Proposals have been unveiled for the "biggest shake-up" of the rules of golf "in a generation," according to Iain Carter of the BBC. If the R&A and United States Golf Association plans are adopted, golfers "will see significant shifts in how the sport is played." The two governing bodies "want to make golf quicker and played under more simple, consistent and fair rules." The new rulebook will be drawn up in "a modern, plain style" that will be written from a "player's perspective." Among the changes under consideration are plans to:
- Remove any penalty "for accidentally moving your ball."
- Relax the protocols for "taking free or penalty drops, with the ball dropped from only an inch above the ground, rather than shoulder height."
- Reduce the time "allowed to search for a lost ball from five to three minutes."
- Allow players to "repair spike marks and animal damage on greens."
- Encourage players in strokeplay to implement "ready golf" rather than waiting until it is their turn to hit (BBC, 3/1).
THE AUSTRALIAN's Patrick Smith noted in a document outlining the "first substantial review of the rules" since '84, R&A and the USGA outlined their goals for "tinkering with rules that are so complex, multi-layered and unforgiving that friendships have crashed over the rustle of a leaf." The document said, "We want the rules of golf to be more easily understood and applied by all golfers; be more consistent, simple and fair; and reinforce the game’s longstanding principles and character." The new rule document said, "Answers are sometimes hard to find, as they may be in any number of places, such as Definitions, Notes, Exceptions, Appendices or one or more Decisions. The rule book language is dense and complex, which can make it difficult to understand and create issues for translation into many languages." The R&A and USGA have established feedback sites to "gauge reaction to the revamp" (
THE AUSTRALIAN, 3/2).
MODERNIZATION: In London, Ewan Murray reported the "overriding motivations are to speed up play and make golf more simple, and the alterations are more radical than many had predicted." R&A Governance Exec Dir David Rickman said, "Our aim is to make the rules easier to understand and to apply for all golfers. We have looked at every rule to try to find ways to make them more intuitive and straightforward." Tiger Woods was "among those to approve." He said, "Great work to benefit the game" (GUARDIAN, 3/1). The AP's Doug Ferguson reported USGA Rules & Amateur Status Senior Dir Thomas Pagel said, "I think what you'll see is that part of this process is to evaluate all the outcomes and identify outcomes that are more reasonable and common-sense based." Rory McIlroy was informed of the changes "and liked what he heard." McIlroy: "I think golf's emphasis on the rules can sometimes turn people away from it. To modernize and make it simple is a good thing" (AP, 3/1).
