Local Rule! Intent! The R&A And USGA Wisely Relent On Accidental Ball Movement

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The governing bodies have long resisted introducing the question of intent to the Rules of Golf. They've also been loathe to introduce Local Rules because players have shown a tendency to not understand read them and not all courses get the message (but they do often lead to progressive Rules shifts).

But with one smart gesture preventing the game from three more years of silliness (until the next Rules of Golf update), they've introduced a local rule that eliminates a penalty for accidental ball movements. While it'll inevitably be dubbed the Dustin Johnson rule, there were many victims along the way.

Josh Sens at Golf.com scored an exclusive (well, embargoed) interview with the USGA's Thomas Pagel who wisely doesn't shy away from the motivation.

"Oakmont certainly did bring the matter to a lot of people's attention, and it did prompt us toward further conversation," Pagel said.

Phil Casey with this account of the change and quotes the R&A David Rickman:

"It was certainly a very difficult case but within the rules environment it was more the repetition of incidents rather than one or two which was of greater concern.

"We had one or two situations at the Open which happened the following month, a couple at the Olympics.

The full press release:

New Local Rule Eliminates Penalty for a Player Who Accidentally Causes a Ball to Move on the Putting Green

FAR HILLS, N.J. (Dec. 8, 2016) – The USGA and The R&A today announced the introduction of a new Local Rule that eliminates the penalty when a ball is accidentally moved on the putting green.

The Local Rule will be available for any committee in charge of a competition to use starting Jan. 1, 2017. It will be adopted by the USGA and The R&A in all of their championships, qualifying competitions and international matches.

“Eliminating this penalty responds to the concerns we have heard from both golfers and committees about the difficulties in applying the current Rules when a player accidentally causes a ball to move on the putting green,” said Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director, Rules of Golf and Amateur Status, said. “This change is a good example of the type of Rules Modernization changes we hope to implement after completing our fundamental review of all of the Rules. We are looking for ways to improve the Rules by making them easier to understand and apply.”

David Rickman, executive director - Governance at The R&A, said, “For the past several years, as part of The R&A and USGA’s Rules Modernization initiative, we have considered the penalty for a ball that is accidentally moved on the putting green. Both Rules Committees agreed that it needed to be changed and decided that in this particular case it was important to act now, through a Local Rule, rather than wait for the next overall set of revisions to the Rules of Golf.”

The Local Rule has been welcomed by all of the major tours worldwide, and the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA, PGA of America and the Masters Tournament are among the golf organizations that will implement the Local Rule for all future events, beginning Jan.1, 2017.  

If a committee wishes to introduce this Local Rule, the following wording is recommended:

“Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1 are modified as follows:

When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his partner, his opponent, or any of their caddies or equipment.

The moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced as provided in Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1.

This Local Rule applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green and any movement is accidental.

Note: If it is determined that a player’s ball on the putting green was moved as a result of wind, water or some other natural cause such as the effects of gravity, the ball must be played as it lies from its new location. A ball-marker moved in such circumstances is replaced.”

For more information about the new Local Rule, including explanatory diagrams, videos and a detailed question-and-answer document, please visit www.usga.org/2017localrule.

Now we just have to get the word out to all golf courses, though this is really largely an issue where High Definition television and people who don't hit the ball any longer than they did five years ago converge with greens Stimping 14.

Kostis: "The USGA and R&A look like ambulance chasers, eager to find fault with you at every turn."

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If you can get Golf.com to hold still for a second and stop playing irrelevant videos, this Peter Kostis piece on the current state of golf's rules is worth a read.

Strong words here on how the rules seem to no longer be our friend, but instead, the golfer's enemy:

In addition to updating the "Ball at Rest Moved By Player, Partner, Caddie or Equipment" rule (18-2), which went into effect at the start of this year, the USGA also decreed that you may no longer post scores for handicap purposes if you play by yourself. It's another example of the governing bodies looking over our shoulders, like Big Brother. Apparently, they don't consider golfers to be trustworthy. So we have an issue: Golf is either the pristine, righteous game they proclaim it to be, or it's not—in which case the USGA and R&A look like ambulance chasers, eager to find fault with you at every turn. The latter mentality mocks everything the game is supposed to stand for.

USGA, R&A Eye Rules Overhaul As Grow-The-Game Initiative!?

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We've known the governing bodies have been meeting for some time to work out simplification of golf's bloated Rules book, but it's a bit disappointing see from the initial rollout that this will be branded as a grow-the-game cause.

I find that disappointing because (A) golf needs another grow-the-game initiative like another 72-hole stroke play even, and (B) the numbers of interested golfers staying away from the sport due the rules are outnumbered by those sitting out due to cost and time.

