A look at the Rules revisions taking effect in 2023

A new year has brought changes to the Rules of Golf. The Rules are revised every four years, and the changes that took effect Jan. 1 are the first since the major overhaul of 2019. There are fewer changes this year, but they continue the trend of simplifying the game and reducing the number of head-scratching penalties that send social media ablaze. With this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions being the first PGA TOUR event played under the most recent revisions, here’s a quick look at the changes that could come into effect during PGA TOUR competition. 1. Ball at rest rolls to another area of the course after being dropped or placed If a ball is at rest after being dropped, placed or replaced and then natural forces cause it to roll to another area of the course, it must now be replaced. There is no penalty. This rule comes into effect when the ball rolls into a penalty area, into a bunker, onto a putting green or out of bounds. This change was made by the governing bodies in response to the situations that impacted Rickie Fowler and Charley Hoffman at the WM Phoenix Open, where a ball at rest after a player took relief rolled back into a penalty area. Under the old rule, this resulted in a one-stroke penalty for each player. Fowler’s situation happened in the final round of his victory at the 2019 WM Phoenix Open, after he hit his third shot into the water on TPC Scottsdale’s 11th hole. He took a drop outside the penalty area, but his ball rolled back into the water while he was surveying his next shot. He was penalized another shot and then had to take relief again. Fowler eventually made a 17-footer for triple-bogey, but still went on to win the tournament. Under the new rule, Fowler would not have been penalized for his ball rolling back into the water after he had taken a drop. He would have been allowed to replace his ball without penalty. 2. Unsigned scorecard A Local Rule will be adopted on the major Tours that reduces the penalty for returning a scorecard without the signature of the player and/or marker from disqualification to two strokes. The penalty will be applied to the final hole of the round. The hole scores recorded in each box on the scorecard must still be correct. 3. Committee-approved yardage books A Committee-approved yardage book from either 2022 or 2023 may be used in competition this year. The Committee-approved yardage books were introduced in January 2022 as part of a Local Rule that limited the amount of information about a green’s contours allowed in yardage books. Greens diagrams in the approved books show minimal detail about a green. The Local Rule also limits the handwritten notes that players and caddies can add to their approved yardage books. 4. Setting down objects to help with aiming or line of play An object must not be set down to help a player take a stance for a stroke, aim a shot or to show the line of play. For example, a penalty applies as soon as a towel is placed down to show a player the line of play for a blind shot. Laying down a club for alignment purposes while addressing the ball is still illegal. This year’s rule emphasizes that drawing lines in dew or sand to aid in alignment are also illegal. Under the previous rule, a player could set down an object on his line of play to help aim before attempting a blind shot, but it had to be removed before he started his stroke. Now an object cannot be set down at any time to assist with aiming a shot. A caddie can still assist his player with aiming by standing in a player’s intended line before the stroke begins, provided he moves away before the player begins his stroke. 5. Back-on-the-line relief procedure The procedure for taking relief back-on-the-line has been simplified. Back-on-the-line relief is an option for an unplayable ball and also is a commonly-used option for relief from penalty areas. It allows a player to drop back on a straight line from the hole through the spot where the ball lies. The player must now drop a ball on the line. Once the ball is dropped on the line, it may roll up to one club-length in any direction from that spot, including closer to the hole. 6. Distance measuring devices in pro-ams As it is a common practice in the game of golf today, amateurs and their caddies will be allowed to use distance measuring devices during competition at The American Express and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. However, the professionals and their caddies cannot get advice from a distance measuring device or greens book used by an amateur or their caddie during these tournaments.

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