Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-19
REVISED RULES FOR GOLF
Report Of Committee to Be Submitted
Next Month.
SOME CHANGES OF MUCH INTEREST
DimcuItIea I'm Play to BE Removed
and Some Points in Dispute
Cleared Up by the
Amendments.

the revised rules Of the game would take;
and the draft Of the proposed new rules,
which has been issued by the rules com
mittee. and which will be submitted to the
extraordinary general meeting OF the Royal
and Ancient club on August 81, reveals
many interesting points.
Some Of the suggested alterations are
important. Thus there Is no mention that
the hand may be used to brush across the
hne of the putt. It has for some time been
felt that this concession stood in danger
of being abused, and so, in the new rules.
is proposed that "wormcasts, snow and
ice may be scraped aside with a club, but
the club must not be laid with more than
It's own weight upon the ground. nor must
anything be pressed down. either with the
club or in any other way" Thus the hand
must not come into contact with the put
ting green. The penalty is the loss Of the
hole. There Is, as hitherto. permission to
remove any loose impediment from the
green.
Another important alteration is in the
special rules for stroke competitions. 1t is
suggested that "if, at any hole, a competi-
tor play his first stroke from outside the
limits of the teeing ground he shall count
that stroke, tee a ball, and play his second
stroke from within the limits. The penalty
for a breach of this rule shall be d~isquali-
cation" Under the prevailing code, driv-
ing from outside the limits Of a teeing
ground entails instant disqualification, no
permission to play a second shot being ac-
corded. 1t may be remembered that last
year the Hon. Maurice Scott, who would
otherwise have won very easily, disqualified
himself from the Australian open cham
pionship owing to a mistake OF the kind
mentioned.
Rules Are Classified.
The new rules are longer than the old,
but are grouped under distinctive headings
which concentrate the points and make the
ruling of any particular subject more easy
to find than at present. They begin with
definitions which number twenty-one as
against seventeen in the old code. "Ad-
vice. "the course" and loose impede
ments" are all defined, but the most note
worthy change is in the definition Of a
hazard, which is described as being ''any
bunker, water Except casual water), sand,
path. road, ditch, bush or rushes.". Thus
rabbit-scrapes railways and fences, which
figure in the old list, are now missing. and,
in what are termed recommendation for
local rules" it is suggested that local rules
should be made for such Instructions as
trees, hedges, fixed seats, fences, gates,
railways and walls, for such difficulties as
rabbit-scrapes hoofmarks and other dam
age done to the course by animals, and for
such local conditions as the existence of
mud which may be held to interfere with
the proper playing of the game.
The first heading in the new rules is
General and Through the Green" It is
proposed that when playing through the
green, or from a hazard, a player may
have the line of the hole indicated to
him, but no mark shall be placed nor shall
anyone stand on the proposed line while
the strokes being played The penalty is
the loss Of the hole.
Another proposal is that when a ball has
to be dropped 1t shall be dropped over
the shoulder-not from the head. 1t is
made clear that a moving ball may be
played when It is in water. This has. of
course, been tacitly understood, although
no definite rule has existed on the subject.
The old rules said that sand could not
be touched in an effort to find a ball. It
is now proposed that eff a ball be COM
pletely covered by sand only so much
Y thereof may be removed as will enable the
player to see the top of the ball; II the
ball shall be touched in removing the sand
no penalty shall be incurred"
New "Out of Bounds" Rule.
On the subject of 'out of bounds the
new rule reads: III a player play his ball
onto the ground which is out of bounds he
shall be penalized one stroke, and he
shall play his next stroke as nearly as pos
sible at the spot from which the ball was
played out of bounds. II the ball has been
played out Of bounds from a teeing ground
the player may tee a ball for his next
stroke; in every other case the ball shall
be dropped"
In regard to a ball which splits into pieces
It is proposed that another bail may be
dropped where any portion lies, instead of
where the largest portion lies.
other sections OF the rules are Hazards
and Casual Water" and Putting Green"
and an interesting announcement is that
the rules OF the golf committee will not
sanction any substantial departure from
the traditional and accepted form and make
of golf CLUBS, which in its opinion. consist
OF a plain shaft and a head which contains
no mechanical contrivance such as
springs" These freak clubs, which have
during recent years threatened to become
numerous, are not to be tolerated.
In the etiquette OF Golf" 1t is added
that the player who has the honor should
be allowed to play before his opponent
tees his ball." and that players should
see that their caddies do not injure the
holes by standing close to them when the
ground Is soft"
t An important departure is a short series
r Of special rules for match play COMPETE
tons" In this it is decreed that a COM
petitor shall not waive any penalty incurred
by his opponent and that competitors shall
not agree to exclude the operation of any
! rules, the penalty in either case being dis
qualification. The aim is doubtless to put
4 a stop to the practice which is growing Of
agreeing TO ignore stymies.
I For Special Matches.
j There is a lengthy code of rules for three
E ball, best-ball and four-ball matches, and
3 in the special rules for stroke COMPETE
I tions and play" the chief alteration is, as
e already mentioned, the removal of the dis
qualification penalty for the first shot
= played from outside the teeing ground
4 limits.
: II Is proposed that II a player play two
consecutive strokes with a wrong ball he
shall be disqualified (he might play one
without penalty, provided he then played
his own BALD; that a competitor who IS
nearer to the hole may lift his ball or hole
"a / -