Six years in the making and 12 months after a first draft was circulated to the global golf community for comment, early this year officials with the USGA and R&A settled on a new, modernized version of the Rules of Golf that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2019.
With the objective of making the Rules easier to understand and apply, the result is a reduction in number from 34 to 24 and a reorganization that consolidates principles and simplifies the overall language to make it more practical to current golfers and more accessible to newcomers.
A number of notable changes in the new Rules of Golf will resonate with any golfer. A few examples include time spent looking for a lost ball reduced from five to three minutes, allowing for fixing spike marks on greens, elimination of penalties for accidentally moving a ball on the green or during a search and allowing for removal of loose impediments and touching the ground in hazards.
The USGA has compiled a list of FAQs that will help everyday golfers better understand the new Rules. Additional education tools and resources will be released in September, in plenty of time for us all to get ready for Jan. 1.
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