Rulesman

Generally it is a matter of swings and roundabouts compensation but the tee makers should not be placed more than 10 yards from the permanent marker. If the total length differs from the rated length by more that 100 yards, Appendix G specifies the adjustment to be made to the course rating and slope. If it is more than 300 yards the Authorised Association must be contacted.

Makes sense.

I have been asked by the Committee of a local club and the underlying question is as you suggest. Are the scores to be returned as Competition (in WHS terminology) scores or General Play? If the former, should each round be set up as one competition for all players (preferred I think) or a series of two man field competitions? Each game will be strokeplay and the lower scorer of the two players in that game goes into the next round

A competition is set up as a series of knockout rounds but each game is played as a 'match' using strokeplay counting (ie the winner is the one with the lowest net score). Should each game/'match' be treated as a 2 man field strokeplay competition or should each player record their score as a general play score?

A statement from the PGA Tour:“The PGA Tour conducted a four-tournament test of Distance Measuring Devices on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017, with varying results,” the Tour said in a statement released Tuesday. “We decided at the time to continue to prohibit their use in official competitions on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour for the foreseeable future. We will evaluate the impact rangefinders have on the competition at the PGA of America's championships in 2021 and will then review the matter with our player directors and the Player Advisory Council.”

In my experience of officiating at elite (national) level amateur golf, pop has improved since DMDs were permitted. Not a lot but noticeably. I and other refs have commented that now we rarely have to think about timing a player when it is his turn to play.

Lasers, phone apps etc and GPS watches are both electronic Distance Measuring Devices. The players will soon sort out which device helps them most.

I gather the PGA of America is going to permit DMDs in their events. Thoughts?

Are you sure the commentators knew the difference between the old and new? But I don't believe anyone here was actually anywhere near the live situation so we are expressing opinions based on the TV coverage.

I would suggest that the people in the booth had no better indication of any slope change than we do. They were probably nowhere near or seeing the same picture we are. My reading was that there was a significant change in slope because of the rapid deceleration. The referee was no doubt reacting to comments. There is no evidence in the clip that he was close by at the time. Whether the referee thought the ball would have reached the divot is not known. But there was no breach because seemingly the referee decided there was no intent.

That ball was never going to reach the divot and it had been rolling in the wrong direction anyway.

IMO the 'intent' is related to the potential outcome rather than the action itself. I'm sure he intended to knock the divot out of the way but did he do it with the intention of taking it out of the possible path of the still moving ball. I wasn't the referee who interviewed him but am happy to go with the man who was. However, I would like to see the RBs make it clearer. Although the Interpretation does go some way. The player’s ball lies in the general area at the bottom of a slope. The player makes a strokeStroke: The forward movement of the club made to strike the ball.(...C

I agree with that.

If you are 'old' you will surely be familiar with the pre 2019 definition of 'Lost Ball'. The new version says Lost/1 – Ball May Not Be Declared Lost A player may not make a ball lost by a declaration. A ball is lost only when it has not been found within three minutes after the player or his or her caddie or partner begins to search for it. For example, a player searches for his or her ball for two minutes, declares it lost and walks back to play another ball. Before the player puts another ball in play, the original ball is found within the three-minute search time. Since

Doesn't Pebble Beach have a bunker adjacent to the beach which is marked as a red PA (old water hazard)?