Readers,

By now, all of you are aware that the Rules of Golf are being revised effective January 1, 2019. Many of you have asked Foremost to to explain and clarify these revisions. He will do so in due time, of course, but as of this date such an effort would be premature as the ink is hardly even dry on the revisions…literally!

In fact, F was summoned just this past week to Liberty Corner, NJ, home of the Golf House and the Administrative Complex of the USGA, for consultations. Hey, it’s crunch time, and these guys figured if they were going to have the New Rules ready to go by 2019, they better start getting some of these ideas on paper.

F certainly doesn’t want to overstate his contributions to the process, as the USGA and the R&A began deliberations some 7 years ago, but they were substantial. For instance, F eloquently spoke in favor of the proposal to replace the word “oscillating” with the word “wobbling”. He is pleased to report this specific proposal passed after considerable debate. F’s closing argument, citing the terrible difficulty some of his Readers had in simply comprehending the former word (specifically referencing Sandwich and the Yank) moved some of his listeners to tears and carried the day on this issue.

All in all, F promises his Readers that while the New Rules 2019 will present a daunting learning challenge initially, they will ultimately succeed in that they are extremely well-drafted not only with a clearer and more precise terminology, but also, in their statement and organization of the principles and common themes upon which the Rules are grounded.

Of course, for the next 100 days or so, none of this matters a whit. The Old Rules remain in place and will still apply through the end of this calendar year. During this period, many important competitions will take place on all levels, and F promises to stand steadfast under the existing rules until the curtain finally drops.

One such competition took place recently in Roaring Gap, NC:

Facts

In concurrent individual and three-some team stroke play competition, Reader PD played a blind shot from behind a steep and sloping Par 3 green. His ball raced across the putting green and deflected off player DM’s club. DM was a “fellow-competitor” in individual stroke play, and a “partner” in the team competition.

PD decided he should play the ball as it lay after the deflection (he was on the green in 3 and he skillfully three-putt for an easy six which he recorded as his score in both competitions).

Issue

Was PD correct in his scoring?

Ruling

In stroke play, a fellow competitor is an”outside agency”. When a moving ball is deflected by an outside agency, the ball is played as it lies after the deflection. R19-1. PD correctly recorded a six in the individual competition.

A different result attaches in the team competition. By striking the equipment of a partner, PD incurred a one-stroke penalty. R19-2.

When players are involved in concurrent stroke-play competitions, whenever possible the rule is applied to the competition involved (Dec 31-1). When it is not possible to separate the competitions, the team format controls (Ibid). In this situation, one is clearly able to separate the games for scoring purposes under the Rules. Accordingly, PD should have recorded a 6 in the individual competition, and a 7 for his team in the team competition.

But … a Sneak Preview!

Under the New Rules 2019, a Player does not incur a penalty when his ball in motion accidentally strikes another person, or himself, or his equipment, or his Caddie. The logic here is that the result of this deflection can be good or bad, so why assess a penalty? New R11a and 11b.

This stuff will be fun!

As usual, all comments and corrections are welcome!

Respectfully submitted,
F