MEfree Challenge: New Rules of Golf - Simplified but not Fundamentally Changed

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by MEfree

I could present a set of simplified rules that would NOT FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE GAME (IMO for 99.9% of the people who tee it up on golf courses), but SOME OF THE RULES WOULD FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE.

Originally Posted by iacas

Thus far you've failed to do so despite repeatedly saying you could. Do it. Let's see it. Heck, just pick one rule and do it. And none of this "for 99.9%" stuff. It has to keep the game fundamentally the same for all golfers.

I have decided to accept Erik's challenge and present revamped rules 26-28 to tst.  I am 99.9% convinced that purists like Erik and 4putt will feel that these modifications represent a fundamental change to the game.  I am equally certain that golf would still be golf for the majority of people who tee it up each week if these rules were to be implemented.

BUT, I COULD BE WRONG, SO WHAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO DO IS HAVE EACH OF YOU PLAY A ROUND OR TWO UNDER MY PROPOSED RULES AND GIVE FEEDBACK AS TO HOW IT CHANGED THE GAME FOR YOU (FOR BETTER OR WORSE).  I'll save an official rules experiment for later this season after I have gotten some feedback on what I am proposing below.

Thanks in advance for your open-minded consideration and feedback.

The New Rules of Golf- Fast, Fair and Simple

In an effort to make the game faster, fairer and easier to understand, I propose the following rules to replace rules 26, 27 and 28 which are about 1700 words currently.  The new rules are less than 500 words.

I believe them to be much closer to how the majority of golfers actually play the game when not competing in a tournament.  While average scores may go down slightly under these rules, I feel that they would result in less of a fundamental change in the game than the technological advancements we have seen throughout the years.

Summary of Simplified Rules 26 through 28

Drops, with a 1 stroke penalty, are allowed in all situations including unplayable lies, water hazards, out of bounds and lost balls.

The only restriction on penalty drops is that they take place in a timely manner and be no nearer the hole.

Players may re-hit shots, counting both the original and re-hit, but are not permitted to go back and re-tee the ball after leaving the teeing ground.

Here is my proposed verbiage.  Suggested modifications to improve clarity are appreciated.

26. Drops - Under penalty of 1 stroke, the Player may drop, no nearer to the hole, as follows:

a. Unplayable Lie - the point where the ball is found.

b. Water Hazard - the point where the ball is believed to have last entered the hazard.

c. Lateral Water Hazard - the point closest to the hole where the ball is believed to have entered the hazard or the point where the ball is found.

d. Out of Bounds - the point where the ball is believed to have last exited the golf course.

e. Lost Ball - the farthest point from the hole in the area where the ball is believed to be lost.

f.        The Player has a maximum of 3 minutes to elect this option and play his next shot in cases that do not involve a search for his ball.

g.       When searching for his ball, the player has a maximum of 5 minutes, including search time , to elect this option and play his next shot.

h. The time begins to run when it is the Player`s turn to play after the player has reached or should have reached his ball or the approximate drop area.

i.         Penalty for exceeding time limit- 1 additional stroke.

27. Re-hit Option

a.       Counting his original stroke, the Player may re-hit any shot from the teeing ground or by taking a drop no nearer the hole when playing outside the teeing ground.

b.      This option may be declared on a provisional basis only when a ball is suspected to be in a hazard.  The provisional ball becomes live if the ball is found in a hazard or lost near/in the hazard and must be picked up if the original ball is found through the green.

c.       This option is unavailable after the player has left the area of the original shot or his caddy has begun searching for his original shot.

28. Drop Closer to the Hole -  Ball must be re-dropped

a.       No additional penalty if done before playing a stroke from a location closer to the hole.

b.      Player is allowed a maximum of 2 drops (original drop and 1 free re-drop).  The player is assessed an additional penalty stroke if a re-drop ends up closer to the hole and must re-drop until the drop ends up no closer to the hole.

c.       1 additional penalty stroke if a stroke is made on a ball that is dropped closer to the hole and then re-dropped correctly.

d.      2 additional penalty strokes if a ball is not re-dropped correctly assuming that the incorrect drop was not done to intentionally flaunt the rules and gain an unfair advantage.

e.      A Player who intentionally drops closer to the hole in an effort to gain an unfair advantage may be disqualified by the committee.

