Five rules of golf badly need to be changed to make the sport better for everyone

Add as preferred source on Google

The game of golf is one of the hardest to perfect, if not the hardest.

Even the greatest players of all time including the likes of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus have never actually mastered the sport, in spite of being dominant in their respective eras.

However, the sport could be made slightly easier if certain rules were changed in order to make the game fairer for those who play it.

The USGA and the R&A need to sit down and think of ways to make the game not only better to play in this regard, but more enjoyable to watch as well.

Players and fans are constantly demanding rule changes, and that cannot be ignored by the game’s governing bodies.

While improving the sport as a whole will be no easy task, there are some quick wins that the USGA and the R&A should be clamouring to take advantage of.

Five rules of golf need to be changed to make the sport better

Most of the rule changes suggested here could be applied to all levels of the game, and they are badly needed in order to move the sport forward.

The out of bounds rule

If a golfer hits their ball out of bounds, they are penalized by both stroke and distance, meaning that they’re handed a one-stroke penalty and forced to hit their shot again from the original position. That rule is far too penal and it should be changed to one or the other. Either penalize golfers by handing them a one-stroke penalty for hitting their ball out of bounds while allowing them to drop their ball in line with the point of entry or simply make them replay the shot without including a penalty. So if you hit your ball out of bounds off the tee, you would then simply have to re-tee, hitting your second shot rather than your third.

Ball at rest moved rule

This rule is arguably the one which most urgently needs to be changed. Shane Lowry fell victim to the rule at The Open this year at Royal Portrush, and it’s simply unfair. If a ball at rest is moved due to an outside influence like wind or an animal on the course, for example, then no penalty is incurred. However, if a player causes their own ball to move, even accidentally, they will receive a one-stroke penalty. A two-stroke penalty is handed out if the player causes their own ball to move and then fails to replace it to its original position. That rule in particular is incredibly harsh. A one-stroke penalty should be more than sufficient.

‘Grandstanding’ needs to be punished

This one clearly only applies to the professional game, but how frustrating is it to see golfers at the very highest level smash their balls into the grandstands which surround the greens in order to get a free drop. This usually happens when there is a water hazard on one side of the green and the grandstands are directly opposite. Perhaps the USGA need to take a leaf out of the R&A’s regarding this particular rule. Back at The Open earlier this year, the R&A brought in some seriously gnarly looking drop zones for players who fired their balls into the grandstands. Forcing players to drop their balls in really difficult spots would eradicate ‘grandstanding’ overnight.

Fairway divots rule

It just seems incredibly harsh when a player rips a drive down the middle of the fairway only for their ball to finish up in a fairway divot. Good drives should always be rewarded. It seems incredibly harsh that players are punished after hitting a well-executed shot. Perhaps a free drop should be awarded if a player’s ball comes to rest in a divot on the fairway. The only problem I can see with this idea being implemented is the fact that it may be left open to interpretation too much with some players potentially taking advantage of the rule.

Slow play needs to come with a penalty

The general consensus is that slow play needs to be accompanied by a two-strokes penalty. Putting the best players in the world on the clock due to slow play and then fining them is a futile exercise to say the least. Multi-millionaires are not going to be concerned by paying out a few thousand dollars here and there throughout the year. However, something that will ensure a quicker pace of play on professional tours worldwide is penalty strokes being added to the rules of golf.

The USGA and the R&A need to make rule changes in order to move into the 21st century

The majority of the rules of golf were established more than a century ago and common sense needs to prevail, certainly regarding the five rules highlighted above.

The key for the PGA Tour – the best and most lucrative tour in the world – is to make the sport appealing to younger viewers.

Dated rules from a bygone era are not conducive to moving the game forward, and they certainly won’t help with retaining a younger audience.

However, they are powerless to change any of the rules. The onus here falls on the USGA and the R&A to make the sport better for the players and the fans.

A new board should be formed including players, members of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour hierarchies and leading officials from the two main governing bodies of the game.

This ‘think tank’ so to speak, would then be able to brainstorm and bounce new ideas off each other concerning how to make the game of golf better for everyone.

And the five ideas above would be a great place to start in my opinion.