Back Nine With Paul Romano: 2019 Rules of Golf, Part 1

2019 brings many new changes to the “Rules of Golf” as detailed in the USGA’s link…Golf’s New Rules: Major Changes.  The link reviews and explains (with video’s) thirty-six recent modifications.  The information is extremely well done and, if interested, worth the investment of time.

For the weekend warrior, the majority of the modifications make complete sense.  Truth be told, right or wrong, the weekend warrior has long implemented a number of the changes prior to the actual January 1, 2019 implementation date (i.e. ball moved during search, no penalty for moving ball on the putting green, repair of damaged putting greens, touching loose impediments and ready golf).  The motivation for the modifications seems to be simplification and pace of play.

A month or so into the new year I am interested in our friend’s (Paul Romano, USGA Rules Official) perspective.  This is not the first time we have engaged Paul (see Bad Golf Guy posts “Rules of Golf Part 4 and 5” by clicking HERE and HERE).  Paul is seriously committed to his craft however his commitment does not get in the way of his comedic approach to the interpretation of our Rules of Golf!

I believe you recently re-tested for your Rules Official certification. How did the new Rules impact your preparation for the test and the difficulty of the test?

Studying for the new Rules test was tedious and required a major investment of time. I estimated I spent more than 100 hours studying in the 5 weeks preceding the USGA Workshop and exam. I outlined the entire rule book by hand and developed a set of flashcards to help me learn the new rule numbers and new locations of the key Rules.

When I took the exam for the first time (1998) there were approximately 600 decisions. When I took my last test in 2016 under what are now the old rules there were more than 1,100 decisions. What people may find interesting is that the new Rules through revisions in the text and the addition of new definitions incorporated nearly 500 of those decisions into the 24 new Rules. So now you do not have to be a mystical rules priest (hereinafter referred to as a “Rules Mystic”) to find (or divine) the authority for a Rule. Instead you can just read the Rule.

As for the test, since the new Rules incorporated a major body of old Decisions and Rules principles, people who were familiar with the old Rules and principles had a great foundational advantage for learning and understanding the new Rules, but you still had to absorb the new format and structure. The USGA’s 100 point test was fair and straightforward and focused on the definitions and fundamental concepts. Understanding the fundamental principles underlying the new Rules was no more difficult than in prior years, but that being said I did miss 4 questions (and 3 of the errors were absolute bunnies that had nothing to do with the changes).

In late 2018, I reluctantly played in a Member-Guest and, once again, we finished on or near the bottom of the heap! (see “My Nemesis”)! During the round I tapped down my ball marker with my putter and, unbeknownst to me, the ball marker stuck to the bottom of my putter as I walked away from the mark.  I immediately disqualified myself from the hole.  Was I correct in my actions? I believe I will be able to remark the ball without penalty in 2019?

In this case you penalized yourself unnecessarily even in 2018. This example provides the perfect illustration of how the new Rule takes away the need for intervention by a Rules Mystic in order for a player to come to the correct ruling.

In 2018, there was no penalty for accidently moving your ball marker by pressing it down with your putter – see Decision 20-1/6, which covers this exact situation and states that the movement of the ball marker was “directly attributable” to the specific act of marking the position of the ball, therefore the ball marker may be replaced without penalty.

However, in 2018 had you accidently stepped on your ball marker and it stuck to your shoe, then you would have incurred a 1 stroke penalty because a player was only exempt from a penalty if the ball marker was moved in the process of lifting or marking its position (i.e. “directly attributable”) – see Decision 20-1/5.5.

Under the new Rules, the Rules Mystic is no longer necessary, provided you have minimal reading comprehension skills. Rule 13.1d clearly states that there is no penalty if the player, opponent or another player in stroke play accidently moves the player’s ball or Ball-Marker on the putting green. Note that Ball Marker is now a defined term in the Rules. Under both scenarios the player incurs no penalty – this is the kinder and gentler USGA looking out for you, the player.

The new knee high dropping rule has been a topic of conversation on the PGA Tour. Please share your thoughts on the new Rule.

Painful that world class athletes cannot bend at the waist and drop the ball from a height between the top of their knee and the bottom of their knee. Maybe their fitness coaches can add an exercise to help them with this and their sports psychiatrists can come up with a mnemonic to help them remember how to drop when taking relief – something like: “if I drop from mee shoulder instead of mee knee, the referee will give mee a penal-tee.”

Here is the point of the new Rule – the player should play from as close to the spot where his or her talent (or lack thereof) got him or her to. Under the old Rules depending upon the relief option you could end up at a spot up to nearly 3 or 4 club lengths from the relief point. Moreover, by reducing the height of the drop it is more likely that the ball will remain in the Relief Area after it is dropped, thereby making it less likely that the player will get to place the ball after a second drop.

Now in my Dad’s group I get it – everyone is too old and arthritic to bend over at the waist to drop a ball from knee height. Someone could get hurt (and none of them wants to spend any money on a fitness coach because it is not covered under their Medicare Plan B). But as I told my Dad, you do not have to bend at the waist, you can bend at the knee as long as you drop from what would have been knee height had you been standing erect (i.e. bend your knees “X” inches then raise your arm “X” inches).

In 2019, if my ball hits my golf cart will I be assessed a penalty?

This is another great example of the kinder and gentler USGA. No penalty for accidental deflections. See Rule 11.1a – If a player’s ball in motion accidentally hits any person or Outside Influence there is no penalty to any player. This is true even if the ball hits the player, opponent or any other player or any of their Caddies or Equipment.

Note that Equipment is a defined term and it is: “anything used, worn, held or carried by the player or the player’s Caddie.” Therefore, a golf cart is Equipment. Accordingly, no penalty.

This Rule and definition eliminated the nuanced Decision on golf carts (a favorite of many Rules Mystics) – Decision 19/1 – “the shared golf cart,” which stated that everything in a shared golf cart is deemed to be the equipment of the player who is moving the cart; provided, however, that when the cart is not moving, then the cart and everything in it shall be deemed to be the equipment of the player whose ball is involved.

Now the golf cart is simply defined as your equipment and there is no penalty for hitting your equipment, another player or person sitting in your cart, another golf bag sitting in your cart etc. etc. No need for a Rules Mystic.

Go play your ball as it lies, and even though bad luck has to start somewhere it no longer starts here – no penalty. Think about how sensible this is – ask yourself this: how many times have you accidently hit yourself, your caddie or your golf cart and it worked out well for you?

Next Week, Part 2 of the “Back Nine with Paul Romano (USGA Rules Official): 2019 New Rules of Golf

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