Are these rules different?  Absolutely, but the more important question is whether you would enjoy golf less or more under these rules?

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by MEfree

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEfree

I could present a set of simplified rules that would NOT FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE GAME (IMO for 99.9% of the people who tee it up on golf courses), but SOME OF THE RULES WOULD FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE.

I think you already lost me in your quote, prior to the work that you put in. If rules govern the game being played, how can you change the rules but not have it change the game?

You're saying:  I presented a set of rules that would not fundamentally change the game, but the rules are fundamentally changed. That's a contradiction and I stopped following almost immediately.

[Dave2512]

Some of that is just a different way of saying what's already there. By shortening the descriptions of the procedures I think it adds confusion if anything. There should be different penalties and procedures to keep the game equitable. Golf is a game of risk consideration as much as execution.

I wouldn't be open to those changes because I don't think what's in place is difficult or time consuming. More often than not I'm only facing a rules issue once or twice a round and it's usually something simple. Where to drop after donating to the pond, the most common would be hitting it OB. We have a lot at the home course because it winds through gas wells, on some holes there's OB on both sides. I'd wager in two seasons it hasn't been more complex than that. I don't need rules interpretation to make my way around the course. Therefore I don't need rules simplification. It doesn't come up enough to worry about it.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by Dave2512

Some of that is just a different way of saying what's already there. By shortening the descriptions of the procedures I think it adds confusion if anything. There should be different penalties and procedures to keep the game equitable. Golf is a game of risk consideration as much as execution.

I wouldn't be open to those changes because I don't think what's in place is difficult or time consuming. More often than not I'm only facing a rules issue once or twice a round and it's usually something simple. Where to drop after donating to the pond, the most common would be hitting it OB. We have a lot at the home course because it winds through gas wells, on some holes there's OB on both sides. I'd wager in two seasons it hasn't been more complex than that. I don't need rules interpretation to make my way around the course. Therefore I don't need rules simplification. It doesn't come up enough to worry about it.

I agree with this. As I said in response to MEfree in his previous thread, the rules are pretty straight forward and I really never run into an issue where I don't understand the rules or need to consult the book. Shortening the language used will not promote the weekend hack to no longer fluff their lies or roll the ball, so I don't see how this has any benefit to "99.9% of golfers" at all.

[Fourputt]

So, my ball slices right across 30 yards of rough and into a lateral water hazard.  Under the real rules I would either have to drop within 2 clublengths of where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard or return to the original spot.  Or it's lost in the deep rough in the same area, no hazard, but same basic process.  Under your rule I could walk all the way over to the fairway for my drop in either case, as  long as I didn't get closer to the hole.  I'd call that a more than significant change in the way the game is played.  It makes the process unrecognizable to me.

You've already lost me.  Even if I was in a position to be able to play at the moment, I wouldn't be interested in playing by those rules.  There is nothing easier about following them, but they certainly take much of the challenge out of the game.  You are actually allowing the player to gain an advantage by taking a penalty.  That is in direct opposition to the most fundamental principles.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by MEfree

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEfree

I could present a set of simplified rules that would NOT FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE GAME (IMO for 99.9% of the people who tee it up on golf courses), but SOME OF THE RULES WOULD FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE.

I have decided to accept Erik's challenge and present revamped rules 26-28 to tst.  I am 99.9% convinced that purists like Erik and 4putt will feel that these modifications represent a fundamental change to the game.  I am equally certain that golf would still be golf for the majority of people who tee it up each week if these rules were to be implemented.

BUT, I COULD BE WRONG, SO WHAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO DO IS HAVE EACH OF YOU PLAY A ROUND OR TWO UNDER MY PROPOSED RULES AND GIVE FEEDBACK AS TO HOW IT CHANGED THE GAME FOR YOU (FOR BETTER OR WORSE).  I'll save an official rules experiment for later this season after I have gotten some feedback on what I am proposing below.

Thanks in advance for your open-minded consideration and feedback.

The New Rules of Golf- Fast, Fair and Simple

In an effort to make the game faster, fairer and easier to understand, I propose the following rules to replace rules 26, 27 and 28 which are about 1700 words currently.  The new rules are less than 500 words.

