7 Recent Golf Rules Changes That Will Save Your Shots | Golf Monthly
In this video, Golf Monthly deputy editor Joel Tadman is joined by Rules of Golf expert Jeremy Ellwood to talk through the 7 rules of golf that have changed recently to make the game fairer and potentially save you shots! Sometimes it can feel like the rules are out to get you but there are situations where they can really work in your favour, as Joel and Jezz highlight in this video shot at the stunning Gog Magog Golf Club in Cambridgeshire.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to GoggleGog Golf Club where in this video we're going to talk through the seven rules that have changed for the better.
00:05 I think it's fair to say the rules of golf in certain situations can be quite penalising
00:10 but there have been some changes in recent years that have really made it a lot fairer for golfers who get stuck in certain situations.
00:16 So in myself alongside rules expert Jezza, we're going to go through those seven different scenarios
00:20 where the rules have definitely changed for the better and it should hopefully help you improve your scores.
00:24 Right Jezza I saw what I think I saw. Ball hit the tree, came back and hit your foot.
00:38 Talk us through how the rules of golf have changed to help you in this particular situation.
00:42 Okay well I can't deny it did do just that. The good news is that the penalty for that no longer exists.
00:49 So as recently as 2007 that would still have been a two shot penalty for the ball coming back and hitting me.
00:55 That got downgraded to one shot from 2008 and then from the last rules revisions in 2019 there is no longer a penalty
01:03 if the ball comes back off a tree or a bunker face and hits you or your bag or your caddy or anyone.
01:10 So the penalty is the fact that you've not moved the ball very far.
01:12 So there you have it, common sense prevails in this particular scenario if the ball does hit you or your equipment, no penalty.
01:19 Another good change by the governing bodies.
01:21 Right Jezza so another rule that's changed for the better comes down to loose impediments in bunkers.
01:26 I see in this situation there's a stick and some other stuff around my ball which is impeding my swing trying to get the ball towards this flag.
01:35 Tell me about what I can and can't do in this situation.
01:37 Ok well the good news is that now you can remove that loose impediment which you wouldn't have been able to touch a loose impediment in a bunker before.
01:45 So you'd have just had to try and get the club to go through that as best as possible.
01:49 Well that seems sensible.
01:50 Yes, now obviously the one thing you do still have to be wary of is if the ball moves it would still be a penalty.
01:55 So if the ball had actually been resting on that you probably still wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.
02:00 But as it was just far enough away to not be a problem you can now remove that and you can remove that little nut or whatever that is.
02:07 And now you've got a freer shot whereas before you would have had to deal with those as well as the difficulty of the bunker shot.
02:13 And this includes stones obviously that's probably one of the most common things you can find in a bunker.
02:16 Yes, previously you could move stones if there was a local rule, but now there's no need for that local rule because you can move them anyway.
02:23 Although again you've got to make sure that you don't move your ball in the process.
02:28 And it's interesting the same thing applies in penalty areas now.
02:31 You can remove loose impediments from penalty areas.
02:34 Previously they were known as hazards and you wouldn't have been able to touch them there, but now you can.
02:38 Again, if you move the ball there will still be a penalty.
02:41 Interesting, well I've made this shot an awful lot easier for myself so I've got no excuses now.
02:44 So shall we give it a try.
02:46 It's a bit of an awkward lie.
02:48 Dustbin lid maybe.
02:50 Let's see what we can do.
02:51 I've pulled it.
02:54 That's actually a pretty poor shot, but I think with that kind of stick there it probably would have been an awful lot worse.
03:00 So that's definitely a rule to remember.
03:02 If you find yourself in a lot of bunkers you can now move those loose impediments.
03:06 Right Jezza, the next rule of golf we're going to cover comes down to one of these.
03:10 It's a distance measuring device.
03:11 It is.
03:12 I mean this is specifically a laser rangefinder.
03:14 It's fair to say that they're very much commonplace now in the world of golf.
03:17 They are.
03:18 A few years ago only a few people had maybe better players only really used these,
03:21 but now pretty much every ability a golfer has some sort of distance measuring device.
03:26 How has the rule changed that's going to help us?
03:28 Yeah, well I mean when I was equipment editor those things hadn't even been invented.
03:31 So the rules have changed to accommodate what's come into the game.
03:35 And at first I wouldn't say there was suspicion around them.
03:37 I think the rule makers wanted to see how they played out.
