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Quote from: jeffwarne on February 18, 2025, 12:54:35 PMJohnVDB,...For instance, there was and continues to be no penalty for a ball moving or accidentally struck off a teeing area, rightfully, because the ball was "not in play".But yet, now, a ball on a green struck accidentally is not a penalty, but it is a penalty when in the "general area"(but not in the teeing area or on the green)So is a ball on the green not "in play"? or it just an exception?...The whole idea of a Model Local Rule baffles me-a local rule is just that-local.A rule that is passed for that club, for that day, or just for that competition.The lost ball/OB model local rule is a perfect example of confusion.It is only a suggestion for clubs to adopt, which, as demonstrated above, few understand, and even fewer(as in almost zero) apply it properly.I understand the intent of such a rule, I just don't think a club needs permission to adopt a local rule, and because it got a lot of attention in the 2019 changes, many think it is a rules change, not merely an option, and one not intended for tournaments....And those of us 6 foot 5 and taller with bad backs would like to lose the knee drop rule Jeff,Thanks for the kind words. I don't want to turn this into a full on Rules seminar but a few thoughts on your comments.1) Ball moving on putting green. It was recognized that with the changes to agronomics over the past 30+ years (since 1984 revision) putting greens got much slipperier. Balls moved easily and it was very hard to determine why. While Dustin Johnson's incident at the 2016 US Open was considered to be the cause of this rule by some, I can definitively say it was in there before that. The reason it is only on the putting green and not the geernal area, bunkers or penalty areas is to keep people from being to careless in those areas. Additionally there were already many exceptions on the putting where you wouldn't get penalized for moving your ball such as when removing a loose impediment, fixing a ball mark, lifting or replacing your ball etc. We removed all the exceptions and just said, if you move it, put it back with no penalty. That seems simpler to me. So, yes, the putting green is a special place becuase you can lift and clean your ball for example, so it gets special rules and treatment.2) Committees/courses can make their own Local Rules. The purpose of the Model Local Rules is to get consistent procedures and penalties by giving them examples of how to do things. The MLR for the alternation to Stroke and Distance was hotly debated as people didn't like the concept of avoiding S&D and/or it was complicated etc. It was put in because it was realized that in everyday play, especially on a crowded public course, it was impracticable to expect players to go back and nobody did. So, we put in a MLR that allowed the practice everyone was using and specified that it was a two-stroke penalty because most people only take one. In most cases people will play from a location that is "close enough" to proper in these circumstances and if they take the proper penalty it won't affect their score too much from a handicapping point of view.3) I'm 6' 5" and have a bad back. I can assure you that teeing the ball up 18 times a round, marking and lifting my ball from the putting green, replacing it on the putting green and getting it out of the hole 18 times a round puts more pressure on my back than the hopefully no more than one or two times a round I might have to drop the ball from knee height. The reasons for the knee high drop were very strong and I believe had shown that you can get your ball in play quickly and not need to redrop as often which speeds up play.
JohnVDB,...For instance, there was and continues to be no penalty for a ball moving or accidentally struck off a teeing area, rightfully, because the ball was "not in play".But yet, now, a ball on a green struck accidentally is not a penalty, but it is a penalty when in the "general area"(but not in the teeing area or on the green)So is a ball on the green not "in play"? or it just an exception?...The whole idea of a Model Local Rule baffles me-a local rule is just that-local.A rule that is passed for that club, for that day, or just for that competition.The lost ball/OB model local rule is a perfect example of confusion.It is only a suggestion for clubs to adopt, which, as demonstrated above, few understand, and even fewer(as in almost zero) apply it properly.I understand the intent of such a rule, I just don't think a club needs permission to adopt a local rule, and because it got a lot of attention in the 2019 changes, many think it is a rules change, not merely an option, and one not intended for tournaments....And those of us 6 foot 5 and taller with bad backs would like to lose the knee drop rule