I believe them to be much closer to how the majority of golfers actually play the game when not competing in a tournament.  While average scores may go down slightly under these rules, I feel that they would result in less of a fundamental change in the game than the technological advancements we have seen throughout the years.

Summary of Simplified Rules 26 through 28

Drops, with a 1 stroke penalty, are allowed in all situations including unplayable lies, water hazards, out of bounds and lost balls.

The only restriction on penalty drops is that they take place in a timely manner and be no nearer the hole.

Players may re-hit shots, counting both the original and re-hit, but are not permitted to go back and re-tee the ball after leaving the teeing ground.

Here is my proposed verbiage.  Suggested modifications to improve clarity are appreciated.

26.    Drops- Under penalty of 1 stroke, the Player may drop, no nearer to the hole, as follows:

a.       Unplayable Lie- the point where the ball is found.

b.      Water Hazard- the point where the ball is believed to have last entered the hazard.

c.       Lateral Water Hazard- the point closest to the hole where the ball is believed to have entered the hazard or the point where the ball is found.

d.      Out of Bounds- the point where the ball is believed to have last exited the golf course.

e.      Lost Ball- the farthest point from the hole in the area where the ball is believed to be lost.

f.        The Player has a maximum of 3 minutes to elect this option and play his next shot in cases that do not involve a search for his ball.

g.       When searching for his ball, the player has a maximum of 5 minutes, including search time, to elect this option and play his next shot.

h.      The time begins to run when it is the Player`s turn to play after the player has reached or should have reached his ball or the approximate drop area.

i.         Penalty for exceeding time limit- 1 additional stroke.

27.Re-hit Option

a.       Counting his original stroke, the Player may re-hit any shot from the teeing ground or by taking a drop no nearer the hole when playing outside the teeing ground.

b.      This option may be declared on a provisional basis only when a ball is suspected to be in a hazard.  The provisional ball becomes live if the ball is found in a hazard or lost near/in the hazard and must be picked up if the original ball is found through the green.

c.       This option is unavailable after the player has left the area of the original shot or his caddy has begun searching for his original shot.

28.   Drop Closer to the Hole-  Ball must be re-dropped

a.       No additional penalty if done before playing a stroke from a location closer to the hole.

b.      Player is allowed a maximum of 2 drops (original drop and 1 free re-drop).  The player is assessed an additional penalty stroke if a re-drop ends up closer to the hole and must re-drop until the drop ends up no closer to the hole.

c.       1 additional penalty stroke if a stroke is made on a ball that is dropped closer to the hole and then re-dropped correctly.

d.      2 additional penalty strokes if a ball is not re-dropped correctly assuming that the incorrect drop was not done to intentionally flaunt the rules and gain an unfair advantage.

e.      A Player who intentionally drops closer to the hole in an effort to gain an unfair advantage may be disqualified by the committee.

Are these rules different?  Absolutely, but the more important question is whether you would enjoy golf less or more under these rules?

Kudos for the effort!  I don't know that this would change my enjoyment of golf all that much.  Like you mentioned in the other thread, these rules ideally never come into play, or at least rarely come into play, when things are going well.

Question though:  If everything is a one stroke penalty and you can drop at the spot, why would you ever need to re-tee?  Seems like your rule 27 could be eliminated altogether.

[boogielicious]

Kudos for the effort, but I don't like the idea of dropping anywhere.  It enters the hazard, drop within one or two lengths of that spot.  Play from as close to the hazard or OB as possible.  This would be faster than walking around trying to find a nice flat spot to drop and would not give you the advantage of a nice lie.  Difficult lies are part of the challenge of the game and sometimes the most fun.  Hitting the green from 4" rough can be a great thrill.

I do like the idea of removing stroke and distance for out-of-bounds.  So does Jack Nicklaus.  Jack suggested making it a stroke penalty and play it like a hazard from the exit point.

[tristanhilton85]

Originally Posted by MEfree

Drops, with a 1 stroke penalty, are allowed in all situations including unplayable lies, water hazards, out of bounds and lost balls.

