New Rule Changes (1 January 2019)

[TheTrueReview]

The most repeated defense is "when you land in a fairway divot it's bad luck - play it. If you hit it into the rough and get a really good lie, should you then move your ball to a bad lie? No? Then play it as it lies in both conditions"

[insert eye roll] Again, ignoramuses. Using that so called reasoning, if you hit it in casual water on the fairway, why should you be able to move the ball to a dry spot? If you hit the ball OB and it ricochets off an OB tree branch back onto the fairway, why should you be able to play it? Blah, blah, blah. Pimply faced pr1cks who pound keyboards in their mother's basements.

 

[PaPaD]

[insert eye roll] Again, ignoramuses. Using that so called reasoning, if you hit it in casual water on the fairway, why should you be able to move the ball to a dry spot? If you hit the ball OB and it ricochets off an OB tree branch back onto the fairway, why should you be able to play it? Blah, blah, blah. Pimply faced pr1cks who pound keyboards in their mother's basements.

Yep

 

[Fairwaysplitter3320]

I like the rule changes!

 

[limpalong]

I like the rule changes!

This!!

 

[Libre]

My thoughts:

Dropping ball from knee height
I like it. Keeps the ball from rolling away requiring more drops, and gives the player a little more control where it lies - without being able to tee it up on a tuft of turf. Gee, a tuft of turf sounds so inviting. But no, it shouldn't be placed on the ground. Knee height is low enough.

Time for Ball Search
I like it. Move along.
But one thing isn't mentioned, and that is, what happens after the expiration of the time limit, be it 5 min or 3 min.
The pros have to return to where the lost ball was hit from, with a 1 stroke penalty (stroke + distance) and that rule still applies. So - for everyone else not in an important event - please don't take 5 minutes or 3 minutes in a casual round. After a reasonable search, just drop one in the general area of the lost ball and take 1 stroke. I mean I'm sorry, but I'm not walking back to the tee - I'm playing on public courses. And yes, I should have hit a provisional (hitting 3) but I didn't because I thought I could find this one. And I don't take mulligans so give a guy a break.

Repairing Spike Marks
It's about time, but one thing I want to mention. And I've been playing golf since long before "spikeless shoes" were ever even heard of, much less mandatory. We had pointy metal spikes and man they felt great, but man they could really tear up a green. I can recall a determination being made, if a small tear in the green was a ball mark (repairable), a spike mark (not repairable), or a "cast made by insects" or some such language (repairable).
So good, you can repair a spike mark now.
Just please don't start grooming the entire line from your ball to the hole, 1 foot wide and 2 feet past.

Leaving Flagstick in the Hole
not sure on this - it can be taken advantage of
OK fine, I made a birdie like that last month - I was on the edge of the green in 2, my ball MAY have been on or off - the greens are not always that distinct - and I usually leave the flag in whenever putting/chipping from off the green, and my partner said in or out, and I said leave it in, and my ball hit the flagstick (hard) and dropped into the hole. And I scored it a birdie - but in the back of my mind I wondered if I would have gotten a 1 (or maybe 2) stroke penalty for hitting the stick if I was on the green. Good to know that retroactively, it was definitely a birdie.
But this does leave the door open for intentionally leaving the stick in - I mean from 2 feet if you want to take a whack at it - is there anything stopping you now? Just depending on your being reasonable about it?

Relaxed Rules in Penalty Area
Bad enough to be in there in the first place. Sounds good to me.

Double Hit
I remember TC Chen doing this, leading the 1985 US Open in the final round.
Late in the final round, leading, he missed the green, double hit his chip, and wound up making a snowman. That was it. Andy North won.
I'm not sure about this one. In TC Chen's case, it was unnecessarily punitive.
But the rule is (was) there for a purpose.
Without the rule, a player can take advantage.
Can you double hit on the green?
What's to stop you from trying to correct a muffed putt?
To alter the course or the speed of an already struck ball.
It can be used to cheat actually - like the Leaving Flagstick In.
No. I don't like it.

 

[TEA Time]

Leaving Flagstick in the Hole
I mean from 2 feet if you want to take a whack at it - is there anything stopping you now?

I didn't think of this and you have a point, but you really need to hit the pin pretty much dead-on for it to drop so taking a whack from two feet might just put you 8 feet past if you miss the pin. This is a weird one for sure, but always remember... Phil says you have a 30% better chance of holing a chip/putt with the pin out, and that dude is all about numbers.

Double Hit
Can you double hit on the green?
What's to stop you from trying to correct a muffed putt?
To alter the course or the speed of an already struck ball.
It can be used to cheat actually

NO penalty for a double hit? Hmm... seems like people could stretch that one a bit. "I didn't two-putt, I simply double-hit the first putt."

 

[IrishGolfer]

 

[one_chip_short]

I like them, I just wish we can make one more leap ... to recognize recreational non-tournament golfers ... perhaps relax a few more rules for recreational folks, and that just might include fairway divots ...

not usually a popular topic in certain golf forms as mentioned above, and I can assure WRX is not the only one ...

 

[Dufferpauly]

I like the changes. I would like to add another. You should get relief from a fairway divot.

My trusty foot wedge handles those fairway divots with ease

 

[TEA Time]

Leaving Flagstick in the Hole

It can be used to cheat actually - like the Leaving Flagstick In.
No. I don't like it.

DeChambeau has been doing it this week, even from like 3 feet away. Oh, he's also ranked 2nd for strokes gained-putting.

It does speed up play for when someone chips up close and they can just go putt out without waiting for someone to hold the flag. Other than that it just looks goofy.

 

[PaPaD]

Flag is staying in the hole for now. We'll see.

 

[PaPaD]

Phil says you have a 30% better chance of holing a chip/putt with the pin out,

I'd like to see the supporting data.......................

 

[TEA Time]

I'd like to see the supporting data.......................

I would too, but when Phil talks golf+mathematics... I listen.

 

[subsonic]

Golf is a game for cats. Be a dog...

 

[PaPaD]

I left the flag in during our monthly scramble today and it earned us a few birdies. A few fast downhill putts that would have been a tad long hit the pin and dropped in.