Starting Jan. 1, more than 100 changes, additions and clarifications to the rules of golf go into effect.

Two of the more interesting ones would allow players to use GPS systems—at the discretion of the tournament—and to stand square to the hole if their intention is to stay out of another’s line.

I assume that this last is related to the Snead ruling where he was banned from using the sidesaddle croquet putting method. I’ll have to look further into that one. We had exactly that controversy at a girl’s golf tournament, where one of my girls—intimidated by another player into getting off her line— took an awkward putting stance, and then was accused by the same player of putting while standing square to the line.

We had to resolve it by going back to the hole and re-enacting the moment. Eventually all the coaches (six of us) and the course pro decided that there was no harm, and therefore no foul. My girl was losing badly ... I’m not even sure why the other player was making such an issue of it—except that (as her coach said) she was just downright mean.

There’s a story about the changes from the Associated Press.

Update: If you’re looking for a full explanation of match play and its scoring, try here.

In an article on the President’s Cup yesterday, I wrote that when Love picked up the ball, the penalty was technically one stroke, but that because he thought Weir said “its good,” no penalty was assessed.

Now, I’ve received a bunch of emails from people telling me that I don’t know the rules—that the penalty is loss of hole.

No. I do know the rules. And the penalty is one stroke, unless is was truly a mistake, in which case there is no penalty:

From the USGA rules book:

2-4/3 Player Lifts Ball in Mistaken Belief That Next Stroke Conceded
Q. In a match between A and B, B made a statement which A interpreted to mean that his (A’s) next stroke was conceded. Accordingly, A lifted his ball. B then said that he had not conceded A’s next stroke. What is the ruling?
A. If B’s statement could reasonably have led A to think his next stroke had been conceded, in equity (Rule 1-4) A should replace his ball as near as possible to where it lay, without penalty.
Otherwise, A would incur a penalty stroke for lifting his ball without marking its position — Rule 20-1 — and he must replace his ball as near as possible to where it lay.

The Golf Blogger is correct. Tom Meeks ruling on the course was correct.

My critics need to get their own copy of the rules.

GolfBusiness has an article on the complexities—both mathematical and political—of the USGA’s handicap system.

I like their suggestion that we adopt the British system—in which handicaps are calculated only in official tournaments—I think it would speed up play. As they point out, most golfers in the isles don’t generally bother to keep score.

One of the things that I find most unbelievable about the PGA Tour is how many of the players don’t know the rules. If I was out there playing on tour, you can bet I’d know the rules backward and forward. As I tell the players on my team: knowledge of the game can win matches.

It can also lose them. Briny Baird was DQ’d from the Honda Classic because he did not fully understand the new rules on lift, clean and place.

I think the most important rule for the hacker to remember has to do with your options when a ball goes into a hazard. Most people just drop the ball on the edge of the hazard where it went in.

But there are two other options: You can drop the ball anywhere behind that point keeping a straight line between the hole, the point where the ball crossed the margin of the water hazard; or, you can play again from where you hit the ball into the hazard.

These last two are useful if you have a preferred distance. Lets say that the water hazard is 60 yards from the green. Your shot from the edge of the hazard would be a tough three quarters swing from rough.

Instead, you could take the ball back along the line to a distance that you are sure of—say 100 yards. You might even be in the fairway.

If you already hit the ball from a preferred distance, you might just want to hit it again from that spot.

If its a lateral hazard, you also could drop within two club-lengths of the point where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard or a point on the opposite side of the hazard equidistant from the hole.

Again, you want to take the option that leaves you with the best lie at a distance that you are sure of.