GolfHandicapAssociation.com (GHA) made changes to the rules of golf that haven’t been seen in over a century. These changes are in response to golfers that have grown frustrated with the enjoyment, speed, lack of access to information/advice that only Tour players with caddies can get and the stagnation of technology improvements for over a decade now.
GHA’s new rules of golf changes are sure to either be loved or hated by golfers and tournament organizations worldwide. These are not your normal small incremental changes. These changes fundamentally change the way the game is played in many aspects.
From increasing the maximum number of clubs golfers can carry from 14 to 18 clubs, eliminating 2 stroke out of bounds, free drop for balls in divots in the fairway, lift rake and place in bunkers, 3 putts max, no limit on driver COR, MOI, increasing max driver cc’s from 460 to 600cc’s, free relief from roots and rocks, no groove restrictions, allowing alignment sticks, green slope measuring devices, elevation, and information processing devices and making golf carts legal for tournament play, these changes are sure to turn heads.
Even tour players like Casey Martin (Denied Use Of Golf Cart) and Phil Mickelson (Slams Golf Club Restrictions – ‘This is Pathetic’) have recently vocalized their frustration with the way tournament organizations are limiting technology and refusing to relax ancient rules.
The GHA apparently heard them along with the 60 million other golfers worldwide who have had to abide by tournament rules put in place to test the top .01% of golfers.
But this isn’t the first time the GHA has taken the game of golf a huge leap forward. They’ve also been offering free handicaps since 2009 and they were the first to offer instant handicap revisions, while the rest of the industry made their players pay $40-$100+ per year and wait on recurring 2 week schedules to get updates to their handicaps!
For more information on the rules of golf or to get an official GHA Handicap, go to the Golf Handicap Association.
