Rule Changes for 2012

Fortunately you won’t be playing a drastically different game on 1 January 2012 but the rule makers in golf have made a couple of notable rule amendments.

Starting time
Previously if you were late for your tee off time in competition it resulted in immediate disqualification. This has now been amended to a two-shot penalty or loss of hole providing you are no more than five minutes late.

Ball Moving After Address
A new exception has been added to say that a player is no longer penalised if the ball moves after address when it is obvious that the player has not influenced the golf ball.

This means there will be no more situations like those which saw Padraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy penalised in the Abu Dhabi Championship and Open Championship respectively, when strong winds cause their golf balls to move across the green.

For a full breakdown of all the new rule changes click here or see a YouTube explanation.