CONTENTS THE TEEING GROUND GOLF S NEW RULES MAJOR CHANGES September 2018 TAKING RELIEF SIZE OF RELIEF AREA TAKING RELIEF DROPPING THE BALL BY POPULAR DE- MAND PLAYING A BALL STRUCK MORE THAN ONCE AREAS OF THE COURSE THE SHAG BAG JUST FOR US GOLFERS OUTREACH PART- NERS THE TEEING GROUND We are in the monsoon swoon as the new moon has passed and the harvest moon appears. Now is a great time to begin our look at the USGA Rules Changes for 2019. As promised we ll keep them brief, interspersed, maybe even hidden and of course topically pertinent to our track at the Ranch. We may even keep them thorough enough to provide each golfer some insight. Our course is in transition. We are moving from warm weather grass to our annual overseed. Our golf course is shaping up with Mike, Ken, Chris and their team working to provide us a track to be proud of. Changes to date continue to be positive so expectations are high. If you see the team around, stop and give them a pat on the back. Our Thursday golf has received a boost. Thanks to committed members and your board leadership we finish our golf in appreciably less time. Thanks to all members for their diligence and consideration of all. UPCOMING SBRMGA EVENTS October highlight may be the annual par 3 or the flat stick and its four buddies. Choose your favorite but sign up, tee up and swing away.
Page 2 GOLF S NEW RULES MAJOR CHANGES There are nine areas of major changes. These include 1) ball at rest, 2) ball in motion, 3) taking relief, 4) areas of the course, 5) equipment, 6) playing a ball, 7)when to play during a round, 8) player behavior, and 9) new local rule. Each of these areas has several changes. It would be easy to simply refer all golfers to the web site such as, http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/majorchanges/areas-the-committee-may-mark-as-penalty-areas.html but what then would we do for a slow month of? We re in overseed so let s see if we can plant a few thoughts. It s not all starched collars or buttoned down action. Take number 8, for example, Player Behavior. The Shagmeister may still have a conversation with self, the ball, the club the grass and even during the stroke with whomever. Even so far as to insist the ball bite or go or whatever. However, name calling may be subject to interpretation either by USGA or possibly local rules committee. Of course at the Ranch with the usual wind a whispered name may not even be heard. It s on to the important stuff... September SCORECARD highlights only four of the major changes: Measuring the Size of the Relief Area Where a Ball must be Dropped and Played New Procedure for Dropping a Ball Playing a Ball Accidentally Struck More than Once Areas the Committee May Mark as Penalty Areas Before we get to the first tee let s know that as of 2019 there are no hazards in golf. That s right! We can enjoy our golf without concern for hazards. We may, though, need to understand Penalty Areas. Not to worry, after all, what s a stroke or two here and there between friends. CONTINUED PAGE 3
Page 3 TAKING RELIEF MEASURING THE SIZE OF THE RELIEF AREA WHERE A BALL MUST BE DROPPED AND PLAYED 2019 Rule: Players will continue to drop a ball when taking relief, but the dropping procedure will be changed in several ways as detailed in Rule 14.3: The focus of the dropping procedure will be on a specific relief area set by the Rule under which relief is being taken and will be either one or two club-lengths from a reference point (and may have certain other limitations). The relief area is a fixed size for each player and is pre-determined based on the clubs the player has selected for play. Reasons for Change: The new procedure will mean there will be greater consistency across all relief procedures, making it simpler for players to know where and how to drop a ball: For example, many times today a player is required to drop a ball as near as possible to a certain spot (such as where the previous stroke was made or where a ball was embedded) and questions can arise about whether it was dropped near enough to that spot. The new procedure when dropping with reference to a spot will be to drop a ball anywhere in a relief area measured one or two club-lengths from (but not nearer the hole than) that spot. The definition of a club-length as the longest club other than a putter will mean that a player cannot choose which club to measure with based on the situation. For example, players will no longer be able to make a strategic choice about the size of the relief area by choosing a longer club so that the player can reach a location that is farther from the nearest point of relief or other reference point. Using the longest club for measuring will minimize the inconsistency in the size of a relief area between players (including eliminating the advantage for players who currently can use a long putter for measuring).
Page 4 TAKING RELIEF NEW PROCEDURE FOR DROPPING A BALL 2019 Rule: Players will continue to drop a ball when taking relief, but the dropping procedure will be changed in several ways as detailed in Rule 14.3: How a ball may be dropped is simplified; the only requirement will be that the ball be let go from knee height so that it falls through the air and does not touch any part of the player s body or equipment before it hits the ground. Reasons for Change: The new procedure lowers the height from which the ball is dropped to increase the chance that it stays within the relief area. Requiring the player to drop a ball (as opposed to placing it) will retain a desired randomness about where the ball will end up: The player has no guarantee that the ball will come to rest on a desired spot or in a good lie. This is especially the case when a ball is dropped in more difficult conditions such as thick rough or longer grass. Allowing the player to drop a ball from knee height will help to limit the extent to which a ball will embed in sand in a bunker. I know brighter bulbs have flickered best on this thought. But clearly this removes the advantage a vertically challenged golfer may have given the lesser distance the ball must travel when at shoulder height vs knee. Humph - the Shagmeister will still be lagging for bogey. Not to worry page 5 is lighter fare.
