one of his playing partners hit every putt with the flagstick in; a change he wasn’t ready for. For Chopra, it seemed bizarre and frustrating and it affected his focus on the green. Another player during round 1 said he couldn’t decide whether to leave the flag in or out on the second hole and this lack of decisiveness affected his commitment to the putt.
The lesson here is to be decisive on your approach with the pin for putts in your makeable range and be consistent with this choice throughout the round.
Another rule amendment associated with the flag stick is when a ball gets wedged between the flag and the hole, if the ball is partly bellow the lip, it is considered holed. You do not need to raise the flagstick anymore to allow the ball to fall all the way in.
Quick and Simple
Many of the new rule amendments have been designed to simplify your decision-making process and speed up the game.
From now on, there should be no second-guessing and debates about repairs to spike marks on the green. You can now repair all damage on the greens, including spike marks (excluding natural imperfections).
Change to Play in Water Hazards
One of my favorite rule amendments is the change to play around water hazards. You can now ground your club in penalty areas. You can even settle the club down behind the ball in the water.
Water Hazards = Penalty Areas
Water hazards are now called red and yellow penalty areas and no longer have to contain water. This means that golf clubs are free to mark other areas around the course as penalty areas with a red stake for instance (such as thick bush lands near the rough), enabling players to take a sideways drop into the rough and speed up the game considerably.
Plugged Balls
You can now take a free drop for balls embedded anywhere in the general area.
Until now, you only got relief from balls embedded in the ground when it landed in closely trimmed areas like the fairway and the fringe.
Now you can take relief from all embedded balls in the general area, including the semi rough and rough.
Maximum Search Time
From 2019 you will only have 3-minutes to search for a lost ball. Previously it was 5-minutes.
To make this rule effective – Take a quick look at your watch before you start searching.
A Clean Slate
Loose impediments can be removed everywhere including penalty areas marked with red and yellow stakes and bunkers, with caution of course, if the ball moves in those areas while lifting loose impediment you will incur 1 penalty stroke.
In the Bunker
Marks can now be smoothed out in bunkers, as long as it does not improve the lie of the ball, and you are now permitted to lean on the club in a bunker, such as, when you are stepping in or out of the sand for example. Practice swings or grounding the club behind the ball in the bunker is still not allowed.
Unplayable balls in the bunker
If you declare your ball unplayable in a bunker you use to have 3 dropping options – each incurring ONE penalty stroke. 1) The ball could be dropped in the bunker 2 club lengths from where the ball originally lied or 2) You could take the ball back behind you along the line running from the flag through where your ball lies, as long as you dropped in the bunker, or 3) you could return the ball all the way back to your previous shots position.
Now you have a fourth option to take the ball back behind you along the line running from the flag through where the ball lies (anywhere along that line), OUTSIDE of the bunker, with TWO penalty strokes.
No More Double Hits
Previously if your club got stuck and you accidently hit it twice on the follow through it was counted as 2-strokes, now the double hit just counts as ONE stroke.
One Club Length Simplified
A club length is now defined as the players longest club in the bag (except for the putter). Previously a player could use any club in the bag to mark one club length.
Drop from Knee Height –Short and Simple
Until 1984 you had to drop backwards from over your shoulder, then from shoulder height, and now you are to drop the ball from “knee height.”
No more assisted Alignments
Positioning the club for alignment purposes is no longer allowed.
A caddy can no longer assist a player to line up their shot. This rule mostly impacts professional players, a common practice seen most on the LPGA tour. This rule is designed to speed up the game.
I hope this helps to breakdown the most important new rules for you and take advantage of these changes to simplify and speed up your game for more enjoyable golf in the future.
