New rules

Airlie_Andy said:
Out of interest is it against the rules for someone to use the range finder on the tee and then tell their playing partners what the yardage is?
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No. It's a matter of fact not advice. If they use it and say "200 yards boys better pull out the hybrid" then they are breaching the rules.
 
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Compass- We have to remember that these rules cover other countries where the type of grass on the greens, does mean that knowing the grain direction is an advantage.

Shark
 
Imurg said:
Golf is not as full of integrity as you think - after all we are not trusted to mark our own cards........

People should just accept this and move on - right or wrong, logical or stupid. We lost a forum member earlier in the year(or last) because of arguing about this DMD/iPhone ruling - it's not worth it. The rule is there. If you're going to play to the rules then you have to accept it. Why it's a rule or whether it makes sense isn't up to us. If we want to complain then I'm sure there are channels to go through and it may be looked at.

End of.
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I agree with this completely. Imurg. Healthy debate and discussion about the Rules is great and an ideal subject for this forum to really get its teeth into. But there must come a point where you say, 'those are the Rules of golf; if I'm going to play the game within the Rules I just need to accept it and get on with it.'

I'm going up to speak to David Rickman of The R&A about the Rules revisions next week, so if anyone has a question they'd like me to ask him about why things are the way they are with certain Rules I'll try and get some of your questions in.
 
JezzE said:
'

I'm going up to speak to David Rickman of The R&A about the Rules revisions next week, so if anyone has a question they'd like me to ask him about why things are the way they are with certain Rules I'll try and get some of your questions in.
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Jezz on the new rule regarding the raking of bunkers etc.........
Rule 13-4. Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions

Exception 2 to Rule 13-4 is amended to permit a player to smooth sand or soil in a hazard at any time, including before playing from that hazard, provided it is for the sole purpose of caring for the course and Rule 13-2 is not breached.

I watched the video with this & David states you can do this at any time once you are not testing the sand , i think this makes the area even greyer , at least before it was fairly clear cut , if im playing in a match & it gets close or tetchy , this can lead to all sorts of arguments in my opinion , i cant remove a twig or even a leaf (i think) from a bunker before i play , stones have to be local rule , so now i can rake this twig , leaf, stone out of the way & claim it is "caring for the course".. or am i reading this change incorrectly .. is it not taking a "fairly" clear rule & putting opinion in the way ??
Any thoughts on this guys ? gladly open to correction on my interpetation
 
I would interpret it as if i play a long bunker shot and leave the ball in the bunker then I can rake the disturbance I have made in the sand before walking round to the other end of the bunker to play my next shot.

I would not expect to rake a footprint in the area of my ball before I have played my ball as that could test the sand or even improve my lie or swing path.

That's how i see it, good housekeeping, speeding up play and gaining no advantage over my fellow golfers.

Cheers

Steve...
 
I agree 100% with bladeplarer on this. As I posted above I think this is a questionable change. Surely it leaves too much room for doubt and you would be bound to find out what the sand is like even if that wasn't your intention, and improve an area where you might be playing your next but one shot from.

Also I'm not even sure what this rule is trying to achieve in terms of playing the game which is what the Rules of golf should be about. Looking after the course is etiquette. Just rake the bunker after you've played.

Is there a clamour for this change? Does the R&A feel lots of people have been penalised unfairly due to the existing rule?

Seems a strange one.
 

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Tom-Lewis-wave-2011_2666664.jpg
Lewis: Approves of the changes
R&A SCRAPS HOLE-IN-ONE PRIZE LIMIT
Amateur golfers all over the world will be allowed to play for unlimited hole-in-one prizes under revisions to the sport's rules announced.
Previously the rules allowed for a prize worth no more than £500 and any amateur accepting something of greater value - Daily Mail golf writer Derek Lawrenson, for instance, won a Lamborghini - had to relinquish their amateur status.
The Royal and Ancient Club have now decided that "the special nature of a hole-in-one during a round of golf means that restrictions on the prizes offered have been lifted

[TD="class: panel_top, align: left"] GOLF NEWS [/TD]
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I cannot understand the compass rule... if using a measuring device is considered a question of fact, then knowing its 200 yards is surely no different than knowing its north, it's equally a question of fact, cos its either north or its not just, as its 200 yards or its not.

When measuring devices first came out I had a laser Bushnell and the rule as far as I knew was that you couldn't tell anyone a distance, the problem now is that my opponent can keep asking me yardages and it would seem almost unsporting not to tell him as the rules allow me to - so I can help him beat me?

Chris
 
Chris, I think that is the whole point of the way the rules are - the factual information you gain from the artificial device you are using shouldn't give you an advantage over your opponent. You should beat him because you are a better golfer.
 
With regards to the phones on the course, sometimes one or two of us are on Duty, so for security reasons need to be contactable. We always make sure any other players are aware and nobody has ever minded.

That said, it's only ever gone off on my own backswing....

When there's no requirement to have it, I leave it at home.
 
Does anybody really think that using the rake before you play your shot helps you in any way. Surely the point of "testing the sand" is to figure out the depth consistency of the bunker etc. Raking just doesn't do it for me as its where the ball is resting that would give me the most info and you can't rake in the spot the ball is.

How many I've thinned one because my feet are submerged in nice sand but the ball is resting on packed in hard sand !!! Not gonna help at all.
 
MashieNiblick said:
Chris, I think that is the whole point of the way the rules are - the factual information you gain from the artificial device you are using shouldn't give you an advantage over your opponent. You should beat him because you are a better golfer.
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Exactly Mashie, thats why I cant see a problem with a device thats, say, a compass or wind speed indicator etc etc. My only gripe would be that I have spent bundles of dosh on devices only for some guys to save their money by asking for the info free of charge


Chris
 
I think I see your point Chris. The info obtained from all the devices can be shared and might confer no advantage but I suppose at the end of the day the R&A are trying to keep the game simple and true to it's roots - hitting a ball with a stick into a hole in the ground - in an age of technology when the sport is a big business.
 
I'm with bladeplayer on 13-4. Whether using the rake would help you or not the changed rule is, as usual, going to create more problems than it solves. Rules should be based on the substantive not the subjective.
 
Am I correct that the definition of addressing the ball has changed? It looks as if you have addressed the ball whether you ground the club in front of or behind the ball - and you don't have to have taken a stance.

How much fun is this going to create with the 'I read the rules in 1898 and have no need to read them again' brigade,
 
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