Changing The Rules

Five years ago the Royal & Ancient (R&A) Golf Club of St. Andrews and the United States Golf Association (USGA) set out to revise the sport’s guidelines that many believed were undesireable, unwieldy and complicated. In an exclusive chat with Golf Digest India, Dominic Wall, Director – Asia Pacific (R&A), elaborates the proposed changes to the rules and how it will affect the professionals when it comes into effect in January 2019.

- Rohit Bhardwaj & Aman Misra

GDI: Talk about the R&A and USGA’s sensitivity towards the players in view of these rules changes.

DW: I think we have realised for many years that the rules are becoming more complicated harder to understand and harder to interpret. The R&A set up a small working committee with the USGA 5 years ago. We also invited representatives from the tours as well to look at how we could bring the rules into the modern day - to make them more accessible, not intimidating and easier to understand. We have been looking at a number of changes for five years trying things out and have come up with a list of proposed changes which have been circulated on the 1st of March 2017 for a six month period - and we are still taking feedback, comments and information on that. This is because some of these changes might be wrong, some of them might require further revision - so we want to be very open and transparent by this process. Giving people around the world the opportunity to comment on the proposed changes because this is the biggest changes ever to the rules of golf.

GDI: How has the R&A recognised the need for change in the game’s formats given the changes in other sport in the 21st century such as T20 in cricket?