03:41 So at first they had to be allowed by local rule when you were playing in competition.
03:44 So if there wasn't a local rule in force allowing them you couldn't use that in a competition round.
03:49 From 2019 it changed to the other way around.
03:52 So now they are allowed by general rule,
03:54 but committees could still say you can't use them by local rule,
03:58 but I'm not aware of a huge number that do.
04:00 So essentially now they're good to use in competitions,
04:04 whereas before there had to be a local rule in place for that to be the case.
04:07 Yeah, and we've seen certain major championships,
04:09 obviously run by different governing bodies,
04:11 allow laser rangefinders during those tournaments,
04:13 which is really interesting and definitely shows the kind of acceptance that's happening
04:17 across different tours and different events.
04:19 And I guess the one thing that's worth finally pointing out is that a lot of lasers
04:23 have slope functionality and obviously it's very important that you disable that
04:26 if you're playing in a competition.
04:27 Yeah, it is. I mean rule 4.3 is where you'll find all the information.
04:30 If you go to the full rules online you'll see what is allowed, what isn't allowed.
04:34 But essentially if you remember, distance information is fine,
04:37 slope or elevation is not for competitive golf.
04:40 Yeah, so for example on this Bushnell there's a little switch that you can turn off.
04:43 A lot of them are very easy to use.
04:45 Make sure you disable that functionality,
04:47 but generally speaking, laser rangefinders nowadays are perfectly fine to use out on the golf course.
04:52 Not looking good in here, Jez, is it?
04:54 No, this is thick stuff.
04:55 This is thick stuff.
04:58 Ah.
04:59 What's happened?
05:00 I've just hit a ball with my club while looking for mine and that is my golf ball.
05:05 Okay. Right.
05:07 Well, the good news is before 2019 that would have been a problem.
05:11 You'd have been penalised for moving your own ball.
05:13 From 2019 the rules change so that if you moved your own ball while you were searching for it,
05:20 you weren't penalised.
05:21 You had to replace it where it was or where you estimate it was to the best of your ability
05:27 and carry on from there.
05:28 And that's an improvement because previously the player whose ball it was,
05:33 there was no great incentive to go out the search too rigorously in case they did what you've just done there.
05:40 Now that doesn't matter as much so you can search a little bit more earnestly along with the other people in your group
05:46 without fear of causing yourself a penalty if you do move it while you're searching for it.
05:51 So I've got to move that back to where I was thinking it was about there.
05:54 Estimating it to the best of your ability.
05:56 And that's a good rule because I think sometimes in rough like this,
05:59 where it sits right down, the chances are you're not going to find it unless you're disturbing an awful lot of the grass.
06:04 And you're going to stand on it aren't you sometimes and suddenly that's your ball and you think,
06:07 "Oh, I've trodden on it."
06:08 And that would be fine too?
06:09 That would be fine too because you've moved it accidentally while searching for it.
06:12 Cool. So there you have it.
06:13 No penalty if you accidentally move your ball with the club or your foot while looking for it in the rough.
06:18 Well worth remembering.
06:19 Right Jez, I've hit my tee shot on this par three and I've got an absolutely stinking lie.
06:24 Yeah.
06:25 It's just crept in the back lip of this bunker.
06:27 The green is over there obviously in the direction of play.
06:30 I've clearly got no swing so I want to take an unplayable.
06:33 Yep.
06:34 I believe my options have changed and the rules of golf have hopefully been changed for the better to help me out in this scenario.
06:39 Is that right?
06:40 They have really because until 2019 your only option to drop that outside the bunker would
06:46 have been to go back to the tee and play again under stroke and distance which isn't always
06:51 particularly appealing if it's 200 yards or over water.
06:54 To drop this one in the bunker going back on line you can't do that because there's nowhere to go.
06:59 To drop it within two club lengths is probably going to leave you with a really awkward stance.
07:04 Yeah.
07:05 One foot outside, one foot in and you just don't fancy it.
07:07 But now from 2019 onwards you have an option to go back on a line outside the bunker but
07:13 it is for an extra penalty stroke.
07:14 Ok, so I'm allowed to pick this up and go back on that line.
07:19 Go back up here, keeping that point between you and where the flag is, dropping back as
07:24 far as you want on that line and then playing.
07:26 But obviously if that was your tee shot this would now be your fourth shot so you're fighting
07:30 to try and save double.
07:31 Yeah.
