Proposed rule changes a victory for common sense

John McHenry says the proposed rule amendments to the golfing scene will be a set of very welcome changes.

Yesterday’s joint announcement by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) and the US Golf Association (USGA) of a period of consultation regarding proposed changes to the Rules of Golf - which they hope will come into effect from January 1st 2019 – is a victory for common sense as much as the realisation that something had to be done to simplify what is readily perceived as being an overly complicated sport.

In an era of change for the golf industry, most especially the declining membership and participation numbers in the more established golfing nations like the US and the UK, it seems that golf can no longer rely on its age old traditions “as a badge of honor” for survival, and just as Muirfield’s future status as an Open Championship course has forever been indelibly linked to their policy on female membership – it seems only fitting that the R&A and the USGA have now finally aquiesed to their most comprehensive overhaul of their rule book since they were first published in 1744.