The Rules of Golf are changing in 2019 and there are several changes that stand out to me. Earlier this week I watched a short YouTube video from Rick Shiels discussing a few of the changes you need to be aware of. Then I found a list of 20 of the most important changes. Below I will list and react to these. Keep in mind, I play golf every week/weekend and while I don’t play a lot of competitive golf, I try to play by the Rules of Golf. Some of these rules are good and will potentially increase pace of play. Some, though, are silly and unnecessary. Let’s discuss.

1. Search time – Reduced from 5 to 3 minutes

I LOVE this change. You don’t need 5 minutes to find your golf ball. If you don’t see it, after 1 or 2 minutes, accept it and drop. Will be curious to see if any PGA TOUR players are put on the clock for this. Of course TOUR players have a slight advantage of someone seeing where their ball ends up.

2. Ball moving during search – replace (no penalty)

Greetings, new golfers!

Let me be the first to welcome you to our grand game. (Lord knows, we need each and every one of you these days.)

And we also know golf can be intimidating at first: weird rules, funny clothes, strange lingo.

So before you play your next round, I’d like to offer up a bit of advice on how you can fit right in with low-handicappers — all without having to buy the fancy gear or shoot the low scores.

But first, an admission: All of us in the game need to do a better job of not only lightening up the rules a little for you but also educate you with the complex ways of golf course etiquette.

We don’t need bigger holes or clubs. We want you to feel comfortable out there, which leads to more fun. In turn, we ask you keep up the pace, and that way scratch golfers can play with 36 handicaps. And in what other sport can two vastly different abilities play alongside one another?