2019 Rules Changes


 

2019 Rules Changes References 

The below are good resources that will help explain the 2019 Rules of Golf Changes in great detail. Please take some time to visit each one of these sites and can be accessed in the future for reference while on or off the course. 



2019 Rules Changes Review at a Glance 

The below was a good list of 8 of the most important changes listed on another Golf Magazine's Website that I thought explained in a way to help you remember as well. 
  • Accidents Happen 
    The controversy over Dustin Johnson's ball moving on the green during the final round of the 2016 U.S. Open exposed the old rules for being too harsh when it came to what many considered tickytack infractions. New language, first adopted through Local Rules since 2017, states there is no penalty if you accidentally move your ball (or ball marker) on the green. Put the ball back, and you're good to go. The same applies if you're searching for a lost ball and mistakenly move it. 

  • The Fix Is In 
    Golfers often complained about the silliness of letting players fix a ball mark on the green, but not a spike mark. What's the difference? With no good answer, officials now will let you fix everything without a penalty. You can also touch the line of your putt with your hand or club so long as you're not improving it. 

  • A Lost Cause 
    To improve pace of play, golfers now have just three minutes to search for a missing ball rather than five. Admit it, if you hadn't found it in three minutes, you weren't finding it anyway. 

  • Knee is the New Shoulder 
    The process for dropping a ball back in play is revamped in the new rules. Instead of letting go from shoulder height, players will drop from around their knee. This is a compromise from an original proposal that would have let golfers drop from just inches above the ground. To preserve some randomness with the drop, officials went with knee height instead. Why change at all? Primarily to speed up play by increasing the chances your ball stays within the two-club-length drop area on the first try. 

  • No Longer a Touchy Subject 
    Hitting a ball into a water hazard (now defined as "penalty area") should come with consequences. But golfers don't have to be nervous about incurring an additional penalty for a minor rules breach while playing their next shot. You're free to touch/move loose impediments and ground your club, eliminating any unnecessary worry. The only caveat: You still can't put your club down and use it to improve the conditions for the stroke. You can remove loose impediments in bunkers, too, although touching the sand in a bunker in front of or behind the ball is still prohibited. 

  • Damaged Goods 
    We all get mad on the course, and sometimes that anger is taken out on an unsuspecting driver or putter. Previously, the rules were confusing on when or if you could play a club you damaged during a round, and it led to instances where some players were disqualified for playing clubs with a shaft slightly bent or some other damage they didn't realize the club had. Now you can play a club that has become damaged in any fashion. If you caused the damage, however, you can't replace the club with a new one. 

  • Twice is OK 
    A double hit is almost always accidental, and the outcome so random as to hardly be beneficial. So golfers are now spared the ignominy of adding a penalty for hitting a ball twice with one swing. It counts as only one stroke. Somewhere T.C. Chen is smiling. 

  • The End of Flagstick Folly 
    Another nod to common sense eliminates a penalty for hitting a flagstick left in the hole while putting on a green. Taking out and then placing back in flagsticks can often cause undue delay in the round, and the flagstick is as likely to keep your ball out of the cup as it would help it fall in. 
Posted: 1/6/2019 10:57:06 PM