Originally Posted by boogielicious

Kudos for the effort, but I don't like the idea of dropping anywhere.  It enters the hazard, drop within one or two lengths of that spot.  Play from as close to the hazard or OB as possible.  This would be faster than walking around trying to find a nice flat spot to drop and would not give you the advantage of a nice lie.  Difficult lies are part of the challenge of the game and sometimes the most fun.  Hitting the green from 4" rough can be a great thrill.

I do like the idea of removing stroke and distance for out-of-bounds.  So does Jack Nicklaus.  Jack suggested making it a stroke penalty and play it like a hazard from the exit point.

The penalty for hitting the ball off of the course should be more severe than hitting the ball into a hazard.

Originally Posted by iacas

Thus far you've failed to do so despite repeatedly saying you could. Do it. Let's see it. Heck, just pick one rule and do it. And none of this "for 99.9%" stuff. It has to keep the game fundamentally the same for all golfers.

And, FWIW, this doesn't meet the challenge. By your own admission these rules are different and therefore does not keep the game fundamentally the same.

[saevel25]

I get what your trying to do, but changing the rules because it fits what people think the game should be played is a wrong concept. That is just called appeasement, and that's not a good way to change any rule

Also, Your rehit option is already in the rules of golf. You can hit a provisional ball from any place, if you think your ball is out of play or lost. So if you jack a 3-wood on a par 5 second show into the trees, you can hit a provisional from the fairway.

But i don't agree with your rule changes, and many are already in the game of golf because there are multiple drop options. Many include going back to the previous spot, taking two club lengths, or drop behind were the ball lay, with no restriction on distance behind the ball you can drop keeping the original spot between you and the hole.

Also, the reason a lost ball must be played from the previous position is because you do not know were the ball came to rest, so you can't do options 1 or 2, which is two club lengths or keep the ball between you and the hole. So your only option is to go back to the place were you last hit, Teeing Ground. The rules of golf make perfect sense, tough shit if people find them a pain, they are very much uniform.

If courses want to deal with the problem of out of bounds, just mark the woods or something as a lateral hazard. There you have more options to drop with out distance. There's an easy way around this if the course wants to do it. But they don't so tough shit. The rules makes sense when it comes to hazards, OB, and lost golf balls.

The only rule of golf i don't like is not being able to fix spike marks on the green. To me there similar to a ball mark, they are man made imperfections in the green. So i never got why they don't allow you to fix spike marks, but fix ball marks.

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Kudos for the effort!  I don't know that this would change my enjoyment of golf all that much.  Like you mentioned in the other thread, these rules ideally never come into play, or at least rarely come into play, when things are going well.

Question though:  If everything is a one stroke penalty and you can drop at the spot, why would you ever need to re-tee?  Seems like your rule 27 could be eliminated altogether.

Good point and I did think about omitting it but left it in there for a few reasons-

1. The possibility that a ball hits something and ends up behind where you started.

2. Gives the player the chance to hit again from a tee instead of off the ground (one thing I have noticed about bad players is that they would prefer to re-tee than try to hit from off the ground slightly closer to the hole.

Originally Posted by boogielicious

Kudos for the effort, but I don't like the idea of dropping anywhere.  It enters the hazard, drop within one or two lengths of that spot.  Play from as close to the hazard or OB as possible.  This would be faster than walking around trying to find a nice flat spot to drop and would not give you the advantage of a nice lie.  Difficult lies are part of the challenge of the game and sometimes the most fun.  Hitting the green from 4" rough can be a great thrill.

I do like the idea of removing stroke and distance for out-of-bounds.  So does Jack Nicklaus.  Jack suggested making it a stroke penalty and play it like a hazard from the exit point.

Validity to your point of view and something I thought about.  I would endorse a set of rules that simplified things while still requiring drops to be close to the OB/Hazard.  I went as far as I did because I see a lot of players take pretty liberal drops and think the current unplayable options involve some luck to be able to take drop and have some sort of shot.  I was also thinking about Tiger's situation at Augusta.

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

The penalty for hitting the ball off of the course should be more severe than hitting the ball into a hazard.

And, FWIW, this doesn't meet the challenge. By your own admission these rules are different and therefore does not keep the game fundamentally the same.

Why should the penalty for OB be more?  The original rules of golf did not even mention OB.

I disagree in that I think the rules can be different while the game can be fundamentally the same.

