Australian Senior Golfer

AFTER what has been termed an “exhaustive four year review” the world’s governing golf bodies have announced the rules of the game will remain largely unchanged.

That may sound like a huge anti-climax for some but for many will just reinforce the great game of golf’s rich and ongoing heritage.

There has been one significant change however, eliminating what was a very unfair penalty to a player whose ball moved on the putting green because of a wind gust or the like.

The key European and US governing bodies have also got their acts together to present a united and co-ordinated presentation of golf rules.

In the announcement today, The R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA) said the publication of the new Rules of Golf for 2012-15 would be for the first time be designed, published and presented jointly.

The bodies said that following the exhaustive, four-year review of golf’s 34 playing Rules, nine principal Rules have been amended to improve clarity and ensure penalties are proportionate.

The significant changes include:
• Ball Moving After Address (Rule 18-2b). A new exception is added which exonerates the player from penalty if their ball moves after it has been addressed when it is known or virtually certain that they did not cause the ball to move. For example, if it is a gust of wind that moves the ball after it has been addressed, there is no penalty and the ball is played from its new position.

• Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions (Rule 13-4). Exception 2 to this Rule is amended to permit a player to smooth sand or soil in a hazard at any time, including before playing from that hazard, provided it is for the sole purpose of caring for the course and Rule 13-2 (improving lie, area of intended stance or swing or line of play) is not breached.

• Time of Starting (Rule 6-3a). The rule is amended to provide that the penalty for starting late, but within five minutes of the starting time, is reduced from disqualification to loss of the first hole in match play or two strokes at the first hole in stroke play. Previously this penalty reduction could be introduced as a condition of competition.

Commenting on the revisions The R&A’s Director of Rules and Equipment Standards David Rickman said: “The key point is that the Rules of Golf will remain fundamentally the same. We have undergone a pretty extensive review although what has come out of that has been relatively modest.

“The Rules of Golf are constantly evolving and our hope is that what we have produced for 2012 is clear, informed by common sense and reflective of the demands of the modern game.”

USGA Senior Director of Rules of Golf Thomas Pagel said: “We have produced a unified code of the Rules of Golf for 60 years and although the context has been the same, we often found the perception that there were different Rules in place depending upon where you were to play the game.

“Now the book will not only have the same content, but it will also be presented in a uniform fashion with similar formatting and covers; this will truly be a single code governing the Rules of the game that reflects the strong collaboration between The R&A and USGA.”

The most significant change (Rule 18-12b) will see an end to situations like the one witnessed during the final round of this year’s Open Championship when Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy was penalised when his ball was moved on the 7th green by the wind after he had addressed it.

Padraig Harrington, three-time Major winner and R&A – Working for Golf Ambassador, said: “I am delighted with the changes, in particular the ball moving after address. Every time the wind blows I am worried that my ball is going to move and I am worried about grounding my putter, distracting me from trying to hole my putt.

“This change will speed up play, there won’t be as many suspensions and players won’t be getting penalised or disqualified unfairly. It is definitely giving us players a little bit of a break.”

There has been a unified code of golf since 1952 but until now The R&A and the USGA have published the same rules in separate editions, thereby giving the impression to some that the rules were different. However, this year sees identical publications with only some spellings and respective logos changing depending whether the edition serves the US and Mexico or the rest of the world.

Golfing legend Arnold Palmer welcomed the announcement of a jointly published edition of the Rules. He said: “What has happened with The R&A and the USGA is wonderful. In the years I have been associated with the game and got to know The R&A and what their efforts are and having lived with the USGA all my life, one of the things I have always thought is we should be closer together.”

The complete text of all changes to the Rules and video summaries of the changes can be found on  the R&A website

THERE’S talk from the US suggesting the ball movement rule that possibly cost American golfer Webb Simpson his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday may change.

Simpson said it was a “bad rule” when he was penalised a stroke when his ball moved as he was addressing it on the green during the final round of the 2011 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

US Golf Association Vice President Thomas O’Toole indicated yesterday there had been discussions with the R&A on the rule for some time and foreshadowed action on the issue by the end of the year.

“If some other agency – wind or gravity – is known to cause that ball to move, no penalty would be applied,” O’Toole said.

Whilst the move wasn’t something specifically spurred by the events of Sunday, it was another case where action is being forced by the latest high definition television broadcasting where viewers can see the tiniest of ball movements in replays.

In the final round of the tour event on the weekend Simpson was leading by a shot on the 15th when addressing the ball less than a foot from the cup.

The ball moved slightly, probably caused by wind on the dry and hard green and he was penalised a stroke. He finished the 72 holes even with Bubba Watson, who went on to win their playoff.

“I better limit my comments on that rule, because I think it’s such a bad rule,” Simpson said. “When the wind or other natural things affect the golf ball, the player shouldn’t be penalized.”

O’Toole said a possible rule change had been under consideration with the R&A for at least seven years but would now be addressed in earnest in coming months.

He was confident a change would be implemented by early 2012 but stressed it was not a done deal.

The suggested change would modify Rule 18-2b and would declare that “if it was known or virtually certain that the player did not cause that ball to move, then the (penalty) does not apply.”

“I think this is a better place to be than penalizing players unfairly,” O’Toole said.

“…..Deeming the player to cause [the ball] to move applies in 90 percent of the situations, but it doesn’t apply sometimes. And, in that case, the exception applies and no penalty.”

Most golfers would have faced this situation on a windy green with the ball appearing to vibrate slightly and cause doubt whether it had actually moved.

The suggested rule change would seem to make a whole lot of sense.

QUESTION: In a stableford round Tom putted up just 50 cm short of the hole, he properly marked his ball, put the ball in his pocket and tended the flag for the other players. By accident when replacing the ball on the mark he substituted another ball and subsequently sunk the putt?

