The USGA Taking A "Fresh Look" At Anchoring

Here's Ron Sirak's take on the belly putter talk from Saturday's USGA annual meeting, which as I noted Saturday night was the big takeaway from this year's gathering.

Note that Sirak seizes up on the word "anchoring" coming up in the discussion about taking a "fresh look" at long putters. This is quite a (welcome) shift from just a few months ago at the Walker Cup when the governing bodies were dismissing suggestions they should take another look.

R&A Awards Portrush...An Amateur

For Immediate Release...

2 February 2012, St Andrews, Scotland: Royal Portrush and Carnoustie have been chosen as future venues for the Amateur Championship.

Portrush, venue for the 1951 Open, will host the Championship for the third time in 2014 on its renowned Dunluce Links with the initial stroke play qualifying stage shared with nearby Portstewart.

In 2015, the Championship will be staged at Carnoustie for a fifth time with qualifying also taking place at Panmure, a previous Open Local Final Qualifying course.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, The R&A’s Executive Director – Championships, said: “The Amateur Championship has a proud tradition of being contested over the finest links courses in the British Isles.

“I am delighted that the Championship will be returning to two past venues that will offer Irish and Scottish golf fans the chance to watch some of the world’s best amateur golfers in action.

“Previous Championships have seen some of golf’s greatest names, such as past champions Jose Maria Olazabal , Sergio Garcia and more recently Matteo Manassero, announce themselves on the world stage. I’m sure in 2014 and 2015 we will again see some future household names competing for the trophy.”

Portrush - which can count 2010 US Open Champion Graeme McDowell as well as Open winners Padraig Harrington (2007, 08) and reigning Champion Darren Clarke among its members -  has a long history of hosting championship golf.

It first hosted the Championship in 1960, won by Ireland’s Joe Carr, and then again in 1993 when England’s Iain Pyman came out on top. It was the scene of Max Faulkner’s Open victory in 1951 and has hosted the Senior Open Championship six times, most recently in 2004. Portrush was recently named by the European Tour as the venue for this year’s Irish Open.

College Golfers Need To Keep Pretending They Are Not Talking To Agents

Ryan Herrington analyzes the new USGA/R&A rule allowing amateur golfers to enter into agreements while retaining their amateur status and explains that it came about because of an R&A desire, with the USGA capitulating in the name of maintaining civilized cocktail receptions and next year's San Francisco Golf Club four-balls.

The reality of the situation, however, was that many elite golfers were already having discussions with agents, outside the view of the public and sans the signed contract. The new RAS rule at least tries to keep such practices from becoming too shady by keeping them in the open to help attempt to control them.

According to officials I've spoken to, the RAS rule change was something proposed and pursued by the R&A in an attempt to offer young amateurs golfers outside the United States (and thus less likely to enroll in American colleges and use the college golf to developing their games while remaining amateurs) some incentive to keep from turning professional too soon in their careers and without the right guidance that could help them make the transition more successfully. It might not have been what USGA officials desired, but to be a good partner they went along with it.

And now, college coaches must deal with the consequences. 

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.