2008 Rules of Golf (USGA) now available

[Tim MacEachern]

At this USGA link the 2008 Rules of Golf from the USGA are now available.  There is a PDF version of the new rule book, plus a description of the changes.

[Paul Jones]

Here are some of the noted changes:

Beginning in 2008, a golfer will be allowed to lift a ball for identification in a bunker or water hazard.  However, there now will be a two-stroke penalty for playing a wrong ball from a hazard. In match play, the penalty will be loss of hole.

Another notable change is the reduction in penalty in Rule 4-1 for carrying, but not using, a non-conforming club from disqualification to, in stroke play, a penalty of two strokes per hole, with a maximum penalty of four strokes for the round.  

The penalty for the accidental deflection of a ball by a player, his partner or either of their caddies or equipment under Rule 19-2 will be reduced to one penalty stroke in both match play and stroke play.  (In 2007, the penalty was loss of hole in match play and two strokes in stroke play.)

[Chris Cupit]

It might seem strange coming from a rules junkie like myself but am i the only one that doesn't understand why after 500 years or so we still can't come up with a set of rules for our game and stick with them?  In fact we are intentionally on a schedule to change things every 4 years depending on who happens to be on some committee.

I am not suggesting that the changes this year aren't good or maybe even an improvement but I am convinced one reason 99% of all golfers cheat (even if they try and play by the rules) is that:

1.  There are too many rules
2.  They change and are confusing  (remember, while every four years is an official rules change year, decisions and interpretations can change midstream--remember the decision change in 2006 that essentially reversed the definition of a lost ball that the 2004 changes addressed?  This was the change/unchange that was in effect in 2004/5 that said a ball dropped under rule 27 was NOT in play if the original ball was found within 5 minutes!  That led to a lot of interesting what-ifs!

Anyway, all games have rules that ultimately are arbitrary to some degree--can't we pick a set of rules and stick with them    In an attempt to "perfect" the rules are we just making them more confusing?

Oh well, only a few more weeks and I can start studying for the test

[Dan Herrmann]

Chris,
Rules change becuase they have flaws that are corrected.  In golf's case, that's essentially every four years.

Every sport tweaks its rules to correct errors and to keep the rules up to date with changes in the game.  Sometimes the spirit and intent of a situation changes and the rule must change.

In some other sports, spirit and intent dictate the way the game is officiated.  Basketball is a prime example here.  The basketball situation looks at a game situation and figures in not just rules but also the spirit and intent of the rule when making a call.

I don't think golf uses "spirit and intent" for officiating, unless Rule 1 comes into play.  Therefore, its rulebook needs to change to stay relevant.

[JohnV]

Chris,

Rules of all sports change some changes in the last 30 years:  Baseball added DHs.  The NFL added 2 point conversions and overtime.  The NHL added a shootout if a game ends in a tie after OT and the NBA added 3-point shots.  And those are just the big changes that we easily see.  There are lots of little changes that are less obvious.  Most of those leagues change things every year.

Golf Rules change for a number of reasons.  Some are:

1) Perception that a rule is too harsh or too lenient, such as the changes to 19-2 and 4-1 this year.  Something happens that the rules committee will look at and say, that they feel the punishment doesn't fit the crime.  Sometimes the committee sees that it made a mistake and backs these out quickly.  One such attempt was making the penalty for an unplayable to be distance only back in the late 50s.  It was quickly backed out.

2) Attempts to make the game easier to understand.  The big one this year is the requirement that you identify your ball everywhere on the golf course.  I have had to stop players on numerous occasions when they wanted to lift a ball in a hazard to ID it.  Now they can and should do that.  The other is the change of wording for a ball determining if a ball is lost in a WH or other condition from "reasonable evidence" to "known or virtually certain”.  For years rules officials where taught this was basically what reasonable evidence meant, but most golfers didn't understand that and the lawyers like one on this website argued that the term "preponderance" in the decision that explained RE meant 51%, not 95% as we were interpreting it.

3) Attempts to fix holes or inconsistencies in the rules.  There are a lot of very smart people on the Rules Committee.  They are always looking at the rules and seeing things that don't fit together properly.  Sometimes this leads to ideas that prove to have more problems than they fix such as the change to the definition of "lost ball" in 2004 so they get corrected.  One inconsistency that is fixed this year is the change to 12-1 that adds moving a ball in or on an obstruction while searching to the list of things that aren't penalized.  It was inconsistent that moving a ball in GUR was no penalty while moving it in an obstruction was.

4) A pet peeve of some person.  I remember a past president of the USGA saying he wanted to make stones in bunkers obstructions because it was unsafe.  A couple of years later the local rule that had been allowed in the R&A was also allowed by the USGA.  This was also due to  the desire to get consistent in local rules, but it is possible that this person's desire had a lot to due with it.

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