Understanding the rules enhances both playing and watching golf. The R&A and United States Golf Association (USGA), which govern golf rules worldwide, make annual refinements and have added several local rules this year. Individual competition committees determine whether to apply these local rules.
The rules announced by the R&A and USGA are not exclusively for professional tours. In principle, weekend golfers should also follow them. While being overly strict about rules during friendly rounds may be inappropriate, true golfers should familiarize themselves with basic and updated rules to share and apply them.
First, committees can now designate internal out-of-bounds (OB) areas limited to tee shots only (Model Local Rule A-4.2). This addresses course design and safety concerns. For example, OB zones on dogleg holes can prevent players from hitting toward other fairways. However, the OB designation does not apply from the second shot onward.
When a ball moves, players must replace it at its original spot. Failure to do so results in a general penalty (two strokes) for playing from a wrong place. However, if a player was completely unaware their ball moved and did not replace it, only a one-stroke penalty applies (Model Local Rule E-14).
Embedded ball relief previously applied only when the ball lodged in a pitch mark created by the player's immediately preceding stroke. Now, penalty-free relief is available when a ball embeds in another player's unrepaired pitch mark (Model Local Rule F-2).
Penalty-free relief is permitted when immovable obstructions such as sprinklers are within two club-lengths of both the putting green and the ball and interfere with the line of play. Committees may modify local rules to allow similar relief from ground under repair (Model Local Rule F-5).
Previously, damaged clubs during a round could only be repaired or replaced if someone brought replacement parts. Now players may use components they already have, such as heads or shafts. Using parts from other players is also permitted. However, borrowing another player's club remains prohibited (Model Local Rule G-9).
For preferred lies applied when abnormal course conditions exist extensively throughout a course, the PGA Tour has reduced the relief area from one club-length to scorecard length starting this year. However, the Korea Golf Association (KGA), Korea Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA), and Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) will apply relief area sizes flexibly according to each tournament's conditions (Model Local Rule E-3).