Principal Changes
General
The entire Rule book has been redrafted for clarity, adopting a more modern style.
Etiquette
Amended and expanded to give broader guidance on the etiquette of the game and to clarify that a Committee may disqualify a player for a serious breach of etiquette under Rule 33-7.
Definitions
Ball in Play: Expanded to clarify the status of a ball when played from outside the teeing ground.
Bunker: Amended to provide that a stacked turf face is not part of a bunker, whether grass-covered or earthen.
Lost Ball: Part b amended to state that a ball is lost if the player has made a stroke at a substituted ball, rather than simply having "put another ball into play."
Nearest Point of Relief: Amended for clarity.
Rule or Rules
Expanded to include Conditions of Competition and "Decisions on the Rules of Golf."
Substituted Ball: A new Definition to clarify the distinction between a substituted ball and a wrong ball.
Tee: A new Definition to give specifications of a tee.
Rules
• Rule 2-5. Doubt as to Procedure; Disputes and Claims: Expanded to clarify the procedure for making a valid claim.
• Rule 3-3. Doubt as to Procedure: Amended to provide that the player must report to the Committee in all cases, including when he believes he has scored the same with both balls. The penalty for failure to do so is disqualification.
• Rule 5-3. Ball Unfit for Play: Amended so that the procedures for lifting the ball under Rules 5-3 and 12-2 are more consistent.
• Rule 6-4. Caddie: Penalty for having more than one caddie amended from disqualification to loss of hole in match play (adjustment to state of match) or two strokes in stroke play with a maximum of two holes in match play or four strokes in stroke play.
• Rule 6-8d. Procedure When Play Resumed: Note added to provide that if the spot on which the ball is to be placed is not determinable, when resuming play it must be estimated and the ball is placed on the estimated spot. (See corresponding Exception to Rule 20-3c.)
• Rule 7-1b. Practice Before or Between Rounds: Expanded to clarify what constitutes testing the surface prior to a round.
• Rule 9-2. Information as to Strokes Taken; Match Play: Separated into two categories – information as to strokes taken and wrong information – and more explicit detail given on when a player is deemed to have given wrong information.
• Rules 10-1b and 10-2b. Order of Play: Note introduced to clarify the order of play when a ball is not to be played as it lies (previously contained in Decisions 10/1, 10/2 and 10/3).
• Rule 11-1. Teeing: Amended for clarity and to introduce a penalty of disqualification for use of a non-conforming tee.
• Rule 12-2. Identifying Ball: Amended so that the procedures for lifting the ball under Rules 5-3 and 12-2 are more consistent.
• Rule 13-2. Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play: Reformatted for clarity.
• Rule 13-4b. Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions: Amended to restrict penalty situations to touching ground in the hazard or water in the water hazard with a hand or a club.
• Exception 2 to Rule 13-4. Ball in Hazard; Prohibited Actions: Amended so that the caddie is no longer permitted to smooth sand or soil in the hazard prior to the player making a stroke.
• Rule 15. Substituted Ball; Wrong Ball: Reformatted and amended for clarity.
• Rule 16-1a. Touching Line of Putt: Amended to provide that the player may remove loose impediments on the putting green by any means, provided he does not press anything down.
• Rule 17. The Flagstick: Amended for clarity.
• Rule 18-6. Ball Moved in Measuring
• Rule 10-4 has been withdrawn and new Rule 18-6 has been introduced to provide that no penalty is incurred if a ball or ball-marker is moved while proceeding under or in determining the application of a Rule.
• Rule 20-3c. Placing and Replacing; Spot Not Determinable: Exception added to provide that a player resuming play under Rule 6-8d places the ball at the estimated spot if the exact spot is not determinable.
• Rule 20-7. Playing from Wrong Place: Amended for clarity.
• Rule 22. Ball Assisting or Interfering with Play: Amended for clarity.
• Rule 23-1. Loose Impediments; Relief: Rule 18-2c has been withdrawn and Rule 23-1 has been amended to provide that a penalty for the player causing his ball, lying anywhere other than on a putting green, to move due to removal of a loose impediment will be assessed under Rule 18-2a. There is no longer an automatic penalty if a ball moves after a loose impediment within one club-length of the ball is touched.
