Common sense has finally prevailed and the authorities have agreed to introduce a new Local Rule that eliminates the penalty for a player who accidentally causes a ball to move on the putting green.
The initiative follows several highly publicised incidents, most recently when Dustin Johnston could have been denied victory in the US Open. The American was deemed to have caused his ball to move by grounding his club during a practice stroke in the final round at Oakmont. He played the final nine holes unsure if he would receive a penalty, and ultimately he was penalised a stroke – although fortunately for him (and, arguably, for the sport’s credibility) this only reduced his winning margin from four shots to three.
Commenting on the rule change, United States Golf Association CEO and executive director Mike Davis said, "There was simply too many times on the putting green where we were seeing players penalised, balls moving. We weren't sure of the cause. What's been happening is that you're seeing penalties assessed that the rules never really contemplated."
So what is the new Local Rule?
Available for any committee in charge of a competition to use from 1 January 2017, it will be adopted by the Royal & Ancient and USGA in all of their championships, qualifying competitions and international matches. It has also been welcomed by all of the major tours worldwide.
For committees wanting to introduce the 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.”
Announcing the change, David Rickman, executive director of governance at the R&A, said, “For the past several years, as part of the R&A and USGA’s rules modernisation 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.”
Added Thomas Pagel, senior director for Rules of Golf and amateur status at the USGA, “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. This change is a good example of the type of rules modernisation 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.”
