Changes to the rules of golf

The USGA and R&A have announced a list of proposed changes that would go into effect starting in 2019. Some are designed to quicken the pace of the game; some are supposed to make the rules easier to understand. There are some that will make us do a double take when we see them at the professional level.

* It'll be OK to putt and leave the flagstick in the hole.
* It'll be OK to remove loose impediments in bunkers.
* No more using caddies to help in player alignment.
* Three minutes to look for a lost ball, not five.
* Range finders are OK at any level of play.

There are many others, but for how 99.99 percent of us treat the game, they probably won't come into play. March 1 begins a six-month period of public comment.

 

Golf is one place where I'd be in favor of Trump's rule that two regulations must be eliminated for every one that's added.

 

I look at the rules of golf as merely suggestions anyway.

 

Putting on the green and leaving the flagstick in hole is a no brainer to get rid of. I hate that rule at my duffer level. God forbid I put from the green with the stick in, and get a stroke penalty.

 

What is using a caddie for player alignment? Does that refer to putting?

 

Hate, hate, HATE the use of rangefinders -- at all levels. Part of the challenge of the game is processing info and figuring things out yourself.

 

The lost ball rule change won't effect me. When I lose 'em, they're lost on contact. Better chance of finding Hoffa.

 

Is picking up your ball, driving it to the green and dropping it in the hole still illegal?

 

You see this all the time with the LPGA players and their caddies standing behind them to make sure the player is aiming where they're supposed to be aiming.

 

allowing rangefinders is garbage. I'm for eliminating caddies altogether. then again, I don't wanna see Angel Cabrera have a coronary as he's humping his bag and sucking on a heart dart.

 

Agreed on the rangefinders. That's still the one I want to see taken out.

 

I'm hoping they change the rules on RFID's in the golf ball once the technology has become cheap enough to insert one in every ball. Not that I'm holding my breath. The golf ball industry is going to drag its feet on this technology because it has no incentive to keep you from losing a ball. But once it's feasible, being able to track where my ball is with my phone and eliminating those will-sapping searches will make the game so much more enjoyable.