Brian Costa, writing for the Wall Street Journal, was the first to get to channel the hoped-for USGA message which is not, "we've made the rules a bloated mess and are fixing them." Instead, it's, "the rules can be intimidating to new players and we're here to change that. #growthegame"

“This is just a chance to reset,” said USGA chief executive Mike Davis. “The idea is if we get this right, many more golfers will embrace and understand the rules.”

The USGA is hoping to release a draft of the new rules for feedback from recreational players in 2017, though it could be another few years before they take effect.

John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s head of rules, competitions and equipment standards, likened it to the 1971 publication of the Living Bible, a more accessible version of the King James Bible. “I think it’s fair to say that some golfers, perhaps many, are intimidated in picking up the rule book,” Bodenhamer said. “We want to be able to help golfers with that.”

Again, I just don't think many golfers are sitting on the sidelines because of the density of the Decisions book. There are many golf fans on the fence right now about the governing bodies given the various TV rules situations. But beginners upset at the seven ways your can drop the ball as outlined in Decision 18-2? No.

There also is effort here by the USGA (in particular) to get the conversation away from their handling of situations like Dustin Johnson at Oakmont and onto an everyday game impacted by the rules. However, the USGA perception is no longer one of a body that doesn't care about the average man. Instead. it's viewed as one that is insensitive to all classes of player in the implementation of the rules. Fixing that perception will be beneficial from all of these closed door meetings with the R&A.

To understand their branding/PR issues, consider this quote from Daniel Summerhays, picked up by CBS/Golf Channel mics during Barclays round two play as Rory McIlroy thought his ball moved on the green.

 

 

At least in the minds of tour players, the USGA and R&A tried to fix the issue of balls moving on greens cut to absurdly low heights, and still didn't get it right.

Diaz: What Really Happened At Oakmont

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Now that Dustin Johnson has spoken and has not had his mind changed a bit about his actions at Oakmont (Will Gray reports), Jaime Diaz has filed an in-depth, definitive account for the September Golf Digest of the 2016 U.S. Open's Dustin Johnson penalty. While most of the facts will still be very familiar, Diaz brings in views of some notable rules figures and tries to figure out the options for changing the rule.

This from two noted USGA veterans stood out, starting with comments from David Eger:


Eger believes the right call was made based on the rule as written, but admits his experience writing, interpreting and administering the rules gives him an uncommon perspective. “All the rules officials I know think Dustin broke the rule, but none of my friends who I play golf with think he did. None of my friends have all the information. They use the wrong criteria to judge. But the rules are so fastidious, precise and often complicated.”

But David Fay, the USGA’s executive director for two decades, who served as the Fox telecast’s rules expert, contends the Johnson ruling was a close one even for officials. “You could get 10 rules experts and show them video evidence of Wattel and Johnson’s actions around the ball. I guarantee some would say Wattel deserved a penalty and Johnson didn’t, or that neither deserved a penalty, or that both did.”


Wonderful!

There was also this from Diaz:


In retrospect, executive director Mike Davis, didn’t take charge at a time when an accountable leader was desperately needed to speak for the organization. Hall and Pagel were too careful and scripted in their interviews on Fox and Golf Channel, clearly looking over their shoulder. At Oakmont, the buck had no place to stop.

I think this next part is where the average golfer differs from the rules expert, but nearly two weeks later I'm still not entirely sure why the experts are so sure of their stance.

But in trying to solve a problem, the new rule created new ones that are arguably worse. The main one? When it comes to determining what made a ball move short of the club hitting the ball, there is almost never anything close to “proof” that a player’s actions were the cause. “More likely than not” or “51 percent of the evidence” is a recipe for too many close calls that will leave a feeling of player victimization, especially if and when it costs someone a championship.

U.S. Open: "It was clearly an institutional breakdown in communication and procedures."

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Watching how replay has been used in other sports (particularly baseball, football, tennis), most sports fans have accepted the use of technology to get calls right. We've seen so many calls either confirmed or overturned for the betterment of the competition we are watching, and, let's face it, in a way that has made the sports more entertaining. Yet the USGA ruling at Oakmont stands as the most confusing, unnecessary and frighteningly dangerous use of video replay most sports fans have seen, even if it was an accurate interpretation of the Rules of Golf "Decisions".

So no matter how great a story Billy Hurley is, or what a magnificent weekend golf enjoyed with a combination of old (Ernie, Vijay, Henrik) and young names (Rahm, Lydia, Ollie) playing so well, the U.S. Open continues to be the 19th Hole subject of discussion.

And I'm still waiting to hear how it gets better for the USGA.

The SI/golf.com roundtable is not the place for the folks in Far Hills to look.

