"I have carried this with me for years and I wanted to get it off my chest."

Check out this story from reader and rules official Pete Blaisdell, who posted a stunning phone call he received regarding a past incident on GolfClubAtlas.com.

"Change 267 Years in Making: A Tweak in the Rules of Golf"

Great to see Adam Schupak's story on the latest rules tweaks and the evolution of golf's rules making it to A1 of the New York Times. 

Why so many rules for a game whose basic principle is to play the course as you find it and not touch the ball until you lift it from the hole?

“We could issue a more simple rule book, but I’m afraid it would fail the fairness test, and what good would that do?” Mr. Rickman said.

Rules Roundup Reviews: Unity Good, But How About The Belly Putter?

Jim Achenbach feels the Monday joint announcement by the USGA and R&A is "is unprecedented for golf" and bodes well heading into the next few years and Olympic games. 

In the past, the rules were the same around the world, but individual countries or golf associations often created their own layouts and formats.

The rulebook is reissued every four years by the USGA and R&A, the two governing and rules-making bodies that oversee golf around the globe. This time, they vowed to produce a uniform rulebook.

“Well, it may sound easy, but it wasn’t,” said Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s director of the Rules of Golf. “It was complicated and difficult, and it took a lot of time to get it done properly.”

In the past, the USGA occasionally reprinted the Rules of Golf every two years. There is a 2010-2011 edition of the rulebook, although it is the same as the previous printing. The only change is the title.

Pagel affirmed there will be no more two-year editions. All new rulebooks will read 2012-2015 to support public recognition of the four-year rules cycle. However, the comprehensive Decisions on the Rules of Golf will continue to be published every two years (the 2012-2013 edition will be available in November).

In another fun Pond Scrum, Steve Elling and John Huggan bat the changes around and praise the adjustments made, but also long for one that does not seem to be on the governing body radars.

Elling: Yeah, Simpson is probably sitting at home saying, "I'd rather have this new 'Simpson rule' informally named after something that didn't cost me my third tournament victory this season." Speaking of tweaks, the joint announcement by the two rulemaking bodies called it "an exhaustive, four-year review of golf's 34 playing rules." You ever seen a USGA or R&A guy who looked exhausted?

Huggan: If exhausted means the same as "mildly inebriated," then, yes.

Elling: I guess they were too tuckered out to weigh in on the real rule issue du jour, the belly putter and the question of whether anchoring the club to the body in some fashion should be permitted. Oh, well, there's always 2015!

Huggan: I interviewed USGA director Mike Davis at length during the Walker Cup last month. It was for another media outlet, but I can tell you not to expect any action there any time soon.

Elling: Isn't inaction an action?

Huggan: In R&A and USGA world, anything is possible. And nothing.

Phone-In Rules Officials, Sticklers For Timeliness Big Losers In Rules Changes

All three major rule modifications make great sense, and with the Ball in Hazard rule for those poor souls who leave a shot in a bunker but feel the need to rake before extricating themselves.

Here's the USGA release:

    •    Ball Moving After Address (Rule 18-2b). A new exception is added which exonerates the player from penalty if their ball moves after it has been addressed when it is known or virtually certain that they did not cause the ball to move. For example, if it is a gust of wind that moves the ball after it has been addressed, there is no penalty and the ball is played from its new position.

A major blow to the at-home rules officials.

    •    Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions (Rule 13-4). Exception 2 to this Rule is amended to permit a player to smooth sand or soil in a hazard at any time, including before playing from that hazard, provided it is for the sole purpose of caring for the course and Rule 13-2 (improving lie, area of intended stance or swing or line of play) is not breached.

Now Rory can kick the sand in frustration and still not be penalized, only this time no inquiry will be necessary.

    •    Time of Starting (Rule 6-3a). The rule is amended to provide that the penalty for starting late, but within five minutes of the starting time, is reduced from disqualification to loss of the first hole in match play or two strokes at the first hole in stroke play. Previously this penalty reduction could be introduced as a condition of competition.

Another no-brainer.

"Kinder and gentler" was Ryan Herrington's takeaway on the latest changes.

R&A Buries The Lede: Major Amateur Status Changes Unveiled...

...seven paragraphs after leading with the changes to the hole-in-one prize issue, which was impacting one in every 20,000,000 million golf shots hit annually.

Contrast this with the USGA press release, which is clean, to-the-point and focused on getting out the most important news (while not even mentioning the hole-in-one nonsense).

Here's the R&A version, brought to you by Rolex:

THE R&A ANNOUNCES NEW RULES OF AMATEUR STATUS FOR 2012

Significant changes include allowing unlimited hole-in-one prizes

First-ever unified, worldwide code for amateur status

24 October, 2011, St Andrews, Scotland: Amateur golfers will be allowed to play for unlimited hole-in-one prizes under revisions to the Rules of Amateur Status announced today by The R&A.