07:32 But, you know, if you're no good out of bunkers or you just really don't fancy what it's given
07:36 you, it may occasionally be an option worth considering.
07:39 Yeah, because even if you have a swipe at it you might completely miss the ball altogether
07:42 and then you're in the same situation playing three.
07:44 Exactly.
07:45 At least that eliminates that problem shot and gives you an easy lie for your fourth shot.
07:49 Yeah, exactly.
07:50 So hopefully I can hit this one nice and close and justify my decision.
07:54 Oh, I'm pretty happy with that.
07:59 Ok, so now you've got a chance to save double which doesn't sound great but it might be
08:03 better than whatever could have occurred if you'd gone down some of the other routes.
08:06 So there you go, use that rule, that new rule in the bunker, it could just save you having
08:10 that horror number on your scorecard.
08:12 Now Jez, nervy chippers around the green may well be familiar with the dreaded double hit
08:24 which is not a nice feeling to experience on the golf course but the rules have changed
08:28 to make it feel a little bit better or the outcome hopefully will be a little bit better
08:31 for those people who are prone to that double hit shot.
08:35 Yes, well essentially there is now no penalty for the double hit.
08:39 You just have to play the ball from wherever it comes to rest as long as it is accidental.
08:43 If you deliberately go fishing for it with the club and try and...
08:47 Yeah, I've seen trick shots of people going round trees.
08:50 That is not allowed.
08:51 Generally when the club makes contact with the ball twice in one shot you don't get a
08:56 desirable result so you've had penalty enough just by having to now deal with it from over
09:01 there where the club has sent it.
09:03 Occasionally you might fluke one and it goes closer to the hole than the properly struck
09:07 chip would have done but largely the rule has been changed because the result of a double
09:13 hit was not usually very favourable.
09:15 So there you have it, if you're prone to the occasional double hit, don't worry, there's
09:18 no penalty shots, play it as it lies but hopefully you can eradicate it from your game and you
09:22 won't have to worry about it.
09:24 Right, so there's another area where the rules of golf have changed for the better coming
09:28 from the putting green and specifically when your ball moves unintentionally.
09:33 Can you explain how that's going to happen?
09:35 Well, before if this ball had come to rest and then whether you'd marked it or not when
09:43 you replaced it, if it had then rolled somewhere else due to natural forces, so wind, water,
09:48 other natural forces, that unfortunately was just tough luck and you had to play, well,
09:52 generally tough luck, it might have rolled nearer the hole but sometimes it might have
09:56 rolled off, perhaps even into a bunker or a horrible place down the fairway.
10:01 Now the rules of golf provide a stop point as long as you've marked and lifted and then
10:06 replaced the ball.
10:07 So if I go down and replace, place my marker down behind this and pick the ball up, that
10:13 is now the worst place I can be when I come to take my putt.
10:17 Previously, if I'd placed this back down, taken my mark away and the ball had then rolled
10:22 down to somewhere that may or may not be as easy, that doesn't matter now, the ball would
10:26 go back to where it was and if you couldn't remember exactly where it was you'd estimate
10:30 it to the best of your ability but that is like a stop point.
10:34 So it's good reason to always mark your ball as soon as possible on windy days on sloping
10:39 greens because if you don't mark it, take your chances and it rolls off somewhere nasty,
10:44 that is still tough luck.
10:46 So that's why you see tour pros sometimes running up to the green.
10:49 Sometimes running up, yeah, especially on a sloping, a links course on a windy day with
10:52 a big tear in the green, they'll get their marker as soon as possible so they know that
10:56 that is the worst possible place they can be for their next shot.
11:00 So there you have it, if you're playing on a windy day, slopey greens, get your marker
11:03 down as quickly as possible, it might just save you a shot or two.
11:07 So there you have it, that concludes our look at the seven rules of golf that have changed
11:11 for the better.
11:12 Hopefully you found this useful in terms of enhancing and broadening your knowledge of
11:15 the rules of golf and if you find yourself in any of those situations, you can fall back
11:19 on what you've learned in this video to really help you out and hopefully save you a few
11:22 shots in the process.
11:24 If you did like the video, do click the like button and subscribe to the Golf Monthly YouTube
11:27 channel so you don't miss any of our other rules videos or our videos on other areas
11:31 like equipment and instruction.
11:33 But that's all for me, from the Golf Club, I'll see you next time.
11:36 [Music]