Changes In Golf (Fore) 2019

 

The new, modernized Rules of Golf have been finalized and released by the USGA and R&A, and will go into effect at the beginning of 2019. Though the general premise for this update was to clarify the sport’s notorious ambiguity around its guidelines, let’s be honest: rules language can still be hard to process. Luckily for you, we have everything you need to know about the new Rules of Golf right here.

One change is designed specifically for the recreational golfer

Regarding out of bounds or a lost ball. Instead of stroke and distance, a new local rule allows the option of dropping a ball in the vicinity of where the original was lost or out of bounds, including the nearest fairway area, with a two-stroke penalty. Basically, if you blow your first drive into the woods, you no longer have to hit your third from the tee box. Instead, you can play your fourth from the fairway—basically, the best case scenario (save for a hole-in-three) with your third shot. This was done to help pace of pace.

This rule will not be in play at the professional level, or other elite competitions.

Another tweak: The height of your drop

Although the initial proposal had a player taking a drop from any length above two inches from the ground, the new rule stipulates drop be taken from knee height, still a significant change from the current shoulder level.

There’s also no longer a penalty for a double-chip

Somewhere, T.C. Chen is smiling. Golfers will now just count the hit as one stroke.

Club-length, not inches, will be the measurement for relief

One of the March 2017 proposals called for either a 20-inch or 80-inch standard, but golfers responded by saying “How are we going to actually measure that?” The governing bodies agreed, going back to club lengths instead.

Aside from the tweaks, other proposals in the first draft from March 2017 will be implemented

These touch on six main areas: ball-moved penalties, relaxed putting-green rules, relaxed rules for water hazards, pace of play, player integrity and rules in the bunker.

The big takeaways from this are:

No more penalty for accidentally moving a ball on the green

You are still penalized, however, if it is “virtually certain” you caused it to move on purpose.

You can putt with the flag stick in

Not only has the penalty for putting to an unattended flag been eliminated, you can go at it without having it removed at all.

You can repair all the damn spike marks your heart desires

As well as repair animal or other damage on the green.

Another penalty removed: touching the line of the putt

However, caddies are not allowed to stand behind or serve as an extension of the line.

You can now move impediments in bunkers and water hazards

There’s also no penalty for touching the ground or water in a penalty area. In the sand, however, you cannot ground the club right next to the ball.

However, if you’re “generally” touching the sand with the club, that’s OK.

An extra relief option has been added for an unplayable ball in a bunker

Yep, more good news for those that struggle in the sand. You can play the ball to be outside the sand with a two-stroke penalty.

The Rules also give your integrity some latitude

A player is given “reasonable judgement” when estimating or measuring a spot, point, line, area or distance. Your placement will be upheld, even if video evidence later shows it wasn’t in the exact right spot.

You also are no longer required to announce when you are lifting a ball to identify or see if it’s damaged

The new Rules are really trusting you on this, buddy. Don’t blow their faith in you.

You’re no longer allowed five minutes to look for a lost ball

Your search party now has three minutes. Let’s be honest, you weren’t going to find it in five, anyway.

And a player can take no more than 40 seconds to play a stroke

A change made to help speed of pace of play, although admittedly this one could be a tad hard to enforce at the amateur ranks.

Sadly, one of the most debated rule changes was not made

That would be relief from a fairway divot. “One of the primary objectives for the overall initiative is to make the rules easier to understand and apply, but to also make sure we maintained the traditions and principles behind the game,” said Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director of rules & amateur status. “And the principles are to play the ball as it lies and the course as you find it. So to write a rule that allows a player to sort of deviate from that, was not something we were wanting to do.”

In other words, pray the rest of the group takes a casual attitude towards foot wedges from fairway craters.

 

 

Source: https://www.golfdigest.com

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It’s going to be an action-packed weekend at Quail Hollow.  Who will hold The Wanamaker Trophy tomorrow?!!

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For much of the afternoon, it appeared that Kevin Kisner would carry a healthy cushion into the weekend at the PGA Championship as he looks to secure his first major title.

But then came the rain, transforming Quail Hollow Club from a burly obstacle course into a supple dart board. The bogeys that had dominated the scoreboard quickly turned into birdies, and suddenly Kisner has plenty of company near the top of the standings with the second round still in progress.

In other words, a major championship has finally broken out at the year’s final major.

Three of the world’s top 10 players will wake up Saturday in position to challenge for the Wanamaker Trophy. Chief among them is world No. 3 Hideki Matsuyama, fresh off his five-shot romp at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, who managed to draw even with Kisner by nightfall.

Matsuyama’s claim to the cringe-inducing title of best player without a major has always included a hiccup because he has yet to truly challenge for a title coming down the stretch. His runner-up this year at Erin Hills still saw him finish four shots behind Brooks Koepka, and he hasn’t felt the pressure of hitting a critical shot with a major trophy hanging in the balance.

But the Japanese phenom is in the midst of perhaps the best stretch of his career, having already won three times this season and coming off a course record-tying 61 at Firestone. A 103-minute weather delay Friday did little to stunt his momentum, as Matsuyama closed out a bogey-free 64 that seemed to require little effort and equaled the low round of the week.

Now tied with Kisner at 8 under, this undoubtedly represents his best chance for major glory that would provide a watershed moment for his homeland.

“I’m probably not playing as I did at the end of last year. However, I’m riding the momentum from the round that I had on Sunday,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “Hopefully I can keep that going for 36 more holes.”

But Matsuyama is not the only big name who cut into Kisner’s advantage in the waning daylight. Jason Day described his year to date earlier this week as “very, very poor,” and the Aussie is now improbably 15 months removed from his most recent win. But Day seems to save his best stuff for this event, having won two years ago at Whistling Straits and second last year in defense of his title.

Day was well off the radar before coming to life with an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, which sparked a seven-hole stretch during which he was 6 under. In the span of a few minutes, Day went from also-ran to a title contender within two shots of the lead, one who appears to have once again discovered the confident stride that helped him start the year as the top-ranked player in the world.

“It’s been slowly building,” Day said. “It was nice to be able to drive the way I did today, and set myself up with the opportunities and being able to capitalize on those opportunities felt even better. Because they were the two things that were missing pretty much the whole year is my driving and my putting, and being able to combine that today just felt like the old days, which is only last year.”

Rickie Fowler is contending at a major for the third time this year, and having taken a tactical approach over the first 36 holes he sits five shots off the pace at 3 under. So, too, does Justin Thomas, who bounced back from six weeks of middling play with a second-round 66 under the watchful eye of his father, Mike, who still works as a PGA professional.

And if you needed any more proof that a major is officially up for grabs, Louis Oosthuizen has even come out of hiding and trails by only three.

The themes that started the week – Jordan Spieth’s Slam ambitions and Rory McIlroy’s effort to rekindle an affinity with Quail Hollow – have been shoved to the back burner.

But in their stead, a tantalizing collection of storylines have converged. The PGA Championship has produced a steady supply of weekend drama dating back to the twilight finish three years ago at Valhalla, and the 99^th edition should be no exception.

Kisner could very well still leave Charlotte with the trophy, especially given his level of comfort through two rounds on a difficult track. But this much is clear: it won’t be as easy of a waltz to the finish line as it once appeared.

Source:  Golf Channel