What is the ruling?

1. Tom is penalized two strokes and must replace the proper ball on the mark before putting out
2. Tom is penalized one stroke and must re-take the putt using the original ball
3. Tom is penalized two strokes and the putt counts

ANSWER:  (3) Unfortunately, a penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play is incurred. The player would have substituted a ball when not permitted to do so (as with a lost ball or ball hit out of bounds). According to Rule 15-2, the second ball would become the ball in play and the penalty ascribed by the applicable rule would be incurred.

(This golf rules quiz item supplied by Cliff Nunn, a VGA state accredited rules official and proprietor of  Golf Clubs Down Under.)

With the very windy weather of late, Golf Rules Quiz No 5 is very pertinent.

John’s drive comes to rest on a steep slope through the green. Fearing that the ball may move, he does not address the ball (i.e. he does not ground the club) nor does he do anything else that might cause the ball to move. However, during his back swing the ball begins to move and he strikes the ball while it is in motion.

What is the ruling?

a) There is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies.

b) John incurs a one stroke penalty and the ball must be played as it lies.

c) The stroke must be cancelled; John incurs a one stroke penalty and must replace the ball.

d) John incurs a two-stroke penalty and must play the ball as it lies.

Quiz Answer.

a) There is no penalty under Rule 14-5 (striking a moving ball) because the ball began to move after John had begun his backswing. However, had John caused the ball to move or had addressed it, he’d have incurred a one-stroke penalty – Rule 18-2a or b

This golf rules quiz item supplied by Cliff Nunn, a VGA state accredited rules official and proprietor of  Golf Clubs Down Under.

A PLAYER’S ball comes to rest on a cart path such that his nearest point of relief is behind the obstruction.  He properly determines his point of relief and lifts and drops the ball in accordance with Rule 24-2b.  The ball rolls and comes to rest nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief but not nearer the hole than where it originally lay on the path.  What is the procedure?

            a.   The player must re-drop the ball

            b.   The dropped ball is in play

Answer:

 ‘a’   Having determined the point of relief this then becomes the reference point superseding the previous position of the ball. Rule 20-2c (vii)(b)

This golf rules quiz item supplied by Cliff Nunn, a VGA state accredited rules official and proprietor of  Golf Clubs Down Under.

Tony and Joe are playing a course that is wet and muddy.  Both have played their second shots to just short of the green.  Joe is away by a few centimetres.  Tony, thinking his ball will interfere with Joe’s play, marks, lifts and puts it in his pocket so he can hold an umbrella and his clubs.  After Joe plays, Tony goes to replace his ball and finds that Joe has left a divot where his ball marker had been.  Tony then drops his ball as close as possible to its original position, not nearer the hole, chips onto the putting green and two putts.  `What is Tony’s score for the hole?

a) 7

b) 8

c) 9

d) 10

Answer:

a).   Tony is not permitted to lift his ball because he thinks it might interfere with Joe’s play (Rule 22) so he incurs a penalty stroke for lifting his ball when it was not permitted (Rule 18-2a) but there is no additional penalty under Rule 22 so he incurs no penalty for putting the ball in his pocket.  But when he failed to replace the ball according to Rule 20-3b (after Joe altered Tony’s lie) he incurred the general penalty under Rule 18.  Therefore 5 strokes played plus 2 penalty strokes equals a score of  7.

NB If Joe had requested Tony to lift his ball because of interference (Rule 22-2) that would have been OK but Tony would then have been penalised for cleaning the ball when he put it in his pocket. (In that situation you lift and hold the ball between fore-finger and thumb until it is replaced).

This golf rules quiz item supplied by Cliff Nunn, a VGA state acredited rules official and proprietor of Golf Clubs Down Under.

 On a steep, fast green a player putts the ball above the hole.  The player marks, lifts and cleans the ball and replaces the ball.  Then, before the marker was lifted, the ball rolls off the green.  What is the ruling?

       a)   The player may replace the ball at the marked position.

       b)   The player must play the ball as it lies

Answer

This depends on whether the ball, when replaced remained at rest on the spot on which it was placed for a moment before it started to move. (The fact that the marker had not been lifted is irrelevant as it is only an indicator of where the ball should be replaced.) 

If, when released from the fingers, the ball stayed at rest for a moment before rolling;  Answer b) the ball must be played as it lies.  

If, on the other hand, the ball immediately moved as it was released;  Answer a) the player is required to replace the ball – (Rule 20-3d)

This quiz item was supplied by Cliff Nunn. Cliff is a Victorian Golf Association (VGA)  State Accredited Rules Official.  

Rules Quiz  No 1:

A ball at rest on the green simply rolls in to the hole when no one is near it.  What is the ruling ?

 Answer:

If after playing a stroke the ball stops overhanging the hole, the player has “reasonable time” to reach the ball and a further 10 seconds to see if the ball will fall into the hole.

If it doesn’t fall in that time the ball is deemed to be at rest.  If the ball falls into the hole after it has been determined to be at rest, the player is deemed to have holed out on their previous stroke BUT they are penalised one stroke. (Rule 16-2)

Obviously, where the player has played an 9-iron approach shot next to the hole, the time taken to “reasonably” get to the hole will be longer than if the player had played a one metre putt and, as neither wind nor water are outside agencies, if the wind blew the ball into the hole within the “reasonable time” period, then the player would be deemed to have holed out with the previous stroke without penalty.

This is the first of a new regular Golf Rules Quiz series to keep us all up on this important aspect of the game.

This quiz item was supplied by Cliff Nunn. Cliff is a Victorian Golf Association (VGA)  State Accredited Rules Official.