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated (@AlanShipnuck): It was a brutal public relations hit for the USGA, and Davis’s quasi-apology didn’t really help. I got the first interview with him at Oakmont. Davis was upstairs in the locker room changing into his tie for the trophy presentation and I pounced on him. At that point DJ was on the 16th hole and Davis still hadn’t seen video of the incident! He was just going by reports from other staffers. It was clearly an institutional breakdown in communication and procedures. This will all lead to some soul-searching and clearly the USGA needs to overhaul how it handles things on the ground at big tournaments. 

That's just bizarre.

Bamberger tries to see nuance and both sides and comes closest to defending the decision, even though he's no in agreement:

In my opinion, the videotape was completely inconclusive and I would have not accessed Johnson the shot, but to reach another conclusion is entirely reasonable. Now if you want to say there should be a new rule by which these minute movements shouldn’t matter, go ahead and try to draft such a rule. But right now, the rule is that any movement must be accounted for and the USGA was trying to do right by Johnson and the rest of the field. That is its obligation. The rest -- including Tiger and Jordan and Big Jack himself -- is noise. The USGA is not in the public-relations business. Its purpose is to stage a championship and assure that the rules, which it tries constantly to improve, are applied fairly to all. 

And the last word from Gary Van Sickle speaks to what I sense many golfers feel:

Nice of Davis to apologize for delay in penalty assessment, a terrible mistake. But by Monday, he had plenty of time to recognize that Hall and Pagel had wrongly assessed a penalty and ignored USGA’s own definition that “unless the facts show that a player caused the ball to move,” there is no penalty. I lost a lot of respect for the USGA on this one. This can’t happen again.

Vote: Do You Feel Dustin Johnson Caused His Ball To Move?

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The tape:

 

 

The simple poll question that we will discuss on Morning Drive at 8:10 am ET:

DDo you feel Dustin Johnson caused his ball to move?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Poll And Question: "Is the time right for non-conforming clubs?"

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That's the question Mike Stachura refreshingly attacks for GolfDigest.com in the wake of 2016's PGA Show.

After exploring the efforts in the Asian market to introduce such clubs, Stachura writes:

But no major U.S. company is looking at the nonconforming market and getting intrigued. Several major manufacturers contacted by Golf Digest said they would not be pursuing nonconforming equipment; others had no specific comment on the issue. Typical was this response from Callaway: “We think there is a lot of runway to give distance and performance while still playing by the rules.”

Even proudly renegade upstart Parsons Xtreme Golf defended golf’s rules. Said PXG and GoDaddy.com founder Bob Parson, “PXG believes that the USGA upholds the integrity of the game. As such, PXG’s clubs comply with all USGA regulations and we have no intention of introducing nonconforming equipment.”

The pressures of Wall Street and the weakening Rules of Golf will conspire at some point to bifurcate the game. Throw in the difficulty of finding suitable venues for the pro game played with ever-improving equipment and the hand of a major governing body will be forced to act in the form of a tournament ball. If it's not that, then the pressure will come from Wall Street for annual innovation and growth, and at some point that will mean non-conforming clubs.

So with those inevitabilities in mind and after reading Stachura's piece, I'd ask you to vote...

Is it time for bifurcation?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Dottie: Players Lined Up By Caddies Needs To End

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After the USGA and R&A announced their latest updates to the Rules of Golf, the question of what rule needs changing most seems to come up. Like a stooge, I always nominate something than the most obvious: caddies lining up players.

As Dottie Pepper presented the case in this ESPN.com column on a variety of year-end rules-related issues that will not be getting framed in Far Hills, not only is it a threat to the image of the LPGA Tour, but a far greater violation of the spirit of the rules than other changes made for 2016.

Lining up the shot is the player's responsibility. Period. It is part of being a golfer, part of playing the game. You can have all the help you want on the practice range, but get at it and get at it by yourself on the course. It not only looks bad to the television viewer, but also gives the impression that the player isn't in command of his or her game.

We Thought Only Media Shuttles Took Forever: LPGA Player Edition

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It wouldn't be a golf tournament if the media shuttles didn't take some circuitous routes to the course, though even those entertaining debacles rarely happen now that tournaments have turned to quality outfits like Country Club Services.

So it's a bit surprising to see LPGA players not only taking a tournament shuttle to the course, but experiencing a total nightmare. That's what happened Saturday in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, where the tour relied on the Decisions of the rules to push back tee times for four players whose 15-20 minute journey took over two hours due to road issues and Mexico City's infamous traffic.
Randall Mell reports on the remedy for this bizarro situation:

With four players who were in contention stuck in a shuttle bus that took more than two hours to make the usual 15- to 20-minute commute from the tournament hotel to the golf course, the LPGA pushed back the day’s final three times. By doing so, Suzann Pettersen, Angela Stanford, Minjee Lee and Carlota Ciganda were assured that they would be spared disqualifications for missing tee times.

The LPGA cited Decision 6-3a/1.5 in pushing back tee times, determining there were “exceptional circumstances beyond the players’ control.”