{"id":1503,"date":"2006-09-12T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2006-09-12T14:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/its_time_for_a_rules_change\/"},"modified":"2006-09-12T09:00:49","modified_gmt":"2006-09-12T14:00:49","slug":"its_time_for_a_rules_change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/thrash_talk\/its_time_for_a_rules_change","title":{"rendered":"It’s Time for a (Rules) Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ThrashI’m happy Jim Furyk won the Canadian Open this past weekend, and I’m even happier he moved up to second in the Official World Golf Ranking<\/a>. Other than that Tiger fellow, Furyk is the best on the planet right now. He held off a pretty tough field en route to his second win of the season.<\/p>\n

While Furyk earned the biggest paycheck of the week, Jonathan Byrd took a pay cut in the final round.
\n
\nByrd would have finished at -12 and in a tie for third if not for a rules infraction on the front nine. Instead, he finished at -10 and T5. Bryd took his practice swings in a bunker while standing too far from the ball, violating rule 13-4a<\/a>, which prohibits testing the condition of a hazard.<\/p>\n

The rules violation was clear, and Byrd has only himself to blame for not knowing the rules. However, the rule itself is silly and in desperate need of modification. Jonathan Bryd has won plenty of money to secure his card for next season, but it could have happened to someone right in the thick of the race for the card. There are several rules that unjustly cost golfers a lot of money.<\/p>\n

Divots in the Fairway (Rule 13-1<\/a>)<\/strong>
\nThis is one of the worst rules in all of golf (and earned the top – or bottom – spot in our previous article on dumb rules<\/a>). If a ball lands in a divot, the golfer must play the ball as it lies. In other words, if the divot is in the fairway, the golfer is penalized for doing what he is supposed to. I don’t hit nearly enough fairways, and when I do get lucky, it’s nice to have a good lie. The same goes for professionals. This situation occurred at last month’s PGA Championship at Medinah<\/a> and to Geoff Ogilvy at the U.S. Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the PGA, Tiger Woods hit into a fairway divot on Saturday. The world’s best made it look easy, hit a great shot and made the birdie putt in the process. Woods isn’t necessarily human, so the example isn’t very fitting in this case – astute readers will note Woods hit another spectacular shot from a divot at the Open Championship in 2005 at St. Andrews as well. At least 50% of the PGA Tour professionals would have had a very tough time making par from such a lie.<\/p>\n

The late and great Payne Stewart won two U.S. Opens in his career, but it very well could have been three. Stewart lost the 1998 U.S. Open by one shot and made bogey from a fairway divot on the 12th hole in the final round. Hitting fairways in any U.S. Open is a premium, and a golfer certainly shouldn’t be penalized for doing so. This rule is a no-brainer to change.<\/p>\n

Testing Hazard Conditions (Rule 13-4<\/a>)<\/strong>
\nThis is the rule that sparked Thrash Talk<\/em> this week, and it’s also the rule that cost Jonathan Byrd a few extra dollars at the Canadian Open<\/a>. I rarely play from a bunker because most of the courses I play don’t have many. If I did, I would probably violate this rule every time.<\/p>\n

\"USGAStanding in the sand and taking a practice swing or two shouldn’t affect the way the ball is played. When a golfer hits a shot from the bunker, they dig in with their feet as much as possible to get a good grip. Jonathan Byrd didn’t dig in at all and was simply taking a practice swing without thinking. If this helped him in hitting the bunker shot, I stand corrected. However, it’s quite clear that sort of thing doesn’t help or hurt the golfer in any way, shape, or form.<\/p>\n

I’m not going to sit here and say this rule should be completely scrapped. It shouldn’t. There are times when a golfer could possibly dig in and take a practice swing away from the ball. Such behavior should be penalized. However, common sense should be used when dealing with rules violations. More than likely, Jonathan Byrd would have hit the same shot whether he took zero practice swings or a million. The game of golf is hard enough without these silly rulings.<\/p>\n

