Golf rules not only cover what happens in terms of play, such a ball getting lost or going out of bounds, the rules also cover the use of golfing equipment. This includes clubs and other devices, which we will come to shortly.
Occasionally, frustration can get the better of us on the golf course and this can lead to actions which we later regret. However, at the time we needed to vent of frustration and that can sometimes lead to a golf club being damaged.
If you hit a club into the ground in anger following a bad shot and the club is damaged, you can now continue to use that club during the remainder of the round. This is a new rule for 2019 and differs to the previous rule which stated you could only use the damaged club is the damage was caused during normal play.
If you damaged a club because of frustration, you could not use the club again but for those of us who let anger spill out now and then, you can continue to use the club under the new rules.
If you are looking for your golf ball, need to check if a ball is yours or for potential damage to a ball you were required, under the old rules, to inform your playing partners or a tournament official of the action you were about to take. Lifting a ball always had to be observed otherwise you would be penalised.
However, the new rules have seen a change to this law and you can now lift a ball to inspect it, without informing anyone else. In addition, you do not have to have someone observe you lifting the ball, you can do it on your own. This change to the ruling for 2019 places trust in you and your fellow golfers to lift the ball and replace it in the same position and can save a lot of time when you need to inspect a ball during a round.
Finally, we come to the use of rangefinders. Prior to 2019, a local rule was required which stated you could use a rangefinder on the golf course and if that rule was not in place, you could not use the equipment.
The rule has since been reversed and now you can use a rangefinder unless the golf course has a specific rule which prevents you from doing so. The legality of the rangefinder is in the hands of the golf club, as it was previously but they must take steps to ban the equipment from the golf course and if they don’t, you can feel free to use it as you wish.
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