Originally Posted by MEfree

I understand where you are coming from, but guess I look at it differently.

For good players, 90% of the time it is about hitting the ball, playing it as it lies and holing it out with most of the complicated rules coming into play less than 10% of the time.  For bad players, the complicated rules might come into play more often, but are beyond their ability level.  So to me, golf is about trying to hit the ball solid/straight, playing it as it lies and holing it out in as few strokes as possible.  Yes, there is strategy involved and rules that are more/less penal do have an effect on strategy choices, but adding, modifying or eliminating some rules is not going to change the essence of the game in my mind.

I am not proposing this, but let's say you eliminated all penalty strokes (except for improving your lie or moving your ball closer to the hole).  Do you think the game would be too easy?  I might shoot a couple shots lower on average but still think Tiger would kick my a**.

Originally Posted by saevel25

I get what your trying to do, but changing the rules because it fits what people think the game should be played is a wrong concept. That is just called appeasement, and that's not a good way to change any rule

Also, Your rehit option is already in the rules of golf. You can hit a provisional ball from any place, if you think your ball is out of play or lost. So if you jack a 3-wood on a par 5 second show into the trees, you can hit a provisional from the fairway.

But i don't agree with your rule changes, and many are already in the game of golf because there are multiple drop options. Many include going back to the previous spot, taking two club lengths, or drop behind were the ball lay, with no restriction on distance behind the ball you can drop keeping the original spot between you and the hole.

Also, the reason a lost ball must be played from the previous position is because you do not know were the ball came to rest, so you can't do options 1 or 2, which is two club lengths or keep the ball between you and the hole. So your only option is to go back to the place were you last hit, Teeing Ground. The rules of golf make perfect sense, tough shit if people find them a pain, they are very much uniform.

If courses want to deal with the problem of out of bounds, just mark the woods or something as a lateral hazard. There you have more options to drop with out distance. There's an easy way around this if the course wants to do it. But they don't so tough shit. The rules makes sense when it comes to hazards, OB, and lost golf balls.

The only rule of golf i don't like is not being able to fix spike marks on the green. To me there similar to a ball mark, they are man made imperfections in the green. So i never got why they don't allow you to fix spike marks, but fix ball marks.

You sound as if it would be morally wrong to change the rules.  Golf is a game that most people play to have fun, so I don't see the problem with a bit of appeasement.

Yes, some of my proposed rules are already part of the game.  Would you still consider my new proposals a failure if they increased the amount of total enjoyment that people get from the game?

Even with less penal rules, I think most will still find golf to be challenging and plenty frustrating.

[Rulesman]

Player hits his ball into the jungle 50 yards off the fairway. Finds it unplayable. He now drops it in the middle of the fairway not nearer the hole.

Player hits his ball right 2 yards off the fairway on a RH dogleg. Finds trees in his line of play and has no clear line to chip sideways. Declares it unplayable. He now drops it left side of the fairway taking out the dogleg.

Why doesn't he play on a football field or just use the driving range?

However, the fundamental problem with rewriting the rules is that every potential user will have small (or large) tweaks they think would improve your version.

At present everyone who plays by the rules, accept them for what they are; an agreed common set, honed and refined over hundreds of years.

[14ledo81]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

The penalty for hitting the ball off of the course should be more severe than hitting the ball into a hazard.

This is not a fact.  This is debatable.  Apparently there are others that feel differently.

[saevel25]

Originally Posted by MEfree

Why should the penalty for OB be more?  The original rules of golf did not even mention OB.

I disagree in that I think the rules can be different while the game can be fundamentally the same.

You sound as if it would be morally wrong to change the rules.  Golf is a game that most people play to have fun, so I don't see the problem with a bit of appeasement.

Yes, some of my proposed rules are already part of the game.  Would you still consider my new proposals a failure if they increased the amount of total enjoyment that people get from the game?

Even with less penal rules, I think most will still find golf to be challenging and plenty frustrating.

