Modernized Rules Discussion: Taking Relief

[Rulesman]

58 minutes ago, VOX said:

Biggest impact from being allowed to drop from 0.5" will probably be in the sand. No more plugged lie drops.

The proposal says a minimum of 1.0"

Edited March 1, 2017 by Rulesman

[DeadMan]

I would prefer a minimum height to drop from (over an inch, I guess). I think this could be messy when someone wants to drop as low as possible to the ground to get a good lie. I think it could lead to some arguments on the course about whether it was a proper drop.

Two thoughts: (1) knee height or (2) 6 inches. Knee height is probably not fair to taller people, but it would still be pretty close to the ground. 6 inches is a little hard to measure exactly, but I think that would be better than what they have currently.

[Hardspoon]

I'm glad they "kept" dropping, but there is still some gray area...if a ball is touching blades of grass when you drop it, but then it drops to the ground, is that a drop?

I wonder if they can do something like require that the ball is dropped while a player is standing?  You could lower (extend) your arm all the way, but never really get within a few feet of the ground.  And it'd be fairly easy to police, since a couple inches of "crouch" in the knee wouldn't help you much...to actually gain an advantage, you'd have to truly crouch or bend and that would probably guarantee a minimum drop height of a couple feet.

Eh, whatever, no strong feeling on this.  I'm glad the dropping thing is less mechanical, and very glad they didn't go with "placing everywhere", but I do wish there was an easy way to get some height on drops.

[David in FL]

7 hours ago, Rulesman said:

The proposal says a minimum of 1.0"

I missed that.  Where does it say that?

[saevel25]

I don't mind these rules. I do like they take away the advantage some savvy golfers can have when dropping the ball. I like that the ball will be nearer to the where the ball originally came to rest. 

 

[mvmac]

8 hours ago, DeadMan said:

I would prefer a minimum height to drop from (over an inch, I guess). I think this could be messy when someone wants to drop as low as possible to the ground to get a good lie. I think it could lead to some arguments on the course about whether it was a proper drop.

I'm finding it kind of odd that they aren't recommending a minimum height much higher than 1". Just seems like it's not much of a "drop" from that height.

[Rulesman]

4 hours ago, David in FL said:

I missed that.  Where does it say that?

Rule 14.3 

But the basic requirement is that it "falls through the air before coming to rest." 

2 hours ago, mvmac said:

I'm finding it kind of odd that they aren't recommending a minimum height much higher than 1". Just seems like it's not much of a "drop" from that height.

It is really only trying to ensure the player doesn't carefully place it on a convenient protrusion (wormcast etc)

Edited March 2, 2017 by Rulesman

[Rulesman]

D i F

See also the Definition of Drop

Edited March 2, 2017 by Rulesman