Changes are always being made to the game of golf. Even though new technologies have made the game more fun, the rules are always being changed, which tests a player’s skills and makes the game harder to play.
We’re going to talk about some rules that have changed the game for the better in this piece. But they might cut off some of the strokes on your record.
So, let’s get right to it and take a close look at some recent changes to the golf rules:
1) How Distance Measuring Devices (DMD) Are Used
A lot of the time, golfers use DMDs like rangefinders and golf watches to easily find information about the course they are playing on. Before 2019, the only thing that determined who could use a Distance Measuring Device was the Local Rule of Competition.
Rule 4.3, on the other hand, says that none of the players can use a DMD until and unless a group following the Local Rule lets them.
2) There is no penalty if the ball hits you by chance.
If a ball hit you by mistake before 2008, you would only get two shots instead of being penalised. Later, when the rules were changed, the number of shots was cut down to one.
But according to the new Rule 11.1a, you won’t get in trouble no matter how many times this happens by chance.
3) There is no penalty for moving the golf ball on the putting green by chance.
Locally, the rule was followed until 2019. The new 13.1d said that a person will not be punished if they accidentally move the golf ball off of their opponent, who is another player.
This rule was changed because golf fields around the world have changed in shape, slope, and condition. At times, a player could just let the ball move on its own without doing anything.
4) There is no penalty for moving the golf ball by mistake while looking for it.
You may have seen a player hit the ball over the trees with a rough swing. Sometimes, while looking for the ball, he or she might move it from where it fell by chance.
In the past, golfers were punished for moving the ball. Now, according to rule 7.4, they are not punished if they move the ball by mistake while looking for it.
It’s still important to remember that he or she has to put the ball back where it came from and should be able to do it in less than three minutes.
5) There is no punishment for hitting twice by accident
Tiger Woods famously lost the US Open because he was penalised for hitting the ball twice. This happened to Taiwanese player T.C. Chen.
But with the new rule 11.3, hitting the golf ball more than once in one stroke (while it’s moving) won’t get a player a stroke punishment. But the hit shouldn’t have been planned; it should have been a mistake.