Signing the Wrong Scorecard (Rule 6-6<\/a>)<\/strong>
\nThe fairway divot rule is bad, but this one takes the cake. Every season, golfers on every professional tour are disqualified for breaking this rule. If a golfer signs the wrong scorecard, they get disqualified. That’s absurd to say the least. After grinding for 18 holes or more, golfers have to worry about signing the correct scorecard as well. That doesn’t have anything to do with how well they played, and it doesn’t belong in the rules of golf. This is one that should be scrapped altogether.<\/p>\n

In this day and age, do we really need the scorecards to be signed? I can get online and keep up with everyone’s score as they are playing. With all the new technology, everyone already knows where golfers stand in relation to par. Whether or not golfers shoot a 60 or 80, signing the wrong scorecard has nothing to do with how they played on the golf course. This dumb rule needs no further explanation.<\/p>\n

Ball Moves after Grounding Putter (Rule 18-2<\/a>)<\/strong>
\nThe other bad rules listed above rarely affect me. This rule, however, affects me numerous times throughout the year. In Oklahoma, it’s very windy most of the time, and I’ve played in 30-40 mph wind on more than one occasion. It’s tough enough to hit any shot in wind this bad, but golfers also have to worry about the ball moving on the green. If a golfer grounds his putter and the ball moves, the golfer is penalized for their efforts.<\/p>\n

It’s windy enough in Oklahoma, and I can’t imagine how tough it is to play some of the European courses every week. I haven’t seen this rule violated many times, but it has happened. The wind isn’t considered an outside agent per the rules of golf, but it should be. In no way should the ball moving before making a putting stroke affect the outcome of the score.<\/p>\n

The rules should allow the ball to be replaced regardless of the putter being grounded. I violated this rule in a high school tournament, and I’ve been pissed ever since. The game of golf is tough enough on the mind as it is. Taking a penalty stroke for something so silly just makes things worse on a windy day. If I lived somewhere where the wind wasn’t a factor, maybe this one wouldn’t be a big deal to me. However, I do live in a windy state, and it affects me all the time.<\/p>\n

Some people will argue this rule and tell golfers not to ground the putter in the first place. That’s easier said than done though. I don’t know about you, but I struggle on the greens as it is. When I can’t ground the putter, my aiming and balance is much worse. I have a set routine like everyone else, and the wind throws me off like crazy. I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks like this either. This rule needs to be tossed in the dumpster. <\/p>\n

The Final Say<\/strong>
\nThe rules of golf<\/a> are set up to help the game of golf and its golfers, and for the most part, they do a great job. I can’t imagine how wild and crazy this game would be if there were no governing rules. Actually, I probably wouldn’t ever play because things would get out of hand. As good as the rules of golf are, however, there will always be rules that need to be modified or scrapped altogether.<\/p>\n

The rules I discussed (with the exception of the fairway divot rule) have nothing to do with a golfer hitting a golf shot. Golfers shouldn’t be punished for doing silly things that don’t affect the outcome of the round. Taking practice swings in a bunker, signing the wrong scorecard, or having the ball move after grounding the putter have absolutely nothing to do with how the shot will be played. These penalties take their toll on professional golfers every year, and it’s time for a change.<\/p>\n

That’s all I have to say this week, and now it’s time to speak your mind. Do you think any rules of golf should be modified or scrapped altogether? If so, do any of the ones I listed fall under that category? If not, why should golfers be punished for silly rules violations like the ones mentioned in the article? If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below or discuss it in the forum<\/a>. Thanks for reading this week’s Thrash Talk!<\/p>\n

Photo Credits: © USGA.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rules of golf are sacred to most, but they shouldn’t be exempt from change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thrash_talk"],"yoast_head":"\nIt's Time for a (Rules) Change (Thrash Talk) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/thrash_talk\/its_time_for_a_rules_change\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"It's Time for a (Rules) Change (Thrash Talk) - 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