I don't find changing rules morally wrong. I don't find any problem with rules pertaining to OB, Lost balls, ect.. currently used. It makes sense with how there written, and they are fair. I don't see a problem with stroke and distance. Is golf a game for enjoyment yes. Its a challenge, its a social event. If people get upset about playing bad, the rules are not to blame, there game is. The rules are not so restrictive its unfair. Just because someone hits a ball OB doesn't mean its taken as a hazard. For one, your ball is now outside the golf course, so its not a hazard. Two, you can't play from OB, so dropping two club lengths, or anywere between the ball and the hole is out. The only option is to hit again from the previous spot. It makes sense. I don't get why you think its such a burden to do so?

Increasing enjoyment is opinionated. What if i say if you take away all the penalties, would golf be fun? Would there be a challenge now. What if people enjoy trying to score the best with in the current rules of the game, what about there enjoyment. This is the problem with appeasement, were do you draw the line. Who decides what's enjoyable or not. Its the problem with what your trying to do. The rules of golf are for the most part fair, and give a lot of lee way to what you can and can not do. I hardly find people complaining about the rules of golf. Really, i never heard anyone complain about stroke and distance in my life. I've played competative golf as well.

So for one, i don't get your arguement about it increase enjoyment, because that is subjective and really i think its just a beef you have with the game.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

The penalty for hitting the ball off of the course should be more severe than hitting the ball into a hazard.

Originally Posted by 14ledo81

This is not a fact.  This is debatable.  Apparently there are others that feel differently.

Should long hitters who lack accuracy be penalized more? When your ball is clearly laying inches OB on a striped drive that took a terrible bounce, or a mishap ricochet off of a sprinkler head.. the penalty hurts much more. However, when you hit a banana ball OB off of the tee.. the penalty is well earned?

Remember, off of the course technically means outside of the OB markers... which in some cases is on the course's property, but can mean you are set up with a perfect next shot between holes, or against a tree line that is marked OB.

I play on several courses with fairways that are parallel and have 20-30 yards of OB staked between them with no hazards, fescue, or anything else. I'm talking about nothing but a typical lie in the rough that is OB.

This is really subjective to the individual opinion. How often does your ball really come to rest inches out of bounds? I personally think these are vastly outnumbered by "...the hell with it, it's gone" OB shots.

However, many golfers that I know do feel that pace of play would be improved if they were assessed a 1 stroke penalty and were able to play their ball similar to a water hazard where you play the ball at the nearest playable lie in correlation to your ball's entry point OB - no closer to the hole than the entry point. I would not mind if this were changed in the future, but I really don't see this changing anytime soon. This can also open a can of worms for players like Tiger than can rip the cover off of the ball and take a 1 stroke short cut to the hole. Would it be common? Absolutely not, but in some rare instances you can definitely imagine where a player would consider it.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by 14ledo81

Quote:

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

The penalty for hitting the ball off of the course should be more severe than hitting the ball into a hazard.

This is not a fact.  This is debatable.  Apparently there are others that feel differently.

Not debatable if you understand what the foundation is for that difference.  Since play is not allowed from any point not on the golf course, when your ball is out of bounds, it is not in play.  You should be required to play from the last point where the ball was in play on the golf course.  You should not receive a distance reward for a ball hit so poorly that it leaves the course.

A ball hit into a water hazard, may or may not be playable, but it is still the ball in play until the player takes some action to change its status.  Some better resolution (i.e. some potential - but not guaranteed - distance gain) should be allowed for that status.  Again, it goes right back the the fundamental principles of the game and of the penalty balanced against the offense.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by MEfree

I have decided to accept Erik's challenge and present revamped rules 26-28 to tst.  I am 99.9% convinced that purists like Erik and 4putt will feel that these modifications represent a fundamental change to the game.  I am equally certain that golf would still be golf for the majority of people who tee it up each week if these rules were to be implemented.

BUT, I COULD BE WRONG, SO WHAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO DO IS HAVE EACH OF YOU PLAY A ROUND OR TWO UNDER MY PROPOSED RULES AND GIVE FEEDBACK AS TO HOW IT CHANGED THE GAME FOR YOU (FOR BETTER OR WORSE).  I'll save an official rules experiment for later this season after I have gotten some feedback on what I am proposing below.

Thanks in advance for your open-minded consideration and feedback.

The New Rules of Golf- Fast, Fair and Simple

In an effort to make the game faster, fairer and easier to understand, I propose the following rules to replace rules 26, 27 and 28 which are about 1700 words currently.  The new rules are less than 500 words.

I believe them to be much closer to how the majority of golfers actually play the game when not competing in a tournament.  While average scores may go down slightly under these rules, I feel that they would result in less of a fundamental change in the game than the technological advancements we have seen throughout the years.

Summary of Simplified Rules 26 through 28

Drops, with a 1 stroke penalty, are allowed in all situations including unplayable lies, water hazards, out of bounds and lost balls.

The only restriction on penalty drops is that they take place in a timely manner and be no nearer the hole.

Players may re-hit shots, counting both the original and re-hit, but are not permitted to go back and re-tee the ball after leaving the teeing ground.

Here is my proposed verbiage.  Suggested modifications to improve clarity are appreciated.

26.    Drops- Under penalty of 1 stroke, the Player may drop, no nearer to the hole, as follows:

a.       Unplayable Lie- the point where the ball is found.

b.      Water Hazard- the point where the ball is believed to have last entered the hazard.

c.       Lateral Water Hazard- the point closest to the hole where the ball is believed to have entered the hazard or the point where the ball is found.

d.      Out of Bounds- the point where the ball is believed to have last exited the golf course.

e.      Lost Ball- the farthest point from the hole in the area where the ball is believed to be lost.

f.        The Player has a maximum of 3 minutes to elect this option and play his next shot in cases that do not involve a search for his ball.

g.       When searching for his ball, the player has a maximum of 5 minutes, including search time, to elect this option and play his next shot.

h.      The time begins to run when it is the Player`s turn to play after the player has reached or should have reached his ball or the approximate drop area.

i.         Penalty for exceeding time limit- 1 additional stroke.

27.Re-hit Option

a.       Counting his original stroke, the Player may re-hit any shot from the teeing ground or by taking a drop no nearer the hole when playing outside the teeing ground.

b.      This option may be declared on a provisional basis only when a ball is suspected to be in a hazard.  The provisional ball becomes live if the ball is found in a hazard or lost near/in the hazard and must be picked up if the original ball is found through the green.

c.       This option is unavailable after the player has left the area of the original shot or his caddy has begun searching for his original shot.

28.   Drop Closer to the Hole-  Ball must be re-dropped

a.       No additional penalty if done before playing a stroke from a location closer to the hole.

b.      Player is allowed a maximum of 2 drops (original drop and 1 free re-drop).  The player is assessed an additional penalty stroke if a re-drop ends up closer to the hole and must re-drop until the drop ends up no closer to the hole.

c.       1 additional penalty stroke if a stroke is made on a ball that is dropped closer to the hole and then re-dropped correctly.

d.      2 additional penalty strokes if a ball is not re-dropped correctly assuming that the incorrect drop was not done to intentionally flaunt the rules and gain an unfair advantage.

e.      A Player who intentionally drops closer to the hole in an effort to gain an unfair advantage may be disqualified by the committee.

Are these rules different?  Absolutely, but the more important question is whether you would enjoy golf less or more under these rules?

This is what happens when amateurs try to re-write the rules.  For example. your drop rule doesn't specify any distance restriction, just a "no nearer the hole" restriction.  So if I hit it out of bounds I can drop it in the middle of the fairway so long as it is no closer to the hole?

And your number of drops rule - so if I have to drop in an area where it is downhill to the hole I just keep racking up penalty strokes?

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by saevel25

I hardly find people complaining about the rules of golf.

True, the majority of people I see either don't know all the rules or choose to ignore the ones they don't like.

Originally Posted by turtleback

This is what happens when amateurs try to re-write the rules.  For example. your drop rule doesn't specify any distance restriction, just a "no nearer the hole" restriction.  So if I hit it out of bounds I can drop it in the middle of the fairway so long as it is no closer to the hole?

And your number of drops rule - so if I have to drop in an area where it is downhill to the hole I just keep racking up penalty strokes?

Why do you have to drop in an area that is downhill to the hole?  Didn't you say my drop rule doesn't specify any distance restriction- why not just go back far enough that you know the ball will not roll closer to the hole?  One thing that I find comical is watching Tour players with a rules official by their side is to intentionally drop in an area where they hope the ball rolls far enough so that they will be able to place the ball.