Page 5 BY POPULAR DEMAND Working to make your SBRMGA experience more enjoyable. HOLIDAY CHEER Are the details done not quite should we be looking forward to some Holiday Cheer early interest is POSITIVE. Your board is working to hold its first Holiday Event, in the new club house this December. Chatter has it that it ll be a sell out. Dinner and entertainment in our new ballroom putting all members in the holiday spirit. Watch your email for more details. ANNUAL PAR THREE TOURNAMENT Reopening the Golf Club after the overseeding for the SBRM- GA play October 18 is the ANNUAL PAR THREE TOURNA- MENT. Each year we have surprises. There are no gimmie holes and most need a short par four break before the next par three. SPEAKING OF A SHORT PAR FOUR BREAK OR EVEN A FIVE The October 25th event with your flat stick and its four buddies is perfect. We ll be cart path only for a few weeks so man handling just a few clubs will be a pleasure versus hefting your cart bag around.
Page 6 Playing a Ball BALL ACCIDENTALLY STRUCK MORE THAN ONCE DURING A STROKE 2019 Rule: Under Rule 10.1a, if the player s club accidentally hits the ball more than once during a single stroke: There will be no penalty and the ball will be played as it lies. Reasons for Change: Where a double hit occurs as part of a single stroke and was not the intention of the player, it was felt unfair and unnecessary for the player to be penalized. Just as there is no penalty if a player s ball accidentally deflects off his or her body, equipment or caddie, there is no need for a penalty when a player accidentally strikes his or her own ball in making a stroke. Accidental deflections are, by definition, an accident. The outcome in such cases is random and unpredictable, and it results in a disadvantage for the player as often as it results in an advantage. An highly informal and highly suspect survey of MGA golfers of varying abilities suggests that some amongst us may have more experience with double hits. The doubles generally being related to attempts to flop, pitch/ chip and of course occasionally the big swing up slope bunker shot. Shagmeister take away stay out of the bunkers, improve pitch/chip and of course spend more time analyzing Phil (FKA Phil the Thrill) to improve the flop.
Page 7 AREAS OF THE COURSE AREAS THE COMMITTEE MAY MARK AS PENALTY AREAS 2019 Rule: Under the new Rules, Water hazards will be superseded by the expanded concept of penalty areas, and Rule 17 will provide the same basic options for relief that exist under the current Rules: A penalty area will include both (1) all areas currently defined in the Rules as a water hazard or lateral water hazard and (2) any other areas the Committee chooses to define as penalty areas (with recommended guidelines to be provided in the guidebook). Penalty areas may therefore include areas such as deserts, jungles, lava rock fields, etc. The term hazard will no longer be used in the Rules. Reasons for Change: It has been recognized that requiring areas to contain water seems to be a somewhat arbitrary reason for permitting such relief options. For reasons such as safety and pace of play, many Committees have sought to expand the use of lateral water hazards by marking areas that do not contain water and by marking water hazards as red where that is not specifically contemplated by the Rules. The broader use of penalty areas will allow Committees to respond to the wide range of settings in which golf is played by giving relief from areas that present similar obstacles to existing water hazards such as difficulties with finding and playing a ball and similar practical needs about pace of play. On to lighter fare page 8
Page 8 THE SHAG BAG The Shagmeister keeps listening to his golfing partners and clearly the range players, practice green players and of course the pitch and chip contingent. A few recent tidbits follow.. What s your circle of love? Keeping the ball within a circle extending no greater than six inches from the hole limits the Shagmeister s putts. Of course there is the occasional duck and jab that is capable of missing the tap in. No gimmies here. How about a paraphrased Yogi-ism? (Even though we have Boo Boo Blonde in the Ranch House it s not the Bear but the Berra.) Golf is like baseball; it s 95% mental and the other half is physical. Here s a question for you. Do you see the green near every sand trap or the sand traps around every green? Did you hear? Our last event prior to overseeding even had golfers skipping shots across some of our newest water holes. Brought back those fleeting Midwest & Southeast feelings of angst. The Shagmeister has been working so hard on his long game at the range taking it apart from set up to completing the follow through. It s in so many pieces he s developed a second short game. We ve got distance measuring devices (DMD) so why not laser guides for putting. OK you say lasers track straight lines but then how do we track elliptical orbits? Ought to be able to read a break. Did you know that every golfer has at least one shot that won t ever work? Proof the clubs removed from our bags stored in our garages or already at the Goose. Have you noticed that many 8 foot putts go either left or right of the hole? The Shagmeister s golfing buddies claim it s not the break at fault. Speaking of the Rub of the Green there s a couple of greens in need of a canal to the cup rubbed into them. (Would not need the laser.)
Page 9 JUST FOR US GOLFERS set up, took a full back swing and flattened the side of one of those balls the Ranchette Putters distribute. Thus you received some of the best rules advice available. The web site link was included and the rules changes noted were few and hopefully informative without bogging you down. Hey you got this far so something worked. You ll get more in coming months. Whoa the Shagmeister heard the groan coming from the back of the room. Need for improvement noted. Looking ahead perhaps the Shagmeister can find some reasonable comics/ cartoons to depict some of the major rules changes. In fact there may be several as the interest just swells at this time of year. They are not up to G Larson standards but who knows maybe there ll be one with cows that could stand in. Sometimes the best expression of thought comes from an unknown source. Here s one Two men looked through prison bars - one saw mud, the other stars. Your SBRMGA has a lot of great things happening. We re seeing a different track at the Ranch in a short time. We ll be the choice of others when looking for courses. Your SBRMGA has been a part of this. How about some new social events and of course our continued weekly events FUN & FELLOWSHIP. How about a new special event based on the FEDX Cup format. Capture some wins and qualify. IT S A GREAT TIME TO BE A MEMBER. SIGN UP, TEE UP, SWING AWAY
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