I count four current active threads regarding the Rules of Golf, and in each a number of posters are attacking those Rules. I am puzzled as to the logic of those "attacks"--
It is important to clear up what appears to be some misconceptions regarding the Rules of Golf, which are a copyrighted joint work of the USGA and the R&A--
As the governing bodies constantly point out, the only jurisdiction they have in imposing those Rules are the competitions they conduct(13 national championships by the USGA and an approximate similar number by the R&A)-- If you elect to play in those championships (and of course, even if you have the game to compete, the choice of participation is your election) you must play under the USGA/R&A Rules--
Other than that, adoption of the Rules for any competition is purely elective-
The USGA/R&A does interpet those Rules if requested by Committees or others who voluntarily elect to adopt them, but they will not interpet rules questions if the Rules are not in effect for the competition-
The choice to adopt those Rules for any other event or competition, at any level, is purely voluntary--
The PGA Tour could adopt other rules of play, but they choose not to.
The LPGA, Champions Tour and European Tour could adopt other rules of play, but they choose not to.
The various other Tours around the world, Hooters, Nationwide, Japan, Candian and hundreds of other mini-Tour, regional and national championships, pro and amatuer, could adopt other rules, but none of them do--
The thousands of local and regional associations around the world could adopt other rules or modify the USGA/R&A Rules, but none of them do--
The tens of thousands of courses and golfing clubs could adopt other rules, but virtually none of them do--
Any group stepping on the first tee can adopt any rules of play they wish(I have yet to see someone arrested or jailed for playing a "scramble" or similar competition which has nothing to do with the Rules of Golf), but most people in match or stroke competitions play by the USGA and R&A rules(the club by posting "USGA Rules in effect" has no jurisdiction over you and your group if you wish to play by other rules)--
It is amazing that if the Rules are as bad as some would suggest they would be rarely used, or at least modified, but as we know virtually all competitions everywhere use the Rules of Golf of the USGA/R&A in their current unmodified form--
Why do almost all groups use the USGA/R&A rules? A few reasons:
1-They have stood the test of time over 250 years that the game has been competitively played-- The games first explosion in popularity in the Isles occured when a uniform set of Rules was agreed upon permiting interclub competition-- the next explosion was after WWII when a uniform set was adopted world wide permitting anyone playing anywhere to be sure he was playing the same game by saying "Play under USGA/R&A Rules". The 34 Rules of today are not much different than the basics of the original 13 Rules(Its clearly recognizable, under the Rules, as the same game)
2- Your group can play under any damn set of rules they chose so long as unanimous agreement exists, but with bets everyone better know exactly what the "other" rules are before you start play-- The oft told story of PJ Boatwright (former USGA Rules director) is applicable here-- Someone in PJ's group on saturday morning asked "PJ, do we have to play by "strict" USGA rules today?" PJ replied "Of course not, but if we are going to wager I want to know the rules we are playing under and I want to know all of them"
3- The Rules (and the decisions) have been refined based upon millions of golfing events over all kinds of conditions and courses to reach consistent results equally treating all golfers--some may complain that a occasional unique circumstance may arise to create what appears to be an "unfair" result, but as to those who don't like the result and attack the Rule, I defy them to rewrite the Rule so that it will adequately cover all situations which may arrise in all types of competitions--
Those who complain about the Rules should be mindful that they can chose to compete under the Rules or not compete-- this is a free and elective decision-- It is not like a tax law-- You don't like the Rules, don't play in competitions where they are in effect--Convince everyone in the competition to play under other rules, that is the rules you will play under(you will find you may have very small groups however)
Two final issues that seem to be overlooked(or misunderstood)--First, If one group is playing, not only can that group agree to play under any rules everyone agrees upon , even under USGA Rules that one friendly foresome is the Committee, and it has great power under the Rules to make decisions and rulings-- Only when more groups are involved does the Committee exist outside your group.
Second, Even with USGA/R&A Rules in effect, most competitive play among amatuers at the club level is match play--Although you can not agree to waive Rules of Golf if you are playing under USGA Rules(Rule 1-3), you can, if you wish, elect to overlook any breach by your opponent(Dec 2-5/1)-- Interestingly those who seem to complain the loudest about a "silly rule" that should not be enforeced are not dealing with an opponent's breach of a rule they overlooked, they are complaining about an infraction called on them--
I just don't see how Rules of Golf, which are adopted on a purely voluntary basis, for use in competitions which an individual has a total elective choice to compete in or not, and are fully spelled out and known to him before he makes his choice to compete can be considered draconian, unfair, silly, outdated, misguided, (or any of the other similar adjectives I have seem used in recent posts)