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<b><br>
On the putting green:</b><br>
<br>
*Putting with flagstick left in the hole: There is no longer a
penalty if you play a ball from the putting green and it hits the
unattended flagstick in the hole. <br>
* Repairing damage on the putting green: You may repair almost all
damage (including shoe damage, such as spike marks, and animal
damage) on the<br>
putting green (rather than being limited to repairing only
ball-marks or old hole plugs). <br>
* Touching your line of putt or touching the putting green in
pointing out target: There is no longer a penalty if you or your
caddie does either of these<br>
things, so long as doing so does not improve the conditions
affecting your stroke. <br>
* Replacing your ball if it moves only after you had already marked,
lifted and replaced it: Any time this happens on the putting green,
you replace the<br>
ball on its spot - even if it was blown by the wind or moved for
no clear reason. <br>
* Your caddie marks and lifts your ball on the putting green: There
is no longer a penalty if your caddie does this without your
specific authorization to do so. <br>
<br>
<b>Taking relief (not peeing):</b><b><br>
</b><b> </b><br>
(1) Dropping a Ball in a Defined Relief Area:<br>
* New dropping procedure: You must drop the ball from knee height.<br>
* Defined relief area: The ball needs to be dropped in and played
from a single required relief area (whereas today, although you are
required<br>
to drop a ball in one area, it can roll outside that area and
the Rules may require it to be played from outside the area).<br>
* Longest club is used to measure the relief area: You use the
longest club in your bag, other than a putter, to measure the relief
area.<br>
(2) Lost Ball:<br>
* Reduced time for ball search: A ball is lost if not found in
three minutes (rather than the current five minutes) after you begin
searching for it.<br>
(3) Embedded Ball:<br>
* Relief for embedded ball in the general area: You may take relief
if your ball is embedded anywhere (except in sand) in the general
area (which is the new term<br>
for "through the green"), except where a Local Rule restricts
relief to the fairway or similar areas (this reverses the default
position in the current Rules).<br>
(4) Ball to Use in Taking Relief:<br>
* Substituting another ball: You may continue to use the original
ball or another ball, whenever you take either free relief or
penalty relief under a Rule. <br>
<br>
<b>When things happen to your ball in play:</b><br>
<br>
(1) Ball at Rest Accidentally Moves:<br>
* Accidentally moving your ball while searching for it: There is no
longer a penalty.<br>
* Accidentally moving your ball or ball-marker when it is on the
putting green: There is no longer a penalty.<br>
* New standard for deciding if you caused your ball to move: You
will be found to have caused your ball to move only if that is known
or<br>
virtually certain (that is, it is at least 95% likely that you
were the cause).<br>
(2) Replacing a Moved or Lifted Ball:<br>
* New procedure when you don't know the exact spot where your ball
was at rest: You must replace the ball on its estimated original
spot (rather than<br>
drop the ball at that spot); and if the estimated spot was on,
under or against growing, attached or fixed objects (such as grass),
you must replace<br>
the ball on, under or against those objects.<br>
(3) Ball in Motion Accidentally Deflected:<br>
* Your ball in motion accidentally hits you, your equipment, your
caddie, someone attending the flagstick for you or a removed or
attended<br>
flagstick: There is no longer a penalty (such as when your ball
bounces off a bunker face and hits you).<br>
(4) Ball is Struck More Than Once:<br>
* Accidentally hitting your ball more than once during a stroke:
There is no longer a penalty.<br>
<br>
<b>Penalty Areas:</b><br>
<br>
* Penalty areas expanded beyond water hazards: Red- and
yellow-marked "penalty areas" may now cover areas the Committee
decides to<br>
mark for this purpose (such as deserts, jungles, or lava rock
fields), in addition to areas of water.<br>
* Expanded use of red penalty areas: Committees are given the
discretion to mark all penalty areas as red so that lateral relief
is always<br>
allowed (but they may still mark penalty areas as yellow where
they consider it appropriate).<br>
* Elimination of opposite side relief option: You are no longer
allowed to take relief from a red penalty area on the opposite side
from where<br>
the ball last entered the penalty area (unless a Committee adopts
a Local Rule allowing it).<br>
* Removal of all special restrictions on moving or touching things
in a penalty area: There is no longer a penalty if you touch or move
loose<br>
impediments (such as leaves, stones and sticks) or touch the
ground or water with your hand or your club in a penalty area. <br>
<br>
<b>Bunkers:</b><br>
<br>
* Removal of special restrictions on moving loose impediments:
There is no longer a penalty if you touch or move loose impediments
in a bunker.<br>
* Relaxed restrictions on touching the sand with your hand or club
when your ball is in a bunker: You are now prohibited only from
touching<br>
the sand (1) with your hand or club to test the condition of the
bunker, (2) with your club in the area right behind or in front of
the ball or<br>
(3) when making a practice swing or the backswing for your
stroke.<br>
* New unplayable ball relief option: For two penalty strokes, you
may take relief outside the bunker by dropping a ball back on the
line from the<br>
hole through where your ball was at rest in the bunker.<br>
<br>
<b>Equipment you are allowed to use:</b><br>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">(1) Damaged Clubs:
* Use of damaged clubs: You may keep using any club that is damaged during the round, no matter how it happens (for
example, even if you damaged it in anger).
* Replacement of damaged clubs: You may not replace a damaged club, unless you were not responsible for causing the damage.
(2) Damaged Ball:
* Substituting another ball for a cut or cracked ball: You may substitute another ball if your ball in play on a hole has
become cut or cracked while playing that hole; but you are no longer allowed to change balls solely because the ball has
become "out of shape".
(3) Distance-Measuring Devices:
* DMDs allowed: You may use DMDs to measure distance, except when prohibited by Local Rule (this reverses the default
position in the current Rules).
</pre>
<b>How You Prepare for and Make a Stroke:</b><br>
<br>
* Expanded restriction on caddie help with alignment: Your caddie
is not allowed to stand on a line behind you from the time you begin
taking<br>
your stance until you have made your stroke. Promoting Faster
Pace of Play.<br>
* Encouraging you to play promptly: It is recommended that you make
each stroke in no more than 40 seconds - and usually more quickly
than<br>
that - once it's your turn to play.<br>
* Playing out of turn in stroke play ("ready golf"): This has
always been allowed without penalty, and now you are affirmatively
encouraged to<br>
do so in a safe and responsible way for convenience or to save
time.<br>
* New alternative form of stroke play: The Rules recognize a new
"Maximum Score" form of stroke play, where your score for a hole is
capped<br>
at a maximum (such as double par or triple bogey) set by the
Committee, so that you can pick up and move to the next hole when
your score<br>
will be at or above the maximum.<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap=""><font size="+1"><b>Insisting on High Standards of Conduct and Trusting Player Integrity - Playing in the spirit of the game:</b></font>
New provisions are added to reinforce the high standards of conduct expected from all players on the course and the
Committee’s discretion to disqualify players for serious misconduct.
• Code of player conduct: Committees are given authority to adopt their own code of player conduct and to set penalties
for the breach of standards in that code.
• Elimination of need to announce intent to lift ball: When you have good reason to lift your ball to identify it, to see
if it is cut or cracked or to see if you are entitled to relief (such as to see if the ball is embedded), you are no
longer required first to announce to another player or your marker that you intend to do so or to give that person an
opportunity to observe the process.
• Reasonable judgment standard: When you need to estimate or measure a spot, point, line, area or other location under
a Rule, your reasonable judgment will not be second-guessed based on later evidence (such as video review) if you did
all that could reasonably be expected under the circumstances to estimate or measure accurately.
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