when the wind blew his ball on the
green. The resulting additional stroke
forced him into a playoff with Bubba
Watson, which he lost.
“When that happened,” said Pagel,
“we had already been looking to
change this rule. I don’t want to give
the impression that we wanted to
make this change specific to the Webb
Simpson incident. This is something
that was well-vetted.”
Nor did the USGA and R&A amend
their rules on amateur status solely
because of the Tom Lewis predicament
(see Lewine Mair column on page 11).
The new rules now enable players 18
years or older to sign with an agent
(but not receive money) while still
remaining an amateur.
In this instance, the USGA and
the R&A had noted the increasingly
blurred lines between amateurs and
professionals in other sports. So the
governing bodies acted accordingly.
“We think it’s unreasonable in the
modern day to deny the individual the
opportunity to make reasonable and
considered plans for their future,”
Rickman said.
Fair enough. Whether college play-
ers in the States get a similar green
light from their governing body, the
NCAA, remains to be seen. But this is
clearly a step in the right direction.
Meanwhile, the official rule book
will now have the same verbiage and
pagination. The only difference will be
on the cover, where the USGA logo will
grace the book in America while the
R&A’s logo will be depicted throughout
the rest of the world.
Amateur Status Rules
Receive Needed Updating
“There has perhaps been a percep-
tion that, for many years, the rules and
their interpretations have been dif-
ferent in different parts of the world,”
Rickman said. “We were looking to
address that.”
Other changes worth mentioning
are Rule 6-3a, “Time of Starting.”
It has been amended to provide
that the penalty for starting late is no
longer a disqualification. If a player
arrives no more than five minutes late
for his or her tee time, the penalty is
now loss of hole in match play and two
shots in stroke play.
What players and caddies now can
do in bunkers also has been altered.
Previously, a caddie or player could not
smooth or rake any portion of a bunker
prior to the player’s first shot in that
bunker. That restriction, among other
things, slowed play.
Now, under Rule 13-4, it has been
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 is not breached.”
And then there’s Rule 20-7c, which
has been amended to allow for a
“discount penalty.”
Discount? In the rules of golf? Since
when did golf become Groupon?
The difference between Great
Britain and Ireland and the United
States when it comes to the train-
ing of elite amateurs is that in the
GB&I, young, talented golfers are
referred to their home country’s
golf union and that union pays for
the instruction and travel expense
for those players to compete in the
top events in those countries.
In the United States, the col-
lege system is largely respon-
sible for the development of elite
amateurs. Most top golfers receive
college scholarships worth tens
of thousands of dollars and their
equipment and travel for collegiate
tournaments is paid for through
the individual college or university.
With the introduction of the
changes to the Rules of Golf this
year, the R&A and the USGA felt
the need to come together for a
unified set of rules dealing with
amateur status.
There are three far-reaching
rule changes, the first of which is
in Rule 2-2, which deals with pro-
fessionalism. Rule 2-2 (a) allows
for players to enter into a contract
and/or agreement with his or her
National Golf Union or Associa-
tion provided he or she does not
receive financial gain while still an
amateur.
The second rule change is in
Rule 2-2 (b), which allows players,
at least age 18, to sign contracts
or agreements with professional
agents, sponsors or other third
parties while still remaining
amateurs. The contract or agree-
ment may deal with the player’s
future but he or she cannot receive
financial gain while remaining an
amateur.
