When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
As noted yesterday, the update to the Decisions spells out how you can now access the weather app on your phone, walk 50 yards ahead just to make sure you did indeed pump one out of bounds (while we're young!) and deciding what the "naked eye" means in the context of HD video rulings.
THE USGA and THE R&A ANNOUNCE CHANGES to “Decisions on the Rules of Golf”
Revised Every Two Years, the Decisions Provide Greater Clarity for Golfers
Joint Statement Issued Regarding the Use of Video Evidence
Far Hills, N.J., USA, and St Andrews, Scotland (November 19, 2013) –As part of a continuing commitment to provide greater clarity to the Rules of Golf, the United States Golf Association (USGA) and The R&A, golf’s governing bodies, today announced revisions to the 2012-2013 edition of “Decisions on the Rules of Golf.” The changes, part of a customary two-year Decisions review cycle, become effective on January 1, 2014.
“Decisions on the Rules of Golf, 2014-2015” contains more than 1,200 entries addressing specific situations under the Rules of Golf. A total of 87 changes have been made to the 2012-2013 Decisions book: three new Decisions, 59 revised Decisions, one re-numbered Decision and 24 Decisions withdrawn.
“The Rules of Golf are constantly evolving,” said Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director of the Rules of Golf. “The Decisions review process is an opportunity for The R&A and the USGA to continue to help make the game more understandable and accessible for players, officials and others who participate in the game.”
David Rickman, The R&A’s executive director – Rules and Equipment Standards, said, “It is important to consider carefully new developments in the game and that is reflected in the new Decisions on the Rules which give greater clarity on the use of smart phones and advanced video technology.”
Among the changes for 2014-2015, four decisions are particularly noteworthy:
• New Decision 14-3/18 confirms that players can access reports on weather conditions on a smartphone during a round without breaching the Rules. Importantly, this new Decision also clarifies that players are permitted to access information on the threat of an impending storm in order to protect their own safety.
• New Decision 18/4 provides that, where enhanced technological evidence (e.g. HDTV, digital recording or online visual media, etc.) shows that a ball has left its position and come to rest in another location, the ball will not be deemed to have moved if that movement was not reasonably discernible to the naked eye at the time. The USGA and The R&A have issued a Joint Statement Regarding the Use of Video and Visual Evidence to further explain the governing bodies’ position on the use of this technology.
• Revised Decision 25-2/0.5 helps to clarify when a golf ball is considered to be embedded in the ground through the use of illustrations.
• Revised Decision 27-2a/1.5 allows a player to go forward up to approximately 50 yards without forfeiting his or her right to go back and play a provisional ball.
The full text of the revisions to “Decisions on the Rules of Golf” and of the Joint Statement can be found at www.usga.org and at www.RandA.org. A downloadable infographic is also available on the USGA’s website to help golf facilities, professionals and associations educate golfers on the changes to the Decisions.
Graylyn Loomis has photos of the vehicles moving into place and executioner Martin Hawtree overseeing the Old Course at St. Andrews' Phase 2 destruction slated to include new bunkers and most pathetic of all, removing the "acute spur formation" that has guarded the fourth green for centuries.
Even though the spur is integral to the strategy, the R&A, reluctant to change it, agreed because today's greenkeepers can't figure out how to mow what's been around for centuries. 
You may recall that last year in late November, distracted by the anchoring ban, the word dropped late on a Friday (when else?) that changes were being made to the Old Course to help the links prevent a 59 from being shot keep up with the modern game, under the supervision of the R&A's Chief Inspector Architect, Peter Dawson, with help from golf architect Hawtree and from a Links Trust proudly abdicating its responsibility to defend the Home of Golf from vandals.
As you may also recall, the reviews were not good, especially from those pesky Australians (here and here).
Dawson went on a PR swing of sorts to the few outlets that wouldn't press him about his past comments suggesting that any tampering with the Old Course would be akin to putting a moustache on the Mona Lisa and just not a wise thing to do.
There had been indications that support was eroding for elements of Phase 2.
You can relive the entire saga here in the archives. And there was this to be dusted off, courtesy of the art department:
Martin Dempster reports that the European Tour's Peter Uihlein, one of the hottest golfers on the planet right now heading into the Race To Dubai, has donated £10,000 to the Scottish Golf Union, "to specifically help with Bradley Neil’s playing expenses after being impressed by the Blairgowrie teenager during their four days together in last month’s Dunhill Links Championship."
Now I know your heart strings have been tugged at upon learning of this noble charitable act, but the question has been asked by the five people who still think there is such thing as amateur golf: how is that one can donate money to be used for a specific player and said player remains an amateur?
Dempster says the R&A is monitoring the situation but there is no evidence whatsoever of tampering.
“Bradley was a pleasure to partner and I was very impressed with his performance,” Uihlein, the Madeira Islands Open champion, told the Associated Press. “He has a great chance of achieving success in the game if he continues to work hard. I will be following his career and hope the donation can play some small part in helping him progress in the right direction.”
Privately, Neil is understood to be delighted – understandably so. Due to the Rules of Amateur Status preventing players in the non-paid ranks from promoting themselves or being linked with either individuals or companies assisting them in such a way as Uihlein, though, he is prohibited from commenting publically on the matter.
Doing so would be deemed as publicising a sponsor and, in this instance, the R&A is likely to be watching the situation closely due to Uihlein’s links with equipment manufacturer Titleist. His father, Wally, is the CEO of Acushnet, its parent company.
Hey, just like IMG thought Earl Woods was just that good at scouting young talent, I'm sure there's nothing here. Move along!
**Sean Martin's Golfweek story from a few years ago explains how the rules work in instances like this.
Another step for Wales and Royal Porthcawl in possibly hosting The Open Championship one day.
And great to see Muirfield hosting something other than The Open:
THE R&A ANNOUNCES 2016 CHAMPIONSHIP VENUES
21 October 2013, St Andrews, Scotland: The R&A has announced the venues for its amateur championships in 2016 which include some of the most prestigious courses in Great Britain and Ireland.
Royal Porthcawl in Wales will host the Amateur Championship for the seventh time and the first occasion since 2002 when Spain’s Alejandro Larrazabal triumphed over Englishman Martin Sell by one hole in the 36 hole final. The preliminary stroke play rounds will also be played at Pyle & Kenfig on the South Wales coast.
It will be the 121st staging of the Amateur Championship which features a field of 288 world-ranked amateur players with the winner earning a place in The Open Championship and the following year’s US Open. Traditionally the winner also receives an invitation to The Masters.
Former Major Champions such as Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Louis Oosthuizen have all played in the Amateur Championship.
Muirfield, which hosted The Open Championship for the 16th time this year, and its neighbouring course, The Renaissance, will welcome the world’s leading boy golfers when they host the Boys Amateur Championship for the first time in 2016.
In recent years more than half of the 252-strong field has come from across Europe, America, South America, Africa and Asia and the 90th staging of the championship will attract a strong international field once again.
Some of the game’s leading players including Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald have played in the Boys Amateur over the years. The 2012 champion, Matthew Fitzpatrick, went on to win the Silver Medal as the leading amateur at this year’s Open Championship and the McCormack Medal as the world’s leading male amateur player.
Peter Dawson, the Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are delighted to have such excellent championship venues in 2016. Royal Porthcawl and Pyle & Kenfig will be wonderful venues for the Amateur Championship and we expect the Welsh galleries will relish the opportunity to see leading amateur players in action.
“Muirfield is one of the finest links courses in the world and will provide a stern challenge for the leading boy golfers in the Boys Amateur Championship.”
Elsewhere, the St Andrews and Jacques Leglise trophy matches between Great Britain and Ireland and the Continent of Europe will be played at former Open Championship venue Prince’s in Kent for the first time.
It will also be a first visit for the Boys Home Internationals to Ireland’s most northerly golf course, Ballyliffin (Glashedy Links), which has hosted European Tour and Ladies’ European Tour events.
The Seniors Open Amateur Championship will return to Merseyside at Formby, which hosted the inaugural event in 1969.
The dates for the championships in 2016 are as follows:
The Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl and Pyle & Kenfig: 13 – 18 June
Boys Home Internationals, Ballyliffin (Glashedy Links): 2 – 4 August
The Seniors Open Amateur Championship, Formby : 3 – 5 August
The Boys Amateur Championship, Muirfield and The Renaissance: 9 – 14 August
St Andrews and Jacques Leglise Trophies, Prince’s: 26 & 27 August
Thanks to the reader who sent in this image of an ad in Thursday's St. Andrews Record calling out R&A Chief Inspector Peter Dawson for his reversal on Old Course changes.
The full text:
“Because of the history of the Old Course, moving hazards is not the option it would be at many other places. You simply can’t move a bunker here or there on the Old Course. All that leaves is to move tees. The course has proved many times that it is subtle enough to provide a strong challenge. We are not trying to change the character of the course…” 22 02 2005
Mr Dawson, why have you changed your mind?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/4292635.stm
The course is currently hosting the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, with Phase 2 of the R&A mandated changes set to begin this winter. Though there have been indications that support is not unanimous for going forward with some of those changes.
Tim Rosaforte's Golf World Monday column looks at Arron Oberholser playing the Web.com Tour Finals on a medical exemption after years of struggle with his left hand (four surgeries). 
And as reader DTF notes, if this isn't bifurcation, what is?
It took a special glove, approved by the PGA Tour (after the USGA deemed it non-conforming), to make a comeback possible. Even with that accommodation, he was still icing down the hand and taking Advil to reduce the swelling and pain.
"The glove isn't the cure-all by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "That's why if it doesn't hold up over the next three weeks, then I'll probably see a lot more of you in the studio."
The Independents Andrew Grice reports that Prime Minister David Cameron has joined the anti-all-male membership debate.
Oddly, the focus continues to be on Muirfield and not on the similarly all-male and far more powerful Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, a key distinction that seems lost.
The Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, who is also the Equalities Minister, is boycotting the Open golf championship at Muirfield in Scotland because the club refuses to admit women members. Downing Street backed her stance, saying Mr Cameron believed that all-male clubs “look much more to the past than the future.”
But to the irritation of Cameron aides, that provoked a flurry of questions about his membership of the hell-raising Bullingdon Club while he was at Oxford University, and his decision to join the exclusive all-male White’s club, where his late father was once chairman. His official spokesman said the Prime Minister Prime Minister resigned from White’s in 2008, two and half years after becoming Tory leader.
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, described Muirfield’s policy as “old fashioned” and “anachronistic.” Andrew Lansley, the Tory Leader of the Commons, called it “entirely reprehensible.”
The story goes on to detail how Labour party members want legislation banning all-male clubs (but not all female clubs).
Meanwhile, Jane Bradley reports that Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who is sitting out his first Open in decades, clarified his stance on all-male clubs because it was realized that he is a member of an all-male club. Albeit it one with a sister club.
“[The] key point he has repeatedly made regarding the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield is that it does not allow membership for women on an equal basis to that of men,” said a spokesman for the First Minister.
“If Muirfield were to establish a similar female equivalent to the Honourable Company, such as the St Rules’ and St Regulas Ladies clubs at St Andrews, this would represent a form of equality and an important step in the right direction.”
The reactions to the R&A press conference varied from "still the same stance" to writers seizing on Peter Dawson's suggestion that they will be taking a look at the policies of clubs. Or their own Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (remember, a separate entity from the "R&A").
Dawson did try to open the door, but by blaming the media only ensured that the issue will not go away. So a split decision on his performance.
Moira Gordon in The Scotsman says the R&A "would consider its position on men-only golf clubs as the issue threatened to overshadow the start of the Open Championship at Muirfield."
John Huggan for GolfDigest.com:
Disappointingly but predictably, Dawson then had nothing new to offer in this ongoing debate. Resorting to the arguments he has repeatedly used since he assumed his present job in 2000, the former executive for Grove Manufacturing, a company involved in the manufacturing of hydraulic cranes trotted out the same old defense of the indefensible.
Mark Tallentire of The Guardian says Dawson "broke new ground over the vexed issue of the Open being hosted by single-gender clubs on Wednesday and suggested that the issue would be addressed after the tournament at Muirfield."
Oliver Brown and the Telegraph noted Dawson's mention of a "hard push" to change the policy on all male clubs, but also noted Dawson's irritability on one topic. Well two.
Under prolonged and uncomfortable cross-examination, Dawson was disdainful of the suggestion by one reporter that an all-male policy could be likened to an all-white one, describing it as a “ridiculous question”.
He said: “There are sectors of society that are downtrodden and treated very badly indeed, and to compare this with a men’s golf club is frankly absurd. There is no comparison whatsoever.”
He also expressed his irritation that “the media are, with boundless energy, giving out the message that such clubs should be condemned to extinction”.
Emily Dugan, The Independent's "Social Affairs" correspondent, seized on the "increasingly bizarre press conference" and reported that Dawson defended the policy.
The Herald's Hugh Macdonald went the "bowing to pressure" route, saying the R&A is "reconsidering its stance on single-sex clubs."
Jonathan McEvoy of the Daily Mail also went with a "Men-only clubs may be kicked into long grass" theme. The story also includes a photo of Lindsey Vonn Dufferning with Dufner!
Golf Channel's "Live From" delivered a refreshingly deliberate and comprehensive 9-minute package on the press conference, with surprising comments from Shona Malcomb of the Lades Golf Union as well as an interview with Alex Salmond.
Many of Dawson's remarks are shown too:
Or at the very least, based on this AP photo from Wednesday's R&A Press Conference at the Open Championship, a bit role in a Monty Python film. 
The photo accompanies Golfweek's Alex Miceli's account of R&A Chief Inspector Executive Peter Dawson's blame-the-media press conference addressing the Muirfield and R&A membership issues.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
