The rules are a changin’… maybe!

In the proposed changes, there will be no more “water hazards.” All current water hazards, plus any other red-staked areas, will be deemed “penalty areas.” Dropping a ball will no longer be needed from shoulder height. You can drop a ball an inch above the ground. This will benefit anytime you have to drop in a bunker which almost always results in a fried egg. Two, and one, club length drops will possibly be a thing of the past. All drops will be within an 80 inch measurement or a 20 inch measurement. How these measurements will carried out, will we all need a tape measure, hasn’t been touch on yet. Hopefully the USGA and R&A will come up with a speedy way to measure.

Another major proposed revision is hitting the flagstick while on the green will result in no penalty. If memory serves, this is actually bringing the rule back to how it was many moons ago. The USGA and R&A feel there’s a balance between balls that would miss because of the flag being in and balls that would fall with the flag in. Spike marks will be of no concern anymore! You’ll be able to repair any damage on the green except for aeration holes and natural wear of the green. Many times we’ve seen discussions on tour where players would have to confer with each other and determine if it’s a spike mark or not. We do it as well in out weekend rounds but it doesn’t come up as often with our use of softy spikes. It does happen though.

Here is a link to all of the proposed changes the USGA and R&A are hoping to implement. Send your feedback to them and help shape the rules revision that is slated for 2019!