The USGA and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club issued a number of amendments to the Rules of Golf. Under the changes, players will be allowed to lift a ball in a bunker or a water hazard for identification purposes. However, playing the wrong ball from a hazard or bunker will result in a two-stroke penalty. The rules bodies also reduced the penalty for the accidental deflection of a ball by a player, his partner or either of their caddies or equipment to one stroke in both stroke play and match play. The previous penalty was two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play. In the 2003 Masters, Jeff Maggert was leading the tournament when his shot from a fairway bunker on the third hole hit the lip and struck him in the chest. Maggert was assessed two strokes and make a triple bogey on the hole, losing the lead which he never regained. Visit the USGA web site at http://www.usga.org/ for more information.
Hitting range balls while wondering whatever happened to Dan Sikes.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
All golf all the time with reflections on the game of golf including the PGA Tour, the USGA, golf on television, golf equipment and more.
About Me
- Mr. Fairway
- Mr. Fairway’s love affair with the game of golf began in junior high. He once made his living as a journalist covering high school sports, cops and robbers and politics. Today, Mr. Fairway is a public relations consultant and a widely-published freelance golf writer. His current USGA handicap index is 9.3 and he averages 50-plus rounds a year.