From the 2021 WINTER committee meeting the following rules changes are recommended. We plan a SPRING general membership meeting April 1 to vote on them. However due to COVID, we may not have the meeting OR may not have enough members present then to vote them in or out. More than 50% of the total membership is needed either way (for or against). You will see that the changes are minor and are more beneficial. If there is no SPRING vote, the committee recommends they be adopted into the rules. If you object, please call a committee member.
1. Pickup ball after player counts four strokes over the par of a hole.
We now have a few players whose expected 'par' on a hole is 3 over the hole's par rating (par for the hole plus the player's HC strokes for that hole). This means that the player can only have one more stroke before he is forced to pickup. This is even when the hole winner is still in doubt.
The proposed new rule would be...
When a player's stroke count reaches four over the rated par of a hole, he must pickup - UNLESS additional strokes allow him a potential tie or win of the hole.
2. When a player's ball is thought to be lost or out of bounds
The language below is different only in the way a 'provisional' ball is counted in the scoring. Currently playing the 'provisional' ball is only a penalty of one stroke. The rule change below makes it in line with USGA AND makes it more likely that the 'provisional' ball is not played.
The rule's new wording...
When a player's ball is thought to be lost or out of bounds, he has two options before leaving the spot where the ball was hit. a - go to the spot where the ball was last seen or crossed the boundary OR b - declare he wants to hit a 'provisional' ball.
a. If he chooses to go to the spot where the ball was last seen or crossed the boundary, he can drop a new ball within 2 club lengths of his best guess as to where the original ball went (for a one stroke penalty).
b. If he chooses to hit a 'provisional' ball, he must tell his opponent that before hitting it. If the player then finds the original ball, the 'provisional' ball is picked up and the original ball is played on (no penalty). If the original ball is not found, the 'provisional' ball becomes 'ball in play' (for a 2 stroke penalty - stroke and distance).
3. New player's initial handicap (1st 3 weeks)
The new rule will allow the following...
a. Raising the initial handicap to 21 for a new player without an established handicap (1 for each hole and 1 extra for each par 5). OR
b. Allowing a new player to submit a documented handicap from elsewhere
to use for their first 3 weeks.
