R&A, USGA Confirm Rules Overhaul From '19

Players will from next year be allowed to take drops from knee height.GETTY IMAGES

Golf's governing bodies confirmed a "radical overhaul" of the game's rules to be implemented in '19, according to Iain Carter of the BBC. The R&A and U.S. Golf Association "made alterations to proposals released for public consultation last year." But the "majority of the suggested changes, aimed at making golf easier to understand and faster to play, remain." Proposals such as allowing the flag to remain in the hole unattended while putting "come into force" on Jan. 1. There will also be no penalty for removing loose impediments from bunkers and the time allowed for searching for lost balls will be reduced from five minutes to three. Another aspect of the new rules philosophy is to "rely more heavily on player integrity." Officials said that a player's "reasonable judgment" when estimating or measuring a spot, point, line, area or distance will be upheld, "even if video evidence later shows it to be wrong" (BBC, 3/12).