2019 rules books

[jim8flog]

Are your club handing them out yet?

 

[3offTheTee]

Phoned the Club earlier. They are not issuing them until January!!

Tried to explain how impractical that will be and they are coming back to me.

 

[IanG]

yes, ours are being distributed.

 

[louise_a]

I picked one up while paying at Lytham Green Drive, so asked at my own club and was told by the men's comp secretary that they were not issuing them yet so the members weren't confused.
I insisted on being given them for the ladies section and we now have them available in the ladies locker room

 

[cliveb]

asked at my own club and was told by the men's comp secretary that they were not issuing them yet so the members weren't confused

Since a large proportion of the members at my club (and I'd suspect most others) seem to have little grasp of some of the basic rules, additional confusion is hardly going to cause a problem.

I see this as a golden opportunity for clubs to say some thing like this to their long-standing members:
"We know that you've been playing the game for a long time and think you know the rules, but you need to be aware that there are some very radical changes coming in on 1st January. Please study the rule books that we're handing out and familiarise yourself with the new rules".
With a bit of luck, some of the stick-in-muds who seem to be operating according to rules they learned in the 1960s might actually bring themselves up to date

 

[louise_a]

Since a large proportion of the members at my club (and I'd suspect most others) seem to have little grasp of some of the basic rules, additional confusion is hardly going to cause a problem.

I see this as a golden opportunity for clubs to say some thing like this to their long-standing members:
"We know that you've been playing the game for a long time and think you know the rules, but you need to be aware that there are some very radical changes coming in on 1st January. Please study the rule books that we're handing out and familiarise yourself with the new rules".
With a bit of luck, some of the stick-in-muds who seem to be operating according to rules they learned in the 1960s might actually bring themselves up to date

One lady at ours when given a new rule book said to me "so I wont be needing this then" and gave me a rules book dated 1988!!

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Yes, but only had 100 so I ordered another 100 myself to leave in the Club.
Individuals can order upto 500 of the players version via the R&A website, copies are free, you just pay p&p.
Also running 4 rules updates in December, 2 during the day and 2 in an evening.

 

[jim8flog]

The reason for asking is that the Area Authority are recommending delaying notifying the members of the changes in case they get confused.

What I would be more worried about is that members start playing comps in January using the old rules. Our 1st comp is during the first week in January.

With over fifty new rules to learn, not including rules removed, I can see major confusion coming after the 1st of January.

 

[Garush34]

Yes been available for a couple of weeks. They have also emailed the main rule changes for reference. I picked up a couple of the new books, haven't had a full read of it yet.

 

[chellie]

Yes been available for a couple of weeks. I picked up a couple of the new books, haven't had a full read of it yet.

Same here

 

[nickjdavis]

Ours have been available for a couple of weeks now... we are planning to hold a rules evening going through the new rules sometime in early December... that should strike the right balance between lowering the chance of confusion and increasing the possibility that the members won't have forgotten all of which they get told.

 

[upsidedown]

Been out at ours for about 3 weeks now

 

[williamalex1]

The reason for asking is that the Area Authority are recommending delaying notifying the members of the changes in case they get confused.

What I would be more worried about is that members start playing comps in January using the old rules. Our 1st comp is during the first week in January.

With over fifty new rules to learn, not including rules removed, I can see major confusion coming after the 1st of January.

I'm a bit confused , have ALL the old rule numbers been changed ?

 

[jim8flog]

I'm a bit confused , have ALL the old rule numbers been changed ?

Yes

It will also change every local rule bar 1 at our club.

 

[KenL]

Yes

It will also change every local rule bar 1 at our club.

Could you please elaborate? I am involved with local rules at my club and we are meeting soon to discuss.

 

[rulefan]

With over fifty new rules to learn, not including rules removed, I can see major confusion coming after the 1st of January.

There are only 24 Rules from 2019, most being simpler than the current rules

 

[rulefan]

Could you please elaborate? I am involved with local rules at my club and we are meeting soon to discuss.

Possibly stones in bunkers, DMDs or accidentally moving ball on the green

 

[jim8flog]

There are only 24 Rules from 2019, most being simpler than the current rules

The devil is in the unadvertised detail. I have identified 20 changes that have not been mentioned on the R&A/UGSA Major Changes summary chart there are a total of 38 on that.

Could you please elaborate? I am involved with local rules at my club and we are meeting soon to discuss.

Ours are affected by
All LRs need rules references changing, change to new relief procedure
Replacement of a movable obstruction without penalty,
Stones in bunkers has gone
Sprinklers close to the green, new relief procedure
Aeration holes - new wording
DMDs deleted
Temp greens now includes stance (we include this in LRs as a reminder to players)
Overhead cables - now includes the poles and support wires
Drop Zone - new option for specifying a DZ area
Embedded ball relief through the green to be deleted, we have this as an all year round rule on one course
We are also considering options that we previously did not have on the card
Animal dung to be treated as GUR
Bunkers new LR for water damage
Exposed roots on a fairway/first cut
Line of play relief for a protection fence (Previous guideline did not give us this option)
Defining Areas that are OB as no play zones
and of course
The option to OB /ball lost

 

[rulefan]

The full Rules are now available. Your rules committee shouldn't take long to sort it out. It took me a day to work through the publications and sent a list to the comps committee to discuss at next weeks meeting. I have been drip feeding members with changes for some weeks now.
Presumably your sec/manager was warned not to stock up on cards.

We have already discussed the OB/Lost ball LR and are holding a separate meeting to make a decision on it.