Blah, blah, blah...if you want a giggle, go read the full release online with Suzann Pettersen's quotes about how this will make the game better. Now, jump SEVEN paragraphs to the story the governing bodies are oddly shying away from.

Those who will notice the biggest changes to the rules are elite amateurs preparing to make the difficult transition to the professional game.

Players will now be able to enter into an agreement with an agent or sponsor as long as they do not receive any financial gain while still an amateur.

Now agents in the U.S. don't have to pretend they are not talking to college players! Here's the actual news:

Rules have also been relaxed on subsistence payments paid through national golf unions.

Say goodbye to international players coming to America for college. And say hello world America. How long before the U.S. has to start its own national golf union to keep up with the rest of the world?

Rickman explained: “The rules on contracts now reflect the modern game and adopt a much more realistic and common sense approach.

“Similarly, the rules on subsistence expenses should help the support of deserving talent wherever it may emerge across the golfing world.”

Tom Lewis, who recently turned professional after an amateur career that included winning the Silver Medal at this year’s Open Championship as well as being part of the victorious 2011 Walker Cup team, welcomed the changes.

He said: “It is an important change because some players are forced into turning pro early just because of financial difficulties.

I feel like I'm reading something out of Dickens! These poor, starving, Hugo Boss-clad children!

Anyway here's the actual language:

Rule 2-2 Professionalism; Contacts and Agreements
National Golf Unions or Associations – New Rule 2-2 (a) is added to allow an amateur golfer to enter into a contract and/or agreement with his national golf union or association, provided he does not obtain any financial gain, directly or indirectly, while still an amateur golfer.

Professional Agents, Sponsors and Other Third Parties – New Rule 2-2 (b) is added to allow an amateur golfer, who is at least 18 years of age, to enter into a contract and/or agreement with a third party solely in relation to the golfer’s future as a professional golfer, provided he does not obtain any financial gain, directly or indirectly, while still an amateur golfer.

And the subsistence expenses...

Rules 4-3 Subsistence Expenses
New Rule added to allow an amateur golfer to receive subsistence expenses to assist with general living costs, provided the expenses are approved by and paid through the player’s national golf union or association.

This is huge news for international golf, and yet it gets second billing to hole-in-one prizes. But why?

The complete text of all changes to the Rules of Amateur Status and video summaries of the changes can be found at www.randa.org

Rolex’s relationship with The R&A dates back to 1978 when the company first began to support The Open Championship. In addition to the Rules of Golf, Rolex also support the Amateur Championship, the Walker Cup, the Boys Amateur Championship and the Junior Open. Rolex also sponsors the British Golf Museum and this year became the presenting patron of the Senior Open Championship.

And thank you for that message from our sponsor.

Speaking of irony, the R&A's other release from the day touts the publishing of one rule book for the world (same fonts too, just different spellings for words like colour!). Yet the two governing bodies send out two entirely different press releases.

Don't Look For Tiger To Use The Belly Putter Anytime Soon

In Emily Kay's item on James Driscoll reluctantly looking to the belly putter, there was this about his fellow Sean Foley accolyte and Medalist member.

Despite the mass migration to what are quickly becoming conventional blades, Driscoll believes one golfer fans will never see with one is Tiger Woods.

“He was giving me a hard time for practicing with it a couple of weeks ago,” said Driscoll, who shares Woods’ swing coach, Sean Foley, and is a long-time member of Woods’ new course, Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla. “He said he’d never go to the long putter. He has tried it and says he just can’t stroke it.”

When's A Whiff A Whiff?

Check out the YouTube video while you can because I'm sure the men with the little red phones in Ponte Vedra are working to get it taken down.

Ryan Ballengee explains what happened Saturday with Kevin Na in Las Vegas:

On the 15th tee Saturday at TPC Summerlin, Kevin Na was in the middle of his downswing when he decided not to hit the golf ball. He pulled up his swing and finished it by missing over the top of the ball. It seemed Na had whiffed but he didn’t, according to PGA Tour officials.

Na told officials and reporters he felt his weight transfer was amiss and would lead to a hooked tee shot, so he missed.

“I’ll take it back; it feels decent, and my transition is what I’m always working on,” Na said. “It’s always my bad habit is I get quick. And on the way down my transition doesn’t feel right, and I try to stop, and obviously it’s impossible for me to stop. The only way for me to stop is I have to come up and go over the ball.”

I think I'll remember this next time I whiff one! Thanks Kevin!

I believe Woodward and Bernstein would call this a non-whiff whiff.

ZZZZZ...The John Daly Meltdown Files, Vienna Edition

From Sportscenter:

The Best Reminder Of Why Long Putter Anchoring Is A Farce

Bob Carney posts some recent GolfDigest.com/Golf World letters and shares this from Hank Schlautmann of Port Huron, Michigan.

Years ago Craig Stadler lost $33,333.33 for placing a towel under his knees. I think they called it a stance improvement. Belly-putter users are cheaters as far as I'm concerned. That isn't golf. It should be called by it's real name